The Influence Mechanism of Social Interactions on Online Purchasing Intention of Mobile Social Users in a Low-Trust Business Environment

Abstract

The success of a business or brand depends on how effectively mobile social interactions can be utilized to drive online consumption under the decentralized and low-trust virtual social space. This paper, constructing the influence mechanism of mobile social interactions on online purchasing intentions from the combination of information interactions and relationship interactions, performs analysis for exploratory factors, reliability and validity to test the formal scale and then examines the proposed hypotheses by structural equations. The empirical results show that four-factor variables of mobile social interactions, namely information value, the control of information dissemination, the strength of social relationships and the scope of social influence, have a direct positive effect on online purchasing intention with mobile social initial trust as a mediator. In addition, the product attributes and other external attributes play important moderating roles. These findings extend the research related to trust mechanisms in the new media environment and attempt to provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance for enterprises to better implement mobile social marketing strategies.