Why do people visit social commerce sites but do not buy? The role of the scarcity heuristic as a momentary characteristic

Abstract

Due to the low conversion rate of social commerce, its sustainability is questioned. To solve this problem, this study aims to verify the different antecedents between visit intention and purchase intention. For a visit intention, this study employs the concept of the scarcity heuristic and its momentary characteristic. The scarcity heuristic is created by a scarcity of time and quantity, and provisional coupons. In previous studies, the scarcity heuristic has often been treated as a major factor in which to influence purchase intention. However, this study examines the scarcity heuristic only as an antecedent of the visit intention, not of the purchase intention, because of its momentary characteristic. Contrary to previous studies, as this study expected, the attributes of the scarcity heuristic had a significant relationship only with the visit intention in social commerce. Additionally, the results suggest that there are two distinct intentions in social commerce: visit intention and purchase intention. This study verified that the antecedents of the two distinct intentions are different from one another. This study helps to understand why people visit social commerce sites regularly but do not buy. © 2014 KSII.