Leveraging Technological Characteristics and Perceived Values to Drive Continuance Intentions on Social Platforms: A Generation Z Perspective

Abstract

This study aims to explore how social commerce platforms retain specific user groups in the context of emerging economies post-COVID-19. Drawing on the stimulus-organism–response model, this study investigates how technological environments impact consumers' intrinsic and extrinsic values, and visualize how these technological characteristics contribute to the continuance intentions. The survey targets Generation Z in China and gathers 366 valid questionnaires. Data analysis is conducted using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 21.0, employing Confirmatory Factor Analysis to assess the research model's reliability and validity. Subsequently, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Mediation Analysis test the proposed hypotheses. The findings suggest that for the major consumer group, the pursuit of social, informational, and emotional values is the primary motivation rather than hedonic value. Also, social commerce platforms should not be considered simply as a communication tool or a social network service, but as the artificial structural equivalence of social connections that carries users’ social capital. This paper offers new insights into why young consumers join social network platforms in emerging economies and repeatedly use them during the post-pandemic period. The research findings may apply to other social media platforms of developing and developed countries with similar socioeconomic and cultural contexts.