Influence of Multi-Role Interactions in Community Group-Buying on Consumers’ Lock-In Purchasing Intention From a Fixed Leader Based on Role Theory and Trust Transfer Theory

Abstract

Community group-buying platforms are increasingly relying on the interaction between the group-buying leader and consumers, thereby achieving the customer lock-in. In view of this, it is crucial to understand how the group-buying leader to establish a long-term transaction relationship with consumers. In this study, we construct a model based on the role theory and trust transfer theory, and identify two types of interactions of the group-buying leader (i.e., role interaction of merchant and role interaction of friend) and two types of consumer trust (i.e., community group-buying trust and interpersonal trust). Then, the mechanism that how different role interactions of the group-buying leader can be transformed into the lock-in purchasing intention of consumers is further clarified. By interviewing 430 consumers with community group-buying experience in the community through offline questionnaire, the research model has been proven to be effective. To be specific, both role interactions of the merchant and friend can impose a positive impact on interpersonal trust, which will also lead to the trust in community group-buying, and thus enhance the lock-in purchasing intension of consumers from a fixed leader. Overall, this study has made certain contributions to the study of customer relationship. In theory, this study further explains the explanation mechanism of the “acquaintance marketing” phenomenon. Moreover, this study adopts the role theory to analyze the differences of different role interactions of the group-buying leader in relationship quality and purchase decision making, and employs the trust transfer theory to expand the trust transfer effect from the interpersonal trust of the group-buying leader to the trust in community group-buying. In practice, this study provides a new perspective and practical reference for community group-buying enterprises and the group-buying leader on how to better manage customers and maintain a long-term and stable customer relationship.

Research on Optimal Group-Purchase Threshold and Pricing Strategy of Community Group Purchase

“…By studying the virtual community group buying behavior, Wang (2017) [8] finds that in groups, perceived interactivity positively affects initiator trust, and initiator trust negatively affects risk perception. Wu et al (2022) [7] conducted a study on community group buying based on the role theory and the trust transfer theory, and this study shows that the role interactions of both the merchant and the friend positively affect interpersonal trust, and the interpersonal trust leads to trust in community group buying, which further explains the phenomenon of "acquaintance marketing". Xu and Hu (2022) [9] investigate the relationship between customers' perceived value and loyalty and community experience.…”

“…In terms of technology, studies have been conducted to apply big data technology to the user data analysis of community group buying. Wu et al (2022) [7] use big data crawling technology to analyze the community group-buying behaviors of residents in different city sizes and summarize the shopping behaviors and characteristics of different types of residents. In terms of psychology, a large number of scholars have conducted research on the psychological phenomena in community group buying.…”

Social media commerce: an empirical study of platform, people and information from the trust transfer perspective

“…a seller), thereby influencing online purchase intentions and decisions (e.g. Wu et al, 2022;Gefen, 2002;Komiak and Benbasat, 2006;Liao and Cheung, 2002). For example, a consumer who trusts WeChat may be inclined to trust a third-party seller found on the platform, despite having no prior interaction with the seller.…”

“…a seller), thereby influencing online purchase intentions and decisions (e.g. Wu et al. , 2022; Gefen, 2002; Komiak and Benbasat, 2006; Liao and Cheung, 2002).…”

When helping is risky: The influence of ethical attributes on consumers’ willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online

“…Ethical attributes and consumers' willingness to buy farmer-assisting agricultural products online: The mediating effect of risk perception E-commerce-assisted agricultural marketing is a new scenario extended by the combination of cause-related activities and fresh online shopping. Compared with traditional offline cause-related marketing, consumers have information asymmetry before receiving goods, mainly facing risks in information search, product quality, logistics, and transportation, as well as after-sales service (Zhang et al, 2015), which also hinders consumers from frequently purchasing fresh agricultural products online to some extent (Zheng et al, 2020;Wu et al, 2022).…”