Social proof in social media shopping: An experimental design research

Abstract

Abstract. The practices of social proof techniques to attract consumers to shop on social media have proliferated over time and been used extensively. The reviewed literature uncovers that social community recommendation, customers' ratings and reviews, celebrity's endorser and numbers of likes, affect consumers' purchasing decisions. However, the effect of different types of social proof techniques on purchasing intention is unknown. This study empirically compares the effect of number of followers, celebrity endorser and social community recommendation on consumers' purchasing intention. An experiment has been conducted and the results reveal that the consumers' purchasing intention differs between groups. Further analysis discovers that the impact on consumers' purchasing intention is different between high number of followers and low number of followers, and between having social community recommendation and not having social community recommendation. Though, the impact of these two techniques is equal wherein no technique is superior to other. In order to gain purchasing engagement and boost online sales, online businesses on social media are encouraged to use the power of social proof technique, either by increasing the number of followers or providing more social community recommendations.

Exploring the influence of uncontrolled social media use, fear of missing out, fear of better options, and fear of doing anything on consumer purchase intent

“…Explaining how motivation to participate becomes a force that moderates anticipated emotion and its response to the FoMO appeals would then positively impact purchase intent. In the second dimension of the aspirational FoMO , social proof confirms the theory; the data reflect how consumers will perform actions others perform to self‐regulate correct social behavior (Talib & Saat, 2017). Consumers who cannot control Usage will then assume quicker actions of endorsing brands because of what others say.…”

“…Thus, the role of social proof delineates how aspirational FoMO works. Social proof is defined as a psychological phenomenon that explains how people take action to identify the correct behaviors (Talib & Saat, 2017). Wessel et al (2019) explained that within social media, social proof has explanatory power in various factors since they become generators of influence.…”

Unmasking online fake job group financial scams: a thematic examination of victim exploitation from perspective of financial behavior

“…The principle of “social proof” emerges as another salient heuristic instrumental in this scam operation. It is a robust psychological phenomenon where individuals, in situations characterized by uncertainty, seek guidance for their actions based on the observable behaviors of others (Abdul Talib and Mat Saat, 2017). The effectiveness of social proof in shaping the victims’ behavior is evident, as victims frequently seek validation from others before making pivotal decisions.…”

Facebook moms help! What to buy for teething? The impact of social proof on consumer decisions of young mothers

“…There are many studies showing that social proof also works in the online environment, including social media (Amblee, N., & Bui, T. 2011;Talib, Y. Y. A., & Saat, R. M. 2017;Awotunde, J.…”