Does social media usage contribute to cross-border social commerce? An empirical evidence from SEM and fsQCA analysis

Abstract

Drawing from the S-O-R perspective, this paper proposes a theoretical model explicating the mechanism whereby social media usage functions on customers' engagement in cross-cultural social commerce by employing a mixed-method approach including SEM and fsQCA analysis technique. Analysis of the data collected from 135 countries' 2058 international students indicates that social media usage, either for information or socializing purpose, exerts positive effects on international customers' engagement in social commerce through the conduit of cultural identity change, and social support positively moderates the relationships between two dimensions of social media usage and cultural identity change. The analysis of fsQCA further augmented the robust results reached from SEM and identified four types of configurations that trigger customers' engagement in cross-border social commerce. Research implications and limitations are also discussed.

Keywords

• Social commerce
• Cultural identity change
• Social support
• Social media usage
• Cross-cultural environment