Product Engagement and Identity Signaling: The Role of Likes in Social Commerce for Fashion Products

32 Pages Posted: 21 Jul 2017

See all articles by Pei Xu

Pei Xu

Auburn University - Harbert College of Business

De Liu

University of Minnesota - Minneapolis

Date Written: July 15, 2017

Abstract

User engagement with products in the forms of clicks and likes is a key success factor for social commerce websites. Motivated by a lack of understanding on user engagement with identity-relevant products, we examine how it evolves as a function of existing likes at a fashion-focused social commerce website. We distinguish two mechanisms by which existing likes may affect users’ subsequent engagement: observational learning (OL) by observing aggregate likes, and social influence (SI) by learning latest likes by people they follow. Using a unique panel data set of 930 handbags, we find that, contrary to most OL studies, but consistent with the identity signal theory, users avoid liking a handbag when it has already received many likes, but this negative OL effect is mitigated by SI (i.e., when users learn that people they follow like the handbag). The opposite happens for private engagement behaviors that do not signal identity: users click a handbag (to find product details) more when it has already received many likes, and this positive OL effect is attenuated by SI. Our findings contribute to the literature of OL, SI, and identity signaling, and hold important implications for research and practice on product engagement.

Keywords: Social Commerce, User Engagement, Identity Signaling, Observational Learning, Social Influence

Suggested Citation

Xu, Pei and Liu, De, Product Engagement and Identity Signaling: The Role of Likes in Social Commerce for Fashion Products (July 15, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3003604 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3003604

Pei Xu (Contact Author)

Auburn University - Harbert College of Business ( email )

Department of Systems & Technology
Auburn, AL AL 36849
United States

De Liu

University of Minnesota - Minneapolis ( email )

110 Wulling Hall, 86 Pleasant St, S.E.
308 Harvard Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
125
Abstract Views
860
Rank
407,063
PlumX Metrics