Kết quả nghiên cứu đã cung cấp tiền đề về tác động của một số đặc điểm Facebook tới thái độ và hành vi mua sắm của người Việt, và từ đó cần các nghiên cứu định lượng để kiểm tra lại mô hình. Để hiểu rõ hơn mời các bạn cùng tham khảo nội dung chi tiết của bài viết này.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020 ICYREB 2020 HOW FACEBOOK COMMERCE’S FEATURES INFLUENCE PURCHASE INTENTION: A FOCUS GROUP STUDY IN VIETNAM ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA MÔI TRƯỜNG FACEBOOK ĐẾN DỰ ĐỊNH MUA HÀNG TRỰC TUYẾN: NGHIÊN CỨU PHỎNG VẤN NHÓM TẠI VIỆT NAM Dr, Phan Thi Phu Quyen, MA Nguyen Cao Lien Phuoc, MA Nguyen Minh Tam University of Economics, The University of Danang, Vietnam phuocncl@due.edu.vn Abstract Facebook commerce, as a relatively new phenomenon, has attracted little research attention Although Facebook commerce has been gained social networking capabilities and provides characteristics that encourage customers to share their experience, there is a lack of systematic research on Facebook commerce characteristics influence on consumer behavior The main objective of this study is to thoroughly re-examine the characteristics of Facebook commerce environment in online shopping Focus group discussion among Generation Y (ages 18 to 34) is selected as a research method This study considers four focus groups of Vietnamese consumers in online shopping via Facebook In our best knowledge, this is the first study that conducts focus group in social commerce environment research The results re-examine salient dimensions of three main constructs in social commerce environment, such as: content, interaction and network under the Vietnamese consumers Furthermore, the study explores the mediating role of attitude consumers in the relationship between social commerce features and purchase intention The findings offer various implications for academic research and practice Keyword: Facebook commerce environment, content, interaction, network, focus group, Facebook Tóm tắt Facebook commerce-bán hàng qua mạng xã hội Facebook – trở thành từ khóa năm gần Sử dụng nghiên cứu định tính – vấn nhóm tập trung- để tìm mơ hình đặc điểm Facebook tác động đến hành vi mua hàng Kết nghiên cứu cung cấp tiền đề tác động số đặc điểm Facebook tới thái độ hành vi mua sắm người Việt, từ cần nghiên cứu định lượng để kiểm tra lại mơ hình Từ khóa: mơi trường thương mại Facebook, nội dung, tương tác, kết nối, vấn nhóm, Facebook Introduction Social media, which combine user-generated content with social networking features, un735 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020 ICYREB 2020 leash the opportunities to create a new business model that provides several social aspects to at- tract customers The evolution of social media and network has led to a new paradigm of e-com- merce called social commerce (s-commerce) (Zhang et al., 2014) Social commerce generally refers to online commerce applications for the enhancement of users’ interactions in e-commerce (Hajli et al., 2017) A recent survey has found that nearly 83% respondents tend to share shopping information with their online friends, and almost 67% of the respondents would make their pur- chase decision based on the recommendation from online friends (Marsden, 2013) Undoubtedly, businesses need to actively get caught up the opportunities of such technologies for doing com- merce (Mikalef et al., 2017) Amazon and eBay are two typical examples that successfully used social commerce to change their market position and enhance their business, like Facebook (Hajli, 2015) An understanding of the process and uniqueness of how consumers behave in this setting can help companies to explore the power of social commerce Thus, there is a necessity to exam- ine how these features shape commerce and consumer conduct (Mikalef et al., 2017) Additionally, a large percentage of firms have perceived social media as an advertising tool on the internet, but not realizing that these platforms were designed for users and thus any efforts to market on them is out of their control (Mikalef et al., 2013) Due to the lack of well-defined social media strategy and the neglect of consumer needs, a company fails in their social commerce (e.g Walmart) Supporting this, Li (2017) connected social commerce features and supported its critically in influencing effectiveness However, little is known about how social media platform should be designed to optimize the customer experience (Park et al., 2014) Unlike traditional e- commerce where consumers interact with online shopping sites separately, social commerce pro- vides online communities that support user interactions and user – generated content, which contain the unique characteristics of the platforms prompt companies’ actions (Zhang & Beny- oucef, 2016) Several recent studies have made initial steps to better understand the effectiveness of social commerce environment following to nothing two major mainstreams The first mainstream fo- cuses on the direct impact of the features of social platform characteristics (Park et al., 2014, Mikalef et al., 2017) Another mainstream focuses on the effect of social commerce platform on consumer behavior (Li, 2017) Past studies have yet to provide a holistic view of the social commerce environment stimuli, which can affect the internal psychological processes leading to con- sumer behavioural intention (Luqman et al., 2017) Many issues on how customers use characteristics of social media platform and what facilities or hinders customer’s use of social commerce environment remain practically dissolve (Li, 2017) Huang and Benyoucef (2013) ex- plored that previous studies lacked solid theoretical frameworks for adopting characteristics of social media platform to social commerce Consequently, commentators from a various range of academics have noted that further research is needed into the nature and effects of social com- merce environment (Zhang & Benyocef, 2016) The purpose of this study provides a better understanding of what the critical features of Facebook influence purchasing decisions by applying it to a unique cultural context in Vietnam, 736 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020 ICYREB 2020 which has not previously been studied This study begins with a literature review of previous studies on related fields, and refines salient dimensions in three main constructs (content, interaction, and network) in order to improve a theoretical framework for this study Using a series of focus group discussions, the research question is as follows: What are the dimensions of social media platform (e.g Facebook) that influence consumers’ purchasing decision? Additionally, the study also explores additional factors in the relationship between social commerce features and purchase intention through Facebook Practically, the findings obtained can offer online retailers and marketing practitioners about the appropriate social media platforms through which to making a purchase decision Literature review In e-commerce setting, online environment plays a role important in enhancing consumers’ online experience and purchase decision (Wu & Ke, 2015; Tran et al., 2012) Although atmospheric effects in website have been thoroughly studies, for the effect of these factions on s-commerce is limited, though virtual retailers try to influence consumers’ shopping behavior through incorporating at atmospheric cues A new format of online store environment and emerged with the development of SNS is known by academics as the “social commerce platform” or “social commerce environment” (Hajli, 2015; Xiang et al., 2016) In this study, the characteristics of the social networking environment are discussed to explicate the new term “social commerce environment” These studies identified various characteristics of social commerce environment For example, Zhang et al (2014) investigated the social commerce environment with technological features, such as perceived interactivity, perceived personalization, and perceived sociability On the other hand, Mikalef et al (2013) identified the characteristics of social media platforms based on the hedonic and utilitarian motivation Specifically, the utilitarian motivation consists of four elements, such as: convenience, information available, product selection, customized advertisements The hedonic motivation includes four elements, such as trend discovery, socializing, adventure, authority, and status However, these characteristics not address the issue of conceptualizing constructs rather than individual attributes A systematic review of Zhang and Benyoucef (2016) proposed that the characteristics of social network environment include three main constructs: content, network, and interaction characteristics This study adopts the term “Facebook commerce environment” Specifically, the study operationalizes the characteristics of Facebook commerce environment through three stimulus factors of content, network, and interaction, as proposed in a previous work (Zhang & Benyoucef, 2016) The content characteristics refer to consumer-focused content and photographs The interaction characteristics focus on the interaction between individuals and the technology The network characteristics refer to consumers’ network structure that consumers can be easy to receive and share high – quality information or knowledge in the network; meanwhile, social interdependence will be enhanced between individuals who have a relationship in the network (Park et al., 2014) 737 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020 ICYREB 2020 Content characteristics Fig.1 Conceptual model Social commerce involves online communities that offer user interaction and user – generated content The consumer often faces incomplete product information, therefore, they often make a purchase decision under the perceived risk (Goh et al., 2013) In order to reduce uncertainties, consumers need to consider more product-related information Thus, consumers’ perception, feeling, and behavior are influenced by content created by others (Hajli, 2015) There are many aspects of content characteristics De Vries et al (2012) investigated the content on brand pages, which involve vividness, information content, entertaining content, valence of comment, and the position of the messages Goh et al (2013) compared two types of content (usergenerated content (UGC) and marketer-generated content (MGC)) in term of textual aspects (information richness and valence) and communication modes (directed and undirected) Additionally, Cvijikj and Michahelles (2013) discussed that entertaining and informative content play a critical role in online engagement Interaction characteristics The importance of interaction has received many attentions in social commerce environments when consumers enable to gain more related-product information from others (Wang & Yu, 2017) Information can be produced and spread quickly through various social interaction activities Interaction characteristics are one of the key constructs that take place in social commerce environment and lead to consumers’ intention to purchase (Wang & Yu, 2017) In online setting, the stimuli pertain to the design features of the online environment that consumers interact with (Zhang et al., 2014) First of all, the social commerce environment can facilitate the interaction between individuals and the technology, which is labelled by interactivity The interactivity dimension has been recognized to affect customers’ response Secondly, interaction in social commerce context includes online chat, communities, and discussion The degree of socializing in online communities will lead consumers to find more information about a product they are considered in purchasing (Zhang et al., 2014) Additionally, adventure dimension is defined as “the degree to which a social media site provides a novel and interesting browsing experience towards users, and the sense of excitement which they get from using it”(Mikalef et al., 2013) Network characteristics Network characteristics play an important role in social commerce and are also investigated by several researchers in the context of social commerce (Zhang & Benyoucef, 2016) A network 738 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020 ICYREB 2020 structure can help to enhance the interaction between individuals and offer some utilitarian and emotional support to the others (Park et al., 2014) Although network characteristics have received many attentions in the sellers’ perspective when different network positions can influence the participants’ performance differently; however, few researchers have concentrated on how an individual’s online social network characteristics can influence on the purchase decision making (Park et al., 2014) Following to Park et al.’s (2014) study, there are four main network structure characteristics, such as: tie strength, network density, network centrality, and homophile In particular, tie strength is an individual characteristic of the network, which is willing to maintain some relationship and help others anytime and not refuse the suggestion In contrast, network density reflects the whole network’s characteristics, which is the degree of all the members in a network (Wang et al., 2012) Additionally, network centrality describes as the degree to an individual’s central position in a network An individual in a central network can collect information easily and will have more power than other network members (Park et al., 2014) Finally, homophily refers to social identities that are consistent externally to individuals (Park et al., 2014) Individuals who have the same in sociodemographic features tend to connect with each other than individuals who are dissimilar (Mark, 2003) Method 3.1 Qualitative approach The target social working site is Facebook Facebook is selected because it is the largest network in the world with over 2.13 billion monthly active Facebook users of whom 50 percent log onto Facebook daily (Facebook, 2017) and it provides users with most content generation One global report in State of Inbound Marketing (2012) showed that 42% of marketers use Facebook to promote their business Additionally, social commerce became a huge hit in the Southeast Asian countries by offering a cheapest and easy platform for small and midsize businesses Seven Southeast Asian countries have social media penetration rates higher than the global average of 37% Vietnam, is one of seven countries in Southeast Asia, became one of the seventh worldwide for the number of Facebook users in 2017 In 2017, nearly a half of Vietnamese population of 95.8 million has at least of one Facebook account (Internet World Stats, 2017) However, to date, Vietnam remains relatively unexplored in terms of social commerce adoption although there still have some studies carried out in Southern Asia, e.g Pakistan (Nadeem et al., 2016) Therefore, this study attempts to understand the nature of social commerce environment and its relationship with consumers’ behavior in a developing country, Vietnam This study collected data using focus groups to provide avenues for interpersonal interaction and discussion, and offer an effective method to gauge public opinion because of the spontaneous and free-flowing nature of such discussion (Berdahl et al., 2016) Although focus group discussion exists several limitations during the interview process, it has been found to be a useful method to identify shared and unique opinions among participants 3.2 Sampling and recruitment 3.2.1 Participant recruitment A combination of several non-random samplings is selected because the size of the target population is unknown First, the quota sampling method was utilized because random sampling 739 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020 ICYREB 2020 of a substantial size was prohibitively difficult, under the research design of this study To determine the appropriate numbers of Vietnam respondents, the characteristic of the sample is required to match the target population structure in both gender and age The population data are obtained from a report of Hootsuite (2012) about “Profile of Facebook users in Vietnam” This study focuses on two main age groups: a group of 18-24 years old, and others of 25-34 years old in Vietnam In particular, age groups in Vietnam as follows: 50.7% ages 18-24, and 49.2% ages 25-34 Secondly, convenience sampling is launched to combine the various different quotas The interviewers are instructed to select people from their geographical areas and to administer the questionnaire to subjects who have experience in using Facebook for searching brands or shopping The focus group participants were classified following to age 18-34, which over 95% of online users of these ages are most likely follow a brand via social networking (MarketingSherpa, 2017) This group is labelled as Generation Y (Bolton et al., 2013), who was in between 18 and 35 years old These consumers had frequent and early exposure to technology, forming to emotional, cognitive and social response with both disadvantages and advantages (Zhang et al., 2017) Gen Y’s use of social media is already changing the marketplace, the society, and it may be a sign of how people will behave in the future Therefore, Generation Y as the target respondents for online survey includes students and office workers with the aged 18-35 years old 3.2.2 Procedures We conducted four focus groups, with 4-6 participants per group Characteristics of respondents are summarized in Table Each of the focus groups represented a range of ages We provided all participants refreshments and snacks during the discussion process The structured focus group agenda began with queries regarding to consumer’s experience when purchasing via Facebook Questions relevant to this study were, “What are the characteristics of Facebook influence their purchasing decision?” Groups were audio recorded Participants were given privacy reminders and encouraged to discuss general experiences Gender Measure Table Focus group Demographic Age (years) Marial Status Times per week using Internet Times per day using Facebook Items Male Female 18-24 25-34 Single Married without children Married with children 1-2 3-4 >4 1-2 hours 3-4 hours >4 hours 740 % 43.75 56.25 56.25 43.75 56.25 18.75 25 0 100 18.75 81.25 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020 ICYREB 2020 Results and Discussion According to focus groups respondents, the characteristics of Facebook platform were identified with many dimensions Based on the previous study of Zhang et al (2014), we classified these dimensions into three main features, such as content, interaction and network features identified during analysis Content characteristics Participants identified content characteristics as a critical component of their intention to making a purchase decision Facebook content contains various features, such as information, entertainment, customized advertisement or personalization First of all, most respondents argued that Facebook offers articulate a customer’s personal preferences and needs The information on Facebook presents personalized recommendations or unique offers to target consumers, which provide a shopping environment closely match customers’ preferences and needs They are more likely to purchase a product when Facebook meet their personalized needs Facebook is very smart When I search information on google or like or follow any product on fan page, my newsfeed always show my favourite products Even Facebook suggest me similar pages after I click like, comments or follow on certain page My new feed updates some sponsor pages that update new fashion, new product or a new brand It is interesting that these suggested pages often right with my interest I’m a curious person; I will try these products if it is really impressive to me Based on their response, we classified personalization dimensions including trend discovery and customized advertisement Specifically, trend discovery refers to the process that consumers are able to learn about new trends of products, brand or fashion Also, customized advertisement targets to consumers based on his or her specific interests and likings (Mikalef et al., 2014) Secondly, most of respondents agreed that Facebook platform provides not only general product information richness but also information valence In addition, they distinguished between two categories of information: marketer – generated content (MGC) and user-generated content (UGC) First of all, information richness related to product-related information, images, videos or links (Sabate et al., 2014), which reduce their uncertainties and make them more confidence in making a purchase decision They will be more likely to purchase a product when they possess more product-related information Marketers often offer product and other related information (e.g price, warranty) through textual information, image, or video clip Although most of respondents felt there was little assurance from Facebook seller because they experienced risk of product not matching description and image on the computer screen; however, they agreed that both images and videos are definitely more persuasive than a text post Several respondents, who are working office jobs, would rather than watch a live stream about product, although the majority of respondents ignore it because of wasting time Several respondents provide further comment on this point: When I surface Facebook, I’m often attractive and more proactive attitude toward the im741 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020 ICYREB 2020 ages or video I will stop to read more carefully information If the products are suitable for me, I will purchase it although I don’t intend to make purchase before In addition, MGC valence, which creates a favourable product reputation and image to influence sales (e.g photo from consumers’ feedback, number of follows, ) is not enough to persuade consumers to purchase because respondents argued that marketer can hack like or create consumers’ fake comments or even resort to gimmicks and tricks In contrast, respondents are influenced by consumers’ product usage experience, which contains information of the product (e.g product features) or their shopping experiences Information from a consumer’s perspective (UGC) has a larger impact than MGC information on their purchase behavior Respondents also concern about positive (negative) valence of UGC on the seller’s fan page, or Facebook group, which can see previous consumers’ comments before they consider purchasing product If the comments of products are positive, they are more likely to purchase the product from that seller On the other hand, they will ignore it with negative comments Most respondents listed entertainment as the least important factor that will influence their purchase decision One respondent explained, “When I spend a lot of time using Facebook to listening to music, watching video, or chatting with my friend; I have little attention to shopping Except for when Facebook forces me to watch advertising that inserts in that video If I love the products in advertisement, I click to fan page of that product and make a purchase” Interaction characteristics Facebook platform provides a face-to-face interaction through online chat, communities and discussion Both male and female respondents agreed that their purchasing decision will influence a lot by interactivity with sellers Interactivity, as understood from our interviews, offers respondents a convenient way to communicate directly among sellers and buyers Communication is at the heart of human interaction, and it can make or break a transaction Respondents argued that, “I am satisfied with sellers who can quickly answer my questions and consult me about products that are suitable for me Even I can make a purchase other products in case of my concerned product is out of store in that seller In contrast, if sellers feedback slowly or answer with a short sentence, I will give up though I love their product” Based on these, it is clearly shown that the first impressions in consumers’ initial interaction with sellers are very important Respondents have highly appreciated with sellers who keep hold times to a minimum and focus on their problems and expectations They will feel more confident about those sellers and co-create better experiences that leave them more likely to buy from those sellers Furthermore, participants, especially females, indicated that they participate in a conversation with fellow consumers during the browsing of products One female respondent explained, “I will connect directly with users who give comments under the post I will ask them about products that they purchased I will confirm information once again before I decide to purchase it” We found that consumers actively interact with similar hobbies recommend and comment before they decide to purchase a product On the other hand, this reflects sociability, which is experienced by respondents through mutual interaction 742 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020 ICYREB 2020 Network characteristics Across the groups, the most common influences on purchase intention were what consumers’ network environment is The respondent who joined Facebook group often read comments that the group members with similar interest before they continue with their purchase One respondent explained that, “Users in Facebook (the Facebook or a Fcb) group that I joined are willing to review about product (the product) more detailed, even they will be willing to help me anytime Therefore, I often decide to buy product (a product) based on their comments” This explanation mention about tie strength features of social network structure Tie strength is defined as the interaction frequency, quality and quantity among network members (Wang et al., 2012) Additionally, while using Facebook, participants noticed that there was some relevant message, like/ follow fan page, or posted by their friends and strangers who shared some products and offer their recommendations about them Then, they often determine whether they had purchase intention towards the presented product because their friends or strange in their network have similar tasted This reflects the similarity of members’ characteristics, labelled as homophily (Park et al., 2014) Specifically, while most of respondent rejects make a friend with strangers, one respondent noted that, “My social network is very large I not only follow fan pages but also make friend with sellers if their products are suitable with my style Then, my new feed always updates information relating to my favourite products and I purchase many products because of this network” We found that the degree of connection of all the members also affects consumers’ purchase decision On the other hand, consumers’ purchase decision is affected by the level of information sharing among network participants, which is reflected through the concept “network density” features (Park et al., 2014) Consumer Attitude as Mediator Interestingly, male and female participants reported that, they have a positive attitude toward products or sellers before purchasing product If they possess more information about, I am favour of that product than one lacking of information One respondent explained that, “If the sellers don’t provide product information, especially price; I will not ignore it because maybe that seller will offer a high price as compared with others In contrast, seller provides complete product information, including country of origin, detailed descriptions, I will be happy with that seller” Additionally, when interacting with sellers and friends on Facebook during the shopping process, the effective communication leads respondents to an optimistic Moreover, participants expressed that if a person who is their friends or the same in their fan page group has a positive feedback toward a product, they also have a good attitude, and then they buy it Based on these findings, we concluded that consumers’ attitude plays an important role in consumers’ purchase intention It is argued that consumer`s attitude is driven by social commerce features, and in turns, it is seemed to be related to purchase decisions of products 743 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020 ICYREB 2020 Conclusion Fig.2 Final model Generally, the findings from the focus group are in line with the findings in the literature review This study identified the characteristics of Facebook commerce environment and classified these characteristics as a primary theme, as Zhang et al (2014) found with three main constructs: content, interaction, and network from the previous study While the first study of Zhang et al (2014) is conducted under the review of previous studies, this study will explore the salient characteristic of social commerce environment, in particular, Facebook platform under Vietnamese users’ perspectives The results make contributions for both academic and practitioners For the academics, the paper outlines a theoretical and a conceptual model of purchase intention as it relates to social commerce characteristics In particular, among the three main constructs in the conceptual framework, the characteristics of interaction and content are predominant in both male and female However, the content characteristics related to the entertainment dimension are rather rare, and those related to the customized advertisement are practically lacking in the consumers’ purchase decision This general discussion illustrates that online shopping consumers are mainly focus on the information of sellers, and especially users – generated content Additionally, participants viewed interaction as a critical key to appreciate sellers’ attitude The concerning of business will create a positive attitude toward consumers, and leads to consumers’ purchase decision Finally, Facebook commerce environment consists of tie strength, homophily, and network For the practitioners, marketer should highlight information to describe products and services as well as their own persuasive content The best content is that which provides a positive attitude and builds trust, rather than to make a transaction Sellers design vividness content through image, music, or video Additionally, they should design events and strategy in order to encourage consumers’ communication on Facebook platforms For instance, marketers can encourage consumers to share their experience by using discount coupons and reward points Additionally, it is important to connect members know each other very well, even offline; this will help to enhance cooperation among members 744 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 2020 ICYREB 2020 The main limitation of the study related to the low generalizability of the outcomes because of the limited numbers of participants in the focus group Future quantitative research should concentrate on developing more detailed measurement scales for each of the three constructs In this way, a more comprehensive test of social commerce characteristics can be carried out REFERENCES Berdahl, M Bourassa, S Bell, J Fried, Exploring perceptions of credible science among policy stakeholder groups: results of focus 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Vietnam https://www.hofstede-insights.com/countrycomparison/vietnam/ Hootsuite (2017) Profile of Facebook users in Vietnam https://research.vietnambusiness.tv/digital%20in%202017%20Viet%2 0Nam% 20Overview.pdf... site is Facebook Facebook is selected because it is the largest network in the world with over 2.13 billion monthly active Facebook users of whom 50 percent log onto Facebook daily (Facebook, ... “Profile of Facebook users in Vietnam” This study focuses on two main age groups: a group of 18-24 years old, and others of 25-34 years old in Vietnam In particular, age groups in Vietnam as follows: