Impulsive Social Shopping in Social Commerce Platforms: The Role of Perceived Proximity

Since its conception, social commerce has become a key channel for shopping and in fact has gradually become the dominant way consumer’s shop. Although consumers are prone to impulsive shopping behavior on social commerce platforms, few studies have empirically investigated the psychological mechanisms underlying this behavior. To bridge this gap, we develop a model grounded in construal level theory (CLT) that investigates the role of perceived proximity with the seller in predicting consumers’ impulsive social shopping. We validate the model using a field survey of 875 consumers on a leading social commerce platform in China. Our empirical findings indicate that perceived proximity is determined by interactivity and that it prompts consumers’ cognitive (i.e., cognitive trust) and affective responses (i.e., emotional trust and emotional attachment) to the seller. Meanwhile, emotional trust and emotional attachment further induce impulsive social shopping. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.