Anais
Resumo do trabalho
Marketing · Comportamento do Consumidor
Título
Habitual behaviour of shopping on Facebook and WhatsApp groups: validation of a measurement model
Palavras-chave
Facebook
WhatsApp
Habit
Autores
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Heleneze LuesNorth-West University
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Rita Klonaridis
Resumo
Introdução
Online shopping has become a key part of modern consumer behaviour, driven by technology, lifestyle shifts, and greater internet access. In South Africa, social commerce via platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp has surged, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic (Kochański, 2025). Social commerce offers opportunities for buyers and sellers to trade on various social media platforms, which not only provide a platform for shopping activities but also social interactions. Habitual behaviours formed within these social environments can influence consumers' purchase decisions (Sarker et al., 2023).
Problema de Pesquisa e Objetivo
Habitual consumer behaviour in online shopping is well studied. However, research on habitual behaviour in social commerce is limited, focusing mostly on intention or trust (Sarker et al., 2023). The aim of the study was to evaluate a model, grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework, as a means to understand consumers’ habitual behaviour of shopping on Facebook and WhatsApp groups. Furthermore, the study proposes a four-factor model comprising habit, buying impulsiveness, price consciousness, and hedonic motivation.
Fundamentação Teórica
The SOR framework, developed by Mehrabian & Russell in 1974, explains how external cues (stimuli) influence internal states (organism), leading to behavioural responses. For the purpose of this study, the SOR framework is applied to social commerce, whereby stimuli include the availability and marketing of product or service offerings through Facebook and WhatsApp groups; organism refers to buying impulsiveness, price consciousness, and hedonic motivation; and habit is the response.
Metodologia
A quantitative, descriptive research design was employed. Data was collected from a single cross-sectional sample of 412 consumers who shop via Facebook or WhatsApp groups. An international market research company administered the data collection using an online self-administered questionnaire. SPSS and AMOS were used for the data analysis, which included exploratory principal component analysis, correlation analysis, collinearity diagnostics, confirmatory factor analysis and tests for reliability and validity.
Análise dos Resultados
The findings of this study support a four-factor model of habitual behaviour of shopping on Facebook and WhatsApp groups, comprising buying impulsiveness, price consciousness, hedonic motivation, and habit. The model demonstrated a good fit, along with satisfactory reliability and validity.
Conclusão
The study confirms that the habitual behaviour of shopping on Facebook and WhatsApp groups involves four interrelated factors. The model provides a valid and reliable structure to assess consumer habits in the context of social commerce.
Contribuição / Impacto
This study introduces and validates a model to measure habitual buying on social media groups, offering practical value to scholars, marketers, and online sellers. It also lays a foundation for future research exploring the predictors of consumers’ habitual behaviour of shopping on social media groups and the interrelationships between the predicting factors.
Referências Bibliográficas
Kochański, R. (2025). Conversational Commerce in South Africa: WhatsApp, Automation & CX Innovation. https://www.hubtype.com/blog/conversational-commerce-in-south-africa
Sarker, P., Dwivedi, Y. K., & Hughes, L. (2023). Investigating social commerce factors: Motivation, price value, habit, risk and attitude. In Conference on e-Business, e-Services and e-Society (pp. 207-223). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Mehrabian, A., & Russell, J. A. (1974). A verbal measure of information rate for studies in environmental psychology. Environment and Behavior, 6(2), 233–252.
Sarker, P., Dwivedi, Y. K., & Hughes, L. (2023). Investigating social commerce factors: Motivation, price value, habit, risk and attitude. In Conference on e-Business, e-Services and e-Society (pp. 207-223). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Mehrabian, A., & Russell, J. A. (1974). A verbal measure of information rate for studies in environmental psychology. Environment and Behavior, 6(2), 233–252.