Young consumers’ impulse buying tendency on social media: an empirical analysis in Vietnam in light of the LST theoretical perspective
Abstract
Purpose
Social commerce has brought about a significant transformation in consumer experience due to diverse factors. As a result, users often find themselves prone to impulsive buying behaviour when exposed to such an environment. Prior research was limited to demonstrating the expanding influence of celebrities on social media and the linkage between social engagement and impulse buying context. Furthermore, the impulse buying tendency of consumers on social media in the context of celebrity posts has yet to be validated. This paper aims to assess the influence of consumer awareness, consumer trust and observational learning on the latent state-trait (LST) theory regarding celebrity posts on impulse buying tendencies.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical research builds on a sample survey involving 750 students from the “Big Four” economics universities in Hanoi. The proposed model was analysed using a partial least squares structural equation modelling technique.
Findings
The authors find that consumer trust and observational learning from celebrity’ posts positively affect impulse buying tendency. Yet celebrity influence awareness directly impacts trust in celebrity’ posts rather than directly impacting impulse buying tendency. Perceiving the importance of interactive and authentic posts by a celebrity in influencing consumers’ purchase behaviour on social media, this research offers valuable insights for stakeholders in the digital celebrity sphere of communication and marketing.
Practical implications
Perceiving the importance of interactive and authentic posts by a celebrity in influencing consumers’ purchase behaviour on social media, this research offers valuable insights for stakeholders in the digital celebrity sphere of communication and marketing.
Originality/value
From a theoretical perspective, this expands the applicability of the LST theory in social commerce to promote impulse buying tendencies. Second, this contributes to the literature on the emerging phenomenon of social media celebrities, as existing literature does not clarify their influence on impulse buying behaviour. Third, this research applies the concept of observational learning in online shopping through key features of social media platforms, namely, likes, shares and comments, to investigate their influence on the impulse buying tendency of consumers. Concerning managerial implications, the authors propose practical recommendations for practitioners, particularly those involved or interested in the commercial services industry and social media marketing (namely, celebrities and partner companies).
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Banking Academy of Vietnam. The authors would like to express their special thanks to Mr Tran Quang Hung, Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Municipal Youth Union – Curator of the Global Shapers Hanoi Hub (a constituent of the World Economic Forum), and his team at Hub Network for their assistance in collecting the survey data; Editors of Young Consumers Journal, and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and encouragement.
Citation
Pham, A.D., Nguyen, H.N., Le, T.T.H., Nguyen, H.K., Khuat, H.T., Phan, H.T.T. and Vu, H.T. (2024), "Young consumers’ impulse buying tendency on social media: an empirical analysis in Vietnam in light of the LST theoretical perspective", Young Consumers, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-07-2023-1785
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited