The impact of social influence and third party
endorsement on online shopping in Saudi Arabia

Alshehri, H; Meziane, F

Abstract

It is well documented that social influence and third party endorsements play a significant role in developing trust in E-Commerce. Previous studies have shown that it is relatively true in many countries and across cultures. However, very few studies were conducted in the Middle East and to our knowledge this was the first time to consider family members and friends Recommendation with the context of social influence conducted within Saudi Arabia. The research reported in this paper attempts to investigate whether the findings from previous studies will be similar in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, this study will evaluate the impact of social influence and endorsements on online shopping and whether this plays an important role in
increasing online shopping in Saudi Arabia. The results of this study are based on quantitative data collected from a sample of 606 Saudis citizens living in Saudi Arabia. Four factors connected to the impact of social influence and third party endorsements in online shopping are examined. The initial findings of this research confirm that there are similarities with the results of previous studies conducted in other countries. Similarly, the impact of social influence and third party endorsements seems to encourage and support the development of online shopping
in Saudi Arabia.

Citation

endorsement on online shopping in Saudi Arabia. Journal of internet and e-business studies, 2015, 146746. https://doi.org/10.5171/2015.146746

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 27, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Sep 2, 2015
• Publication Date: Sep 2, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jun 9, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 7, 2017
• Journal: Journal of Internet and e-Business Studies
• Electronic ISSN: 2169-0391
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2015
• Pages: 146746
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5171/2015.146746
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5171/2015.146746
• Related Public URLs: http://www.ibimapublishing.com/journals/JIEBS/JIEBS.html