COVID-19 Pandemic and Social Commerce

Social commerce has emerged due to the rise of online networks and Malaysian online retailers are reluctant to integrate social commerce. As a result of Malaysia’s COVID-19 Pandemic this research seeks to understand online consumer acceptance of social commerce better. It was determined that customers use online social commerce websites directly hence more understanding of factors influencing social commerce acceptance following COVID-19 Pandemic. A research model demonstrating social commerce acceptance was constructed using the Social Commerce Adoption Model (SCAM) Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) social presence theory and social comparison theory. Three demographic factors and eight social comparison-online tendencies are included in the model. 150 Malaysian Internet users were used to test the model experimentally. After the COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia social comparison online perceived utility and trust were key factors of social commerce acceptance. Social commerce acceptance was unaffected by demographic factors in the research. In addition future research directions have been drawn at the end of this research.