Biases in social commerce users' rational risk considerations

Social commerce has emerged as a new commercial platform which uses social media features in addition to conventional commerce facilities to enhance users' shopping experience. It thus adds a social context to the conventional online commerce platforms. Nonetheless, the effect of these social facets on social commerce users' behaviors is not fully studied. Furthermore, current social commerce literature mainly focused on factors that drive social commerce acceptance; however, there are negative factors which may demotivate or deter the social commerce use. In this study, we suggest potential risks that may hinder users' engagement in the social commerce platforms. Moreover, drawing upon the "risky/choice shift" logic, habit literature, and information cascade theory, we propose that social identification, habitual use, and herding behavior can skew the way social commerce users consider and weight risks in their purchasing and participation decisions.