Social Commerce Intention Scale

What it measures

Measures consumers' intentions to purchase products via social media platforms and to share/recommend purchases through social channels. Social commerce integrates social interaction with commerce, turning platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest into direct sales channels. Widely used as social commerce adoption explodes globally.

Response format

Likert (1–7, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Scale items

Social Commerce Participation Intention (Likert 1–7, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

• I intend to read other consumers' reviews in social commerce platforms.
• I intend to refer to others' recommendations when shopping on social media.
• I intend to share my shopping experiences on social media.
• I intend to recommend products to others through social media.

Social Commerce Purchase Intention

• I intend to buy products recommended by others on social media.
• I intend to purchase products through social media platforms.
• I am willing to use social media for shopping purposes.
• I plan to make purchases based on social media content.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Two subscale scores. Score = mean. Higher = greater social commerce intention. Social proof, FOMO, and parasocial relationships with influencers are key antecedents. The 'shoppable content' trend makes this increasingly relevant for marketing research. Distinguish from general e-commerce intention — social commerce involves social interaction as an integral part of the shopping process.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Zhang, H., Lu, Y., Gupta, S., & Zhao, L. (2014). What motivates customers to participate in social commerce? The impact of technological environments and virtual customer experiences. Information & Management, 51(8), 1017–1030.

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