Providing a Framework for the Development of Social Commerce

The increasing complexity and transformation of the business environment resulting from the development of information technology as well as the advent of Web 2.0 interactive tools have led to the formation of networking and social media platforms. The trend towards changing processes in the field of marketing and e-commerce has not only influenced firms to adapt but has also made them more inclined to choose more aggressive tools and strategies to stay competitive and gain an advantage in this evolving environment. Meanwhile, the development of social commerce taking place in the context of widespread developments can impact choosing one of these tools. Social media has developed online platforms through which people can create, share, and exchange their experiences with others. They enable users to follow a variety of content through text, images, music, and video, and to share generated content in a variety of ways in addition to creating original content (Liao et al., 2022). Therefore, the media not only strengthen the connections between network users but also help companies to establish closer relationships with their consumers and, consequently, increase sales of products and services (Mou & Benyoucef, 2021).

This study is conducted primarily to provide a framework for the development of social commerce. This is a qualitative study in terms of strategy, a basic study in terms of purpose, and a descriptive study in terms of nature and method. In this study, the Barroso and Sandelowski (2007) meta-synthesis strategy was used to collect data, and the Braun and Clark (2006) thematic analysis method was used to analyze the data. The references were screened using the meta-synthesis approach. Out of a total of 221 related papers published between 2010 and 2020, 76 were carefully reviewed. The researchers used the Kappa coefficient to evaluate the reliability of the findings, and the triangulation method to validate research findings.

After analyzing the findings by the thematic analysis method, 33 basic themes, nine organizing themes, and three comprehensive themes were identified and labeled as "social value creation", "technological synergy", and "social normalization". According to the results, special attention should be paid to factors such as social trust-building, network marketing, shared value creation, controlled risk, content-oriented interactions, social support, social and value communication with the customer, exchange of cognitive-emotional experiences, platform support, interactive content production, social sharing, reproduction of social capital, and development of social interactions to develop social commerce.

Examining past findings showed that various factors are involved in the success and development of social business. This study, with a comprehensive approach, could manage to investigate the factors affecting the creation and development of social commerce systematically and, in the meantime, provide a framework for the development of this field.