Sociala bevis i ny skepnad - en kvantitativ studie om social påverkan inom e-handeln

Sammanfattning: Social proof in terms of real-time-statistics is a relatively new phenomenon which is adopted by more and more retailers, however little is known about its effects on consumers. Further research on the subject is therefore necessary to gain knowledge about whether the effects of social influence can be derived using real-time-statistics and to gain insights about its implications for retailers. This paper thus examines the effects of social proof in the form of real-time-statistics in an e-commerce setting, measuring both its impact on consumers and consequently its financial benefits for retailers. Based on The Social Impact Theory and a quantitative study, this paper concludes that using real-time-statistics as social proof will increase perceived scarcity and conversion speed, where scarcity has a mediating effect on conversion speed, regardless if the perceived social size is small or large. Furthermore, when the perceived social size is large, compared to small, social proof in terms of real-time-statistics will increase popularity, product attractiveness and willingness to pay, where popularity has a mediating effect on product attractiveness and popularity along with product attractiveness have a mediating effect on willingness to pay. The results therefore indicate that retailers would benefit from using real-time-statistics as social proof.