Approach and avoidance motivational factors influencing the continuance intention of social commerce applications

In the contemporary era, social commerce (SC) applications have become powerful platforms reshaping consumer behavior and redefining online commerce. SC refers to the utilization of social media platforms to facilitate commercial activities, encompassing transactions such as buying and selling goods and services within a digital social context. Despite their growing popularity, these platforms face significant challenges in sustaining user retention due to high drop-out rates, frequent uninstallation, and intense competition. In the pursuit of maintaining relevance and competitive edge, understanding the complexities of user experience becomes paramount. This study, grounded in the Approach-Avoidance Motivations Model (AAMM), examines the influence of approach (emotional support, surveillance gratification, and multisensory gratification) and avoidance factors (technostress and perceived deception) on the flow experience and continuance intention of SC application users in Malaysia. Data were collected from 389 Malaysian SC app users via purposive sampling and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that emotional support, surveillance gratification, and multisensory gratification are the approach factors enhancing user flow experience and encouraging continuance intention using the SC apps. Conversely, technostress and perceived deception emerged as notable avoidance factors, acting as deterrents that diminish the flow experience and undermine users' intentions to persist with these apps. Flow experience mediates the relationships between the approach-avoidance factors and continuance intention. Gender moderates the relationships between these factors and endogenous variables, except for the path between perceived deception and flow experience. The study advances the AAMM by integrating multiple theories such as Uses and Gratifications Theory, Limited Capacity Model, and Flow Theory, to identify approach-avoidance factors and the underlying mechanism of flow experience, providing a comprehensive view of understanding users' continuance intentions. The findings offer practical guidance for SC application developers, marketers, and policymakers. The study informs strategic decisions in interface design and feature personalization, optimizing user experience and promoting sustained SC utilization.

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