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Top1. Introduction
The widespread use of social media has spurred a multitude of researchers to delve into the value of information across various platforms (Chen et al., 2023). This surge in interest is driven by the emergence of a new form of commerce called social commerce or S-commerce, which has been facilitated by social media platforms and the development of Web 2.0 technology. S-commerce involves exchange-related activities influenced by an individual's online social network in computer-mediated social environments (Rouibah et al., 2021). Sellers and e-commerce firms leverage social media in S-commerce to bolster user engagement, visibility, and sales (Batta, 2023).
Statistics show that about 93% of marketers use Facebook, followed by Twitter (78%), LinkedIn (67%), YouTube (53%), Instagram (44%), Pinterest (40%), and Forums (12%) (Leong et al., 2018). Social commerce can be seen as the degree to which social media platforms are integrated into E-commerce with the support of Web 2.0 technology (Al-Adwan & Kokash, 2019). Social commerce is classified into two groups. The first group consists of companies that connect to social media sites to redirect potential buyers to their online stores. The second group includes companies that connect to social media platforms through fan pages and allow consumers to buy directly from social media platform stores.
Social commerce can be implemented in various ways (Al-Qirim et al., 2022). Notably, Facebook is considered the most popular social media platform (Cutshall et al., 2022). As of July 2021, Facebook leads the world with the highest number of active users. (Malhan et al., 2022; Statista, 2021). Facebook has about 1.56 billion daily active users (Facebook Marketing, 2023). This is five times the US’s population and equivalent to 20% of the world's population. When E-commerce is integrated with Facebook, a new form of commerce is created, namely, Facebook commerce or F-commerce (Changchit et al., 2022).
E-marketers have adopted F-commerce to enhance consumer shopping experiences. Facebook pages allow consumers to interact with each other and share information about products/services, facilitating purchasing decisions. For example, a Facebook shopping service called Soldsie allows sellers to upload images of products, prices, and quantities on Facebook. A Facebook store app called Shopify allows sellers to transact products/services through Facebook. Another Facebook application, Messenger, allows buyers to request product/service information, get quick responses, place orders, and confirm orders through their Messenger accounts. In addition, the search engine application named TheFind, which can extract consumers’ profiles and shopping habits, is utilized to build strategies that deliver customers personalized shopping experiences.
F-commerce affects not only first-hand markets but also pre-owned markets where previously used and owned products are traded, exchanged, and purchased among consumers or between consumers and companies (Al-Adwan & Kokash, 2019). As environmental awareness grows, consumers are looking for greener shopping and consumption solutions that aim to reduce pollution and waste (Barroso, 2021). Acquiring pre-owned luxury products is seen as a way for consumers to achieve these goals by extending product life cycles and fostering sustainable purchasing and consumption practices (Turunen et al., 2020). In the context of a circular economy characterized by social media networks, products should be shared, rented, repaired, reused, and re-cycled as much as possible in efforts to prevent resource depletion and reduce environmental contamination (Almeida, 2019). In this sense, the pre-owned luxury resale market is playing an increasingly important role. Social networks are creating more opportunities for consumers to buy pre-owned luxury products, without being limited by space and time.