UNRAVELING PURCHASE INTENTIONS: THE INTERPLAY OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE, SELLER REPUTATION, AND USER-GENERATED CONTENT IN SOCIAL E-COMMERCE

The "content + transaction" business model has gained popularity in recent years, with social e-commerce platforms dominating the market. These platforms accumulate users through content generation and make profits through commodity transactions. However, converting users into commodity buyers is crucial for their success. Consumer cognitive dissonance, a phenomenon where purchasing intentions are not actual, can lead to hesitant purchasing intentions. The reputation of sellers in social e-commerce affects consumers' initial trust, and high-quality user-generated content can reduce judgment costs and affect consumers' willingness to buy. This paper studies the factors affecting purchase intention on social ecommerce platforms from consumer perception, using theories of rational behavior, planned behavior, and initial trust. The research concludes that consumer cognitive dissonance negatively impacts purchase intention, seller reputation positively impacts it, and user-generated content positively impacts it. Management suggestions for social e-commerce platforms to promote consumer purchase intention include improving seller reputation, strengthening corporate control over user-generated content, and improving user-generated content quality.