Sustaining Consumer Excitement: The Role of Online Customer Experience and Engagement in Shaping Behavioural Intentions in Food Social Commerce

This study examines the determinants of online customer engagement (OCE) and its role in influencing the repurchase intention of healthy food through social commerce (s-commerce) platforms. Using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, 300 Indonesian urban shoppers were surveyed to explore the impact of customer internal and external buying stimuli through online content quality (OCQ) and customer experiences, encompassing hedonic and social value. PLS-SEM analysis highlights the significance of OCQ in enhancing customer trust and engagement while underscoring the importance of emotional gratification and perceived social benefits mediating customer engagement in building repurchase intentions. The analysis also reveals the insignificant direct effect between social value and repurchase intention, suggesting a more nuanced mechanism in consumer behavioural response. The findings provide theoretical insights into s-commerce research and practical implications for designing online food services to retain customers, emphasising the need for integrative strategies incorporating emotional, social, and informational elements. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour in using social media for healthy food marketing. It offers sustainable and actionable recommendations for the digital era.