With a little help from my friends: Cultivating serendipity in online shopping environments

摘要

Many important findings and discoveries in science and everyday life are the result of serendipity, that is, the unanticipated occurrence of happy events such as the finding of valuable information. Consumers are increasingly seeking serendipity in online shopping, where information clutter and preprogramed recommendation systems can make product choice frustrating or mundane. However, it is notoriously difficult to design online shopping environments that induce it. In this study, we explore how social media affordances such as obtaining access to peer-generated content and being connected to online friends can help create the right conditions for serendipity in online shopping. We supplement this analysis with an account of two individual factors that are also likely to be instrumental in a shopping context, namely, the intensity of shoppers' information search and their aversion to risk when faced with a product choice. Our investigation relies on a conceptualization of serendipity that has two defining elements: unexpectedness and informational value. The results of an experimental study in which we manipulated an online product search environment reveal the superiority of designs that incorporate online friendships, and these results support the positive effects of search effort and risk aversion on serendipity. This study contributes by developing a theoretical framework for the analysis of serendipity and by explaining how social commerce, that is, the integration of social media and electronic commerce, can cultivate serendipity.