THE STUDY OF THE THEORETICAL ISSUES OF IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIAL COMMERCE: LEGAL OPINION ON THE RISKS FOR THE CONSUMER

Abstract

The article examines the theoretical issues of implementing of social commerce through the prism of legal risk assessment of consumers involved, where social commerce is understood as electronic sales (e-commerce) using social networks to support social interactions and user participation on the principle of “words spread from mouth to mouth”. Among these risks the author points out the problem of obtaining complete and reliable objective (neutral) information from various sources (bloggers, influencers, etc.), which causes concerns similar to those that arise in connection with the functioning and application of smart contracts in the blockchain, and the danger of concluding contracts that have traditionally been qualified by many legal systems as “contracts concluded on the go” (impulse buying) in the light of the idea that social commerce is positioned as being aimed at instant gratification of the user's needs, desires, and interests that have arisen during the use of the social network. Legal and other ways to overcome these risks are considered (for example, the possibilities of a new subscription economy, etc. Scientific novelty is determined by the goal of the article itself and the range of issues under consideration. The conclusions reached by the author are, in particular, that it is established that if the requirements for advertising placed online relate to its completeness, reliability and objectivity, fix measures of responsibility for advertisers, then the rules for conducting online trading and commerce include simultaneously with such provisions prohibitions of unfair practices and misleading advertising, as well as criteria for their qualification, etc.