How Interpersonal Guanxi Position Influences the Purchase Intention on Social Media: An Analysis of Buyer's Perceptions in Vietnam

This study aims to explore how Confucian philosophy - guanxi position influences the purchase intention while a consumer receives product messages from a friend in social media context. This study used an online survey with four guanxi positioning scenarios and implemented ANOVA and regression analysis to test research questions. Drawing on a sample of 213 respondents in Vietnam, the results show that (a) the consumer's guanxi position still have critical impact on the purchase intention on social media, (b) the jia-ren positioned friends (i.e. good/close friends) appear to be a better choice than other guanxi positions for for a consumer to buy a product, (c) both the xinyong/mianzi-based guanxi facet and ganqing-based facet could help increase purchase intention, but the latter should be more critical while considering the consumer's purchase-decision involvement. Our results reveal several theoretical and practical implications for those who want to improve advertisement's effectiveness via social media in Vietnam.