Will social media celebrities drive me crazy? Exploring the effects of celebrity endorsement on impulsive buying behavior in social commerce

This study evaluates the influence of social media celebrity endorsements on consumers' impulsive buying behavior in social commerce by extending the signaling theory and commitment-trust theory. A self-managed online questionnaire is designed to collect the data from 295 valid respondents and analyze it using a multi-analytical hybrid structural equation modeling-artificial neural network (ANN). The results reveal that relational switching alternatives and relationship benefits directly contribute to relationship commitment to social media celebrity, whereas shared value and parasocial interaction positively lead to social commerce trust; both relationship commitment and social commerce trust induce consumers' impulsive buying behavior in social commerce. From a theoretical perspective, this study enriches the components of signaling theory and commitment-trust theory, expanding their applicability and transferability in social commerce. Moreover, this study consolidates the theoretical integration, indicating that signaling theory can be considered as an antecedent of commitment-trust theory for triggering consumers' impulsive buying. Methodologically, adopting second-order constructs benefits, this study captures the multidimensionality and complexity of social commerce trust and impulsive buying from the partial least squares-ANN perspectives. In practice, this research provides valuable insights into how to better invite celebrity endorsements and build long-term relationships with customers, as well as offers insights into countries where social commerce is lacking today. That being said, this study is constrained by its cross-sectional research design, conducted in Malaysia. Future research endeavors should consider launching longitudinal, multicountry studies to broaden the applicability of the findings.