Global research themes and trends in social commerce: A content analysis

Harzi, S. Al.; Shaikh, A. K.

Global research themes and trends in social commerce: A content analysis

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 26 June 2026

International Journal of Human Capital in Urban Management

Document Type : ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Authors

S. Al. Harzi ¹

A. K. Shaikh ²

¹ IT Unit, Centre for Preparatory Studies, Dhofar University, Salalah, Dhofar, Oman

² Department of Information Systems, Sultan Qaboos University, AlKhod, Muscat, Oman

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Social commerce has received increasing attention from both researchers and practitioners as a new area in the electronic commerce field. This research aims to provide a deep understanding of the current state of social commerce literature by conducting a content analysis of the top relevant journal articles in the field. In addition, find the impact of geographical focus on social commerce research, the main commercial activities conducted in s-commerce, and proper approaches to solving the limitations identified in social commerce research.
METHODS: This research adopted a qualitative content analysis approach. So, the sample size was 357 studies from the Scopus database using RStudio. Subsequently, the top 100 articles were used for content analysis via NVivo for data extraction and analysis to visualize and reveal the evolution of social commerce.
FINDINGS: The study results reveal that major themes include social commerce adoption, trust, Facebook, social media marketing, technology acceptance, and brand loyalty. Empirical research is the main form applied in social commerce research, while Social Support Theory, Technology Acceptance Model, and Trust Transfer Theories are the most frequently adopted theories. Transaction-based social commerce activities were the most performed. Additionally, customers frequently shared commercial information.
CONCLUSION: The limitations found were data collection through a cross-sectional survey approach that might lead to a lack of generalizability. The recommended solutions are to perform longitudinal studies since most of the earlier research was empirical. The current study results help researchers, practitioners, and businesses in this field gain deeper insight into the social commerce trends.

Keywords

Content analysis

Social commerce

Social-media

Systematic literature review.

Subjects

Urban Economics, Administrative, and Financial Management

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