From Scroll to Sale: A Service-Journey Perspective on Trust Formation in Generation Z's Social Commerce Behavior

บทคัดย่อ

Abstract:  Generation Z now drives much of the growth in Thai social commerce, yet most research explains their buying behavior with a single snapshot of trust usually measured right before a purchase decision. In real platform use, trust is not built once; it is formed, tested, and revised across several distinct moments, from scrolling past a video to posting a review after the product arrives. This conceptual paper proposes a simple way to organize those moments: the Digital Trust Journey (DTJ), a five-step model Discovery, Engagement, Verification, Transaction, and Advocacy describing how a Generation Z consumer's basis for trust changes as they move from a short-video feed toward a completed, shared purchase. Each step is paired with the type of trust that matters most at that point and the kind of response a seller can use to address it. Three simple propositions make the model testable, and the paper closes with practical implications for Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) selling through platforms such as TikTok Shop and Facebook Live, and a short research agenda for scholars studying Generation Z as digital consumers.