Social Commerce Mobile Application Enhancement: a hybrid text clustering-topic modeling business model analysis

Social Commerce (S-commerce) is an emerging subset of e-commerce, enabled by Web 2.0, which is getting more attention due to the growing interest in social media. Along with the worldwide penetration of smartphones, their usability is boosted via mobile applications. In this research we have investigated the components of a social commerce mobile application business model using a text-analytics approach. The data is gathered from previous journal articles, and users reviews about selected mobile applications (Facebook, Instagram, Etsy, Pinterest, TikTok). Considering mobile applications as a platform for social commerce transactions and with Osterwalder Business Model Canvas as our reference model, we have identified business model building block components and three main aspects to develop a model for social commerce mobile businesses. The proposed model is presented with 3 aspects (Social, Commercial, Technological), 9 building blocks and 26 components. Model verification is done by expert interviews and its validation is done by reviewing two businesses. We have finally looked at the results from the lens of three theories including Design Theory, Sociomateriality Theory, and Stakeholder Theory to provide theoretical implications.