How Likes and Views Shape Buying Choices in Mobile Social Commerce Platforms

A team of researchers from the Department of Digitalization at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark and the School of Business at Renmin University of China has delved into the subtle yet powerful role of social paratexts, specifically likes and views, in shaping consumer decision-making in mobile social e-commerce. In this booming sector, where purchasing behavior is increasingly influenced by social media activity, paratexts act as key cues for guiding perceptions. Defined as elements surrounding the main content, such as likes, views, emojis, or follower counts, paratexts are especially influential on small mobile screens where display space is scarce. While earlier studies have examined broad social recommendation effects, few have explored the psychological differences between likes and views, or how these cues interact with social distance, feedback from friends versus the crowd, to influence purchase decisions.

Theoretical Lens: Construal Level Theory and Social Distance

The study is grounded in Construal Level Theory (CLT), which explains how people think differently depending on psychological distance. Low-level construal is concrete, detail-oriented, and tied to psychologically close events, whereas high-level construal is abstract, generalized, and linked to distant events. The researchers hypothesize that likes indicate deeper engagement, clearer attitudes, and stronger emotional connection, fitting with low-level construal, while views reflect passive engagement and generalized popularity, aligning with high-level construal. They further suggest that persuasion is strongest when the paratext type matches the social distance of the source: likes from friends should boost purchase intentions more than likes from the crowd, while views from the crowd should be more persuasive than views from friends.

Three Experiments to Test the Theory

To validate these ideas, the researchers conducted three experiments. Study 1, involving 236 participants, used the Implicit Association Test to measure the cognitive link between paratext type and construal level. Participants were quicker to pair likes with specific, concrete concepts and views with broader, abstract concepts, supporting the predicted association.

Study 2, with 129 participants in a simulated mobile recommendation setting, measured immersion, clarity of attitude, and perceived abstractness. Likes generated higher immersion, clearer attitudes, and more specific impressions than views, while views were linked to vaguer, more generalized perceptions. This reinforced the claim that likes foster low-level construal and views trigger high-level construal.

Study 3, a 2×2 factorial design with 209 participants, examined how paratext type and social distance influence purchase intentions in a realistic scenario involving fruit recommendations. Four conditions were tested: likes from friends, likes from the crowd, views from friends, and views from the crowd. The results showed a significant interaction: likes from friends led to higher purchase intentions than likes from the crowd, and views from the crowd outperformed views from friends. This confirmed that paratext–source congruence increases persuasive impact.

From Theory to Application: Strategic Display of Paratexts

The findings contribute to CLT by identifying social feedback cues as new antecedents of construal level. They show that likes and views are not just popularity indicators but cognitive triggers influencing how consumers process information. This places them alongside factors like temporal framing, mood, or sensory cues in shaping abstract or concrete thinking.

From a practical perspective, the research offers a playbook for mobile social commerce platforms. Likes work best for detail-rich, personal, or emotionally engaging products, especially when endorsed by friends. Views are better for trend-based, broad-appeal products or when conveying mass popularity from a large audience. For example, a niche recipe app might benefit from showing likes from friends who have tried specific dishes, while a mass-market gadget could gain more traction by highlighting high view counts from across the user base.

The study also suggests pairing paratext type with temporal message framing: near-term, actionable offers may resonate more with likes, while long-term, aspirational campaigns may align better with views.

Implications for Marketers and Platform Designers

For social e-commerce operators, the goal is to turn various social interactions, likes, followers, comments, and shares into sales or positive behavioral shifts. This can be achieved by carefully curating which social cues appear on product recommendation pages. The choice between displaying likes or views should be guided by the nature of the product, campaign goals, and available social context.

Marketers can also customize feedback displays based on user demographics or prior behaviors. For instance, showing likes from same-gender friends could leverage perceived closeness, while displaying views from a broad audience might work better for cross-demographic recommendations. Furthermore, matching paratext type with psychological distance can optimize persuasion in advertising, like for immediate, tangible offers, and views for aspirational, future-focused messaging.

Limitations and Future Research Directions

While the experiments provide strong evidence for the hypotheses, the authors acknowledge limitations. All studies were conducted in controlled lab or online environments, which may not capture real-world complexities. They recommend future research using live platform data and field experiments to validate these effects in natural settings. Additionally, the focus was limited to likes and views, but other paratexts, such as comments, shares, and favorites, could have distinct psychological effects worth studying.

The generalizability of findings is another consideration, as all participants were Chinese social media users. Cultural factors, such as collectivism versus individualism, may influence how people interpret likes and views. Further cross-cultural research could reveal whether these effects hold in different social and cultural contexts.

The study demonstrates that in mobile social commerce, persuasion is not solely about the content of the recommendation but also about how it is framed and who it comes from. Likes and views act as cognitive signals that can either amplify or weaken purchase intentions, depending on their alignment with social distance. By mapping these psychological pathways and translating them into actionable design strategies, the research offers valuable tools for academics and practitioners aiming to convert fleeting social signals into meaningful consumer actions.