Social Commerce Ecosystems: User-Generated Content, Influencer Marketing and Purchase Conversion

Dear Colleagues,

Background Introduction

The rapid evolution of social commerce ecosystems has fundamentally transformed the digital marketplace, reshaping how consumers discover products, interact with brands, engage with online communities and make purchasing decisions. Unlike traditional electronic commerce, social commerce ecosystems integrate consumers, brands, influencers, content creators, digital platforms and intelligent technologies into interconnected networks that facilitate value co-creation through continuous social interaction and digital engagement. Within these ecosystems, user-generated content (UGC), electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), influencer marketing, live-streaming commerce, online communities and personalized digital experiences have become key drivers of consumer engagement, trust development and purchase conversion.

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), generative AI, recommendation systems, virtual influencers, intelligent content generation and advanced data analytics have further accelerated the evolution of social commerce ecosystems. Rather than serving merely as technological innovations, these digital capabilities increasingly function as ecosystem enablers that strengthen interactions among consumers, creators, influencers, brands and digital platforms while enhancing personalization, customer experiences, marketing effectiveness and organizational performance. As these digital platforms continue to evolve, social commerce ecosystems have become dynamic environments in which technological innovation, social interaction and stakeholder collaboration collectively shape sustainable competitive advantage and long-term value creation.

Despite the remarkable growth of social commerce, important theoretical and managerial challenges remain. Questions surrounding consumer trust, information credibility, platform governance, algorithmic transparency, responsible AI, privacy protection and sustainable digital development continue to attract increasing scholarly attention. Existing research remains fragmented across multiple disciplines, highlighting the need for a more integrated ecosystem perspective that explains how diverse stakeholders, digital technologies, and social interactions jointly influence consumer engagement, marketing effectiveness, business performance and purchase conversion. Addressing these challenges requires interdisciplinary perspectives integrating marketing, information systems, management, communication, psychology, artificial intelligence and business analytics to advance both theoretical knowledge and managerial practice within rapidly evolving social commerce ecosystems.

Aim and Scope

This Special Issue aims to advance the theoretical and practical understanding of social commerce ecosystems by bringing together high-quality research that explores the complex interactions among consumers, creators, influencers, brands, digital platforms and intelligent technologies. We particularly welcome studies that investigate how consumer engagement, social interaction, digital innovation and AI-enabled applications collectively influence customer experiences, marketing effectiveness, purchase conversion and sustainable value creation across diverse social commerce ecosystems.

We encourage submissions employing quantitative, qualitative, experimental, computational, mixed-methods and interdisciplinary approaches. Manuscripts offering novel theoretical perspectives, innovative analytical methods or actionable managerial implications are especially encouraged. Ultimately, this Special Issue seeks to establish a comprehensive understanding of next-generation social commerce ecosystems by integrating consumer engagement, influencer marketing, intelligent technologies and platform innovation to advance theory, support managerial decision-making and promote responsible and sustainable digital transformation.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Social Commerce Ecosystems and Platform Innovation

• Social commerce ecosystems and digital platform innovation
• Ecosystem architecture and platform design
• Multi-sided platforms and ecosystem governance
• Creator economy and digital entrepreneurship
• Platform orchestration and ecosystem collaboration
• Ecosystem resilience and sustainable digital development

2. Consumer Engagement and Social Interaction within Social Commerce Ecosystems

• Consumer engagement and customer experience in social commerce ecosystems
• User-generated content (UGC) and collaborative value creation
• Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and social influence
• Online communities and social network ecosystems
• Consumer trust, credibility and relationship development
• Cross-cultural consumer behavior in social commerce ecosystems

3. Influencer Marketing, Creator Economy and Digital Content Ecosystems

• Influencer marketing and virtual influencer ecosystems
• Live-streaming commerce and interactive shopping ecosystems
• Social media marketing and digital branding strategies
• Influencer credibility and consumer trust
• Digital content creation and creator economy ecosystems
• Brand–creator–consumer collaboration and ecosystem value co-creation

4. AI-Enabled Ecosystem Innovation and Intelligent Technologies

• AI-enabled social commerce ecosystems
• Generative AI and intelligent content ecosystems
• AI-driven recommendation ecosystems and personalized consumer experiences
• Human–AI collaboration within social commerce ecosystems
• Conversational commerce and intelligent customer interaction ecosystems
• Data-driven ecosystem intelligence, business analytics and decision support
• Intelligent ecosystem orchestration and platform innovation

5. Ecosystem Governance, Value Co-Creation and Sustainable Performance

• Consumer decision-making and purchase conversion within social commerce ecosystems
• Customer journey and omnichannel ecosystem integration
• Value co-creation among consumers, creators, influencers, brands and digital platforms
• Customer engagement, loyalty and relationship development across social commerce ecosystems
• Platform governance and ecosystem coordination
• Trust, transparency and responsible AI within digital ecosystems
• Privacy protection, data governance and cybersecurity across social commerce ecosystems
• Sustainable social commerce ecosystems and responsible digital innovation
• Ecosystem resilience, stakeholder collaboration and long-term ecosystem performance

Prof. Dr. Wann-Yih Wu
Prof. Dr. Ying-Kai Liao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• electronic commerce
• social commerce
• user-generated content
• consumer behavior
• digital marketing
• influencer marketing
• business ethics
• AI-driven marketing