The Rise of Digital Authenticity: Consumer Experiences in Building Trust through Social Commerce

Abstract

This study investigates how consumers experience digital authenticity and how these experiences shape trust formation in social commerce. A qualitative phenomenological approach was employed, involving semi-structured in-depth interviews with six active social commerce consumers in Makassar, Indonesia, selected through purposive sampling. This study contributes theoretically by integrating Signaling Theory, Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) Theory, and Trust Theory to explain consumer trust formation from an experiential perspective. Practically, the findings suggest that businesses and platform providers should prioritize transparent communication, authentic digital content, and credible user-generated information to strengthen sustainable consumer relationships. The study positions digital authenticity as a strategic driver of trust in contemporary social commerce.