Understanding Boredom in Online Commerce: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Boredom is a ubiquitous emotion, whether in a moral, social, or practical sense. In the context of digital communications and business, extensive research has explored the ways in which this adverse sentiment influences the utilisation of digital technology. However, these studies have ignored this phenomenon in the context of online commerce. The present work aims to assess knowledge on boredom in this context. Through a review of 103 studies using grounded theory method for rigorous literature review, an inductive framework using five building blocks is built. From an individual’s perspective, the framework foregrounds that boredom is caused by individual, situational, and their mismatch factors. As a result of boredom’s self-regulatory function, individuals often search for internal and external stimulation from social commerce, resulting in both positive and negative outcomes. The findings of this study indicate that boredom is both a performance and a health barrier; however, proper understanding and intervention tactics that utilise constructive alleviation strategies can lead to promising results in self-development. Furthermore, the findings also indicate how regulated and unregulated boredom affects the market performance of online commerce and how preventing and regulating this emotion can lead to sales