WJEMSD · Vol 22, Nos 1/2 · 2026Research

Sustainable E-Commerce in MENA: An SOR Analysis of Gen Z Purchase Intentions through Open-Source LLM (DeepSeek) Interactions, Trust, Familiarity, and Privacy Concerns

Assistant Professor of Marketing and Business Administration, Marketing Department, College of Management and Technology
Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport

Egypt

ORCID: 0009-0002-5677-1990

Fandi Omeish

Assistant Professor, E-Marketing and Social Media Department
Princess Sumaya University for Technology

Jordan

ORCID: 0000-0002-8042-3622

Dina S. AlGhamdi

Assistant Professor, Marketing Department, Applied College
Taibah University

Saudi Arabia

ORCID: 0009-0009-6669-0458

Abdullah Khataan

Assistant Professor of Marketing and Business Administration, Marketing Department, College of Management and Technology,
Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport

Egypt

ORCID: 0009-0004-6279-1685

Abdelrehim Awad

Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Department of Business Administration, College of Business
University of Bisha

Saudi Arabia

ORCID: 0009-0005-3649-430X

Received: 11 December 2025Revised: 19 January 2026Accepted: 30 January 2026Published: 12 February 2026

Purpose

This study models how open-source large language model (LLM) recommender interaction quality (personalisation and responsiveness) affects Gen Z online purchase decisions through trust, AI familiarity, and privacy concerns using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework.

Design/Methodology/Approach

We have conducted a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis of 570 Gen Z online shoppers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Qatar.

Findings

Interaction quality improved trust (β=0.2585) and AI familiarity (β=0.2943) while increasing privacy concerns (β=0.5499). Purchase intention was positively influenced by trust (β=0.2848) and privacy concerns (β=0.3583). AI familiarity showed no direct impact (β=0.0477). Model explained 47% variance in purchase intention.

Original/Value of the Paper

Few studies examined trust-privacy dynamics for open-source LLM recommenders across four economies. Research Implications: SOR theory application reveals trust mediates positively while high interaction quality increases privacy concerns among Gen Z.

Practical Implications

Retailers should optimise interaction quality while implementing transparency and user control mechanisms to address heightened privacy concerns.

Keywords

Open-Source LLMsE-Commerce Interaction QualityTrust-PrivacySOR ModelGen ZMiddle East Shopping

Citation

Shaheen, A., Omeish, F., AlGhamdi, D. S., Khataan, A. and Awad, A. (2026): Sustainable E-Commerce in MENA: An SOR Analysis of Gen Z Purchase Intentions through Open-Source LLM (DeepSeek) Interactions, Trust, Familiarity, and Privacy Concerns. World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development (WJEMSD), Vol. 22, Nos 1-2, pp. 133-150.

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