E-commerce Live Streaming and Chinese Youth's Purchase Intention: Examining the Influential Factors - A Quantitative Analysis

E-commerce live streaming is becoming a popular trend among young consumers in China to make purchases. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence Chinese youths' purchase intentions through e-commerce live streaming. A structured questionnaire is administered to 446 Chinese youth aged 18 to 35 in Xi'an using quantitative methods and simple random sampling. The survey includes demographic data, e-commerce livestreaming usage, and purchase intentions. The study examines independent variables including visibility, interactivity, emotional appeal, influencer endorsement, information presentation, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Attitude is considered as a mediating variable, while purchase intention serves as a dependent variable. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis are used for data analysis to identify the factors that influence purchase intention. This study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the characteristics of e-commerce live streaming and its influence on Chinese youths' purchase intentions. The study found that social norm, attitude and perceived behavior control have significance positive effects on purchase intention. The findings provide valuable insights for e-commerce companies and live streaming platform providers to effectively target and understand this audience. In addition, the study's findings can help marketers and advertisers formulate strategies to reach and influence Chinese youth through e-commerce live streaming

The Sales Impact of Storytelling in Live Streaming E-Commerce

Live streaming e-commerce (LSE) has emerged as a popular third-party service for improving product sales. It persuades consumers through streamers’ storytelling or narratives, which encompass descriptions and depictions of their own product experiences. However, the sales impact of a story or narrative in LSEs has been overlooked in the literature. Extending the narrative transportation theory to the LSE context, we posit that the dual landscapes of narrative—the landscapes of action and the landscape of consciousness—can improve product sales through their influence on consumers’ imagination of story plotline and empathy for streamers’ product experiences. We also propose that the efficacy of the dual landscapes is contingent on streamers’ interaction response to consumer query. By collecting LSE data from the Taobao Live platform, we manually and algorithmically measured these variables and proposed to empirically examine their effects

Why Do Customers Buy Products on Social Commerce Platform? A Study from Affordance Theory

This study examines the influence mechanism of the factors of influencing live streaming shopping which is a new social commerce mode for customer purchase based on the affordance theory. Our research examines how visibility affordance, metavoicing affordance and guidance shopping affordance which are three main affordances in live streaming shopping influence the customers’ purchase intention. The results show that visibility affordance, metavoicing affordance and guidance shopping affordance will positively impact customer purchase intention. And our research is of great help in live streaming shopping research in social commerce research field. Also, our research provides some advices for social commerce operators

Understanding the Role of Streamer Emotion in E-Commerce Livestreaming

The combination of e-commerce and livestreaming video (e-commerce livestreaming) offers an unprecedented opportunity for streamers (salespeople) to show their emotional displays to viewers (consumers) in real-time. However, it remains unclear how and to what extent streamer emotion influences purchase intentions, especially in the context of different product types where consumers have different decision-making considerations. Based on the stereotype content model, which considers two basic dimensions of social judgments (i.e., warmth and competence), this study intends to explore the impact of the interaction effect of streamer emotion (happiness vs. neutrality) and product type (utilitarian vs. hedonic product) on consumers’ purchase intentions and behaviors. Both laboratory experiment and secondary data analysis will be conducted to test our hypotheses. We hope this study can not only extend the livestreaming and emotion-related literature but also provide suggestions on emotional expressions for streamers in their marketing campaigns

Role of Live E-Commerce on Consumer Purchase Intentions

Purpose:  Live streaming is one of the many options that e-commerce offers to enable retailers to advertise goods in real time through live video.   Theoretical framework:  In the framework of online shopping research, perceived value and trust received are considered significant variables of cognitive response expressing interaction with external stimuli.   Design/methodology/approach:  It gives information and makes it possible for synchronous information exchange between the online viewer (consumer) and the Internet celebrity, who ultimately influences the customers' information-seeking behavior and aids the company in making long-term profits. From live streaming to cutting-edge buying, China has led the way in global innovation in online commerce.   Findings: The results showed a positive correlation between social interaction, entertainment, and purchase intent for live commerce, but no connection between purchase intent and visualization or professionalization was discovered. Entertainment has the most impact on viewers' intent to buy during live streaming.   Research, Practical & Social implications:  The live-streaming e-commerce industry is anticipated to continue growing with the rapid development of contactless communication. Live-streamed e-commerce goes beyond the conventional idea of only selling goods or services.   Originality/value:  Future researchers and business professionals can utilize this study as a benchmark to increase viewers' intent to buy during live streaming

Growing Business in Live Commerce: A Tripartite Perspective and Product Heterogeneity

Live streaming becomes an important channel helping organizations and individual sellers boost their sales. Our research takes an integrated perspective and examines the simultaneous influences of streamers-, consumers-, and products-related factors on sales volume in live commerce. We apply multiple linear regression to analyze a panel data set collected from Taobao live in Double 11, 2020, which contained 34,925 product sales records. We find that streamers’ social capital, consumers’ engagement, and products’ live demonstration all significantly contribute to product sales volume. In addition, product heterogeneity matters in live commerce such that the effects of streamers’ social capital and products’ live demonstration on sales volume work only for experience products (not for search products) and for the products with less popular brands (not for the products with popular brands). Our research offers comprehensive insights for both researchers and practitioners on how to grow business in live commerce

Online users' behaviours and behavioural intentions with reference to live streaming : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 26 March 2023.

Embargoed until 26 March 2023Live streaming, as a new medium, allows users to participate in real-time interaction. It has attracted a large number of online users, and become a new social commerce venue and lucrative business, especially in China where the live streaming industry is growing explosively and is the largest in the world. This thesis aims to comprehensively investigate users’ behaviours and behavioural intentions in live streaming through both qualitative and quantitative approaches using the Chinese live streaming as an example. This thesis contains four studies to investigate from both streamers’ and viewers’ aspects. Firstly, we conducted two qualitative studies to investigate users’ online behaviours in the social commerce practice in live streaming by exploring how streamers attract viewers (Chapter 2) and encourage gifting (Chapter 3). Novel multiple triangulation was used, including data source triangulation and methodological triangulation. Through multiple triangulation, three behaviours for viewer attraction and four behaviours for gifting encouragement were identified. These two chapters help to comprehensively understand streamers’ online behaviours in this new form of social commerce. Next, we conducted two quantitative studies to explore why viewers continue to watch streams (Chapters 4 and 5). Based on expectation-confirmation theory (ECT), in Chapter 4, we modified the post-acceptance model of information system continuance and re-defined the constructs in a structural equation model of predictors of continuance intention of watching live streams. Chapter 4 successfully connects intention and continuance intention of watching, and integrates disparate understandings of viewers’ watching behaviours. To solve the deficiencies identified in current ECT-based models and further increase the explanation of variance in continuance intention of watching, in Chapter 5, we proposed a value-based continuance intention model (V-ECM), which theoretically extends ECT-based studies by including a process of overall practical assessment between users’ perceived benefits and perceived sacrifices. V-ECM appears to be a better model for explaining users’ continuance intention in the stream-watching context. Also, V-ECM could be used broadly in online and/or technology-related fields. Overall, this thesis comprehensively investigates both streamers’ and viewers’ behaviours and behavioural intentions in live streaming. Insights from this thesis can improve the design, functions and marketing within live streaming platforms. Also, this thesis provides strong foundations for further online behaviour studies, for example, stream-watching addiction

Building Streamers’ Personal Brand Loyalty by the Brand Resonance Pyramid Model in Live Streaming Commerce

This study explores the issue of building streamers’ personal brands from the brand resonance pyramid model. Brand loyalty brings benefits and lower viewers’ wrong purchase decisions. Factors related to the context, streamers, and the community shape brand awareness and differentiate streamers’ uniqueness. The uniqueness presented by streamers’ credibility and the perceived value of live streamers’ programs deepens viewers’ emotional attachment toward the streamers. The close emotional attachment raises viewers’ loyalty and then induces viewers to purchase the recommended products. Results from analyzing 1082 valid returned data collected by an online survey show the significant path from brand awareness, differentiation, emotional attachment, and loyalty to purchase intention. The atmospherics, streamer attractiveness, streamer admiration, and vicarious experience learning promote viewers’ perceived credibility and distinct part of perceived value and then cultivate emotional attachment. The chained effects of emotional attachment, loyalty, and purchase intention are significant. Theoretical and managerial implications are also listed

Investigating Impulse Buying Behavior in Live Streaming Commerce: The Role of Social Presence

Live streaming is changing the paradigm of people’s entertainment and consumption. It has been adopted by many small individual sellers to improve their market performance, leading to the emergence of live streaming commerce. Although existing literature has paid attention to consumer purchase behavior in live streaming commerce, little knowledge on impulse buying can be available. Drawing on social presence theory and cognitive-affective framework, this paper attempts to develop a theoretical model to investigate how social presence affects consumers’ urge to buy impulsively through the mediating mechanism of cognitive state (i.e., product risk) and affective state (i.e., affective intensity). This paper is expected to advance knowledge on consumers’ impulse buying in live streaming commerce

I Watch But I Intend Not To Buy: Viewers’ Persuasion Knowledge About Live-streaming Shopping

Live-streaming shopping is a new shopping pattern integrating real-time commerce communication and real-time social interaction by streaming videos. The intense attempts taken by marketers trying to persuade viewers to buy products have stimulated the purchase intention of some viewers, however, generated reactance of some other viewers at the same time, such as the behavior of “watching without buying anything.” Based on the Persuasion Knowledge Model, we investigated what persuasion knowledge viewers beheld. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and online comments of viewers of live-streaming shopping revealed four themes (recognition of tactics, awareness about psychological mediators, censors on tactics, clearness of coping goals) and ten sub-themes (coupon tactic, hunger marketing tactic, social influence, flow, effectiveness, manipulativeness, legitimacy, upgrading persuasion knowledge, managing self-image, and managing costs and benefits) of viewers’ persuasion knowledge about live-streaming shopping. We argued that the persuasion of live-streaming shopping might backfire since viewers’ persuasion knowledge motivated them to take responses strategically. Discussions and implications were provided, based on which researchers in live-streaming shopping can better involve prominent factors of persuasion knowledge in their analytical framework, and marketers can improve management on their persuasion tactics