What should streamers communicate in livestream E-Commerce? The effects of social Interactions on live streaming performance

• Main Authors: SONG, Danyang, CHEN, Xi, GUO, Zhiling, LIU, Xiao Liu, JIN, Ruijin.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2022
• Subjects: E-commerce livestreaming; influencer marketing; social conversation; socialsolicitation; product information; consumer engagement; Databases and Information Systems; E-Commerce
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/7661; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/8664/viewcontent/What_Should_Streamers_Communicate_in_Livestream_E_Commerce__The_E.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Compared with traditional e-commerce, livestreaming e-commerce is characterized by direct and intimate communication between streamers and consumers that stimulates instant social interactions. This study focuses on streamers’ three types of information exchange (i.e., product information, social conversation, and social solicitation) and examines their roles in driving both short-term and long-term livestreaming performance (i.e., sales and customer base growth). We find that the informational role of product information (nonpromotional and promotional) is beneficial not only to sales performance, but also to the growth of the customer base. We also find that social conversation has a relationship-building effect that positively impacts both sales and customer base growth, whereas social solicitation has both a relationship-building and a relationship-straining effect that positively affects customer base growth but can hurt sales. Furthermore, our results show that streamers’ social interactions with consumers can stimulate consumer engagement in different ways, leading to different effects on livestreaming performance.