An Exploratory Study on Consumer Purchase Behavior From Live Webcasting E-Commerce: A Means-End Chain Analysis Using Facebook Live Webcasting

Abstract

Facebook Live has become an important resource for both marketers and online shoppers. It has provided communication opportunities for businesses and changed the habits of consumers. This study adopted the means-end chain (MEC) model and used the laddering method to conduct one-on-one in-depth interviews with 40 Facebook users who have used Facebook Live demonstrations to make buying decisions. The overall hierarchical structure of MEC allowed linking of product attributes, consumption consequences, and final value perceptions to draw a hierarchical value map (HVM). The research results show that affordable prices and fulfilling daily needs are the most important product attributes that customers consider. The live webcast demonstrations generated purchase intention and consumption. The ultimate values to which the participants in this study attached the highest importance were “perception of joy,” “perception of satisfaction,” and “perception of value.” Recommendations are provided for businesses using live webcasting as part of their e-commerce programs.