Stay With Me: Unveiling the Pathways to Consumer Loyalty in Live Streaming Commerce

Abstract

The compelling appeal of live streaming commerce has grabbed the attention of businesses and individual vendors; thus, the market has seen a surge in competitiveness. A prevailing challenge has emerged in the wake of this trend: maintaining customer loyalty in an environment where consumers can effortlessly switch between different live-stream channels. This study investigates the key factors influencing consumer behavior (i.e., loyalty) in live streaming commerce by employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. In Study 1, survey data were collected from 507 participants, followed by semistructured interviews in Study 2. The PLS-SEM results indicate that processing fluency (both imagery and comprehension fluency) fosters immersion, subsequently satisfying consumers' basic psychological needs. The fulfillment of these basic psychological needs fosters loyalty. Additionally, self-disclosure and transportability play a moderating role. The fsQCA results identified four configurations, each with different combinations of causal conditions that explain the formation of loyalty. The follow-up qualitative study confirms the findings and identifies additional themes that are worth research consideration. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.