How Social Presence Affects Viewers’ Impulse Buying Behavior in Live Streaming Commerce

Abstract

—This paper mainly studies the influence of consumers’ social presence (social presence of streamers, social presence of viewers, social presence of live streaming platform, telepresence) on impulse buying behavior when watching the live streaming commerce, and explores the mediating effect played by perceived enjoyment and perceived value. Based on the Stimulus Organism Response (SOR) model, survey data from 191 viewers with live streaming buying experience in China were collected by using a survey questionnaire method, and the research hypotheses were tested by using moderated regression analysis and Bootstrapping methods. The study’s findings suggest that the four dimensions of social presence have positive effects on impulse buying behavior. Both perceived enjoyment and perceived value play a partial mediating role in the relationship of “social presence → impulse buying behavior” and there are significant differences between the two intermediary paths. The four dimensions of social presence have differentiated influences on perceived enjoyment, perceived value and impulse buying behavior. The research results of this paper will help streamers and merchants to understand the specific operational path of social presence to promote the emergence of consumer impulse buying behavior, and provide effective marketing suggestions for live streaming commerce companies and managers.