Brand influences on the relationship between livestream seller commissions and sales

Firms contract with livestream sellers to promote products through real-time online selling sessions, offering commissions as incentives. Using data from 2,535 livestream sessions from Chinese social media platform Douyin, this study finds a strong relationship between commissions and both unit and monetary sales outcomes. Synthesizing Social Identity and Expectancy Theories, findings show that commission’s influence on sales performance weakens when livestream sellers derive non-monetary motivation from brand identification. Third-party purchase platforms disrupt buying decisions, reduce the viewer-to-purchaser conversion rate, and lower sellers’ expectations of rewards. Instead, firms should integrate purchase options within livestream sessions to enhance marketing effectiveness. Both seller efforts and firm-led brand-building activities positively influence viewer visits to a session. These viewers, in turn, exert social influence through word-of-mouth and observed behavior, mediating the commission-sales relationship. This study also provides insights to help firms optimize livestream seller compensation and strategically invest in brand-building to maximize livestream selling’s benefits.