Why do some watch while others donate? An S-O-R Perspective of live streaming engagement

User engagement is crucial for streamers on social live streaming services (SLSS) to generate revenue. Active engagement, such as subscriptions and donations, can boost income, while passive viewing can still yield earnings through ads and brand partnerships. To achieve sustainable success in the streaming industry, an SLSS streamer must effectively balance both types of engagement. Current studies focus on media influences and motivations to explain how people engage with SLSS. However, these studies do not address how individuals decide on their engagement practices in SLSS. Using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model, this study aims to answer the research question: How can SLSS engagement be explained by environmental stimuli and individual emotion and cognition? To explore this research question, we conducted an interpretive qualitative study to investigate users’ S-O-R paths, particularly among two extreme groups (i.e., lurkers and donors). Our findings indicated that individuals selectively focused on environmental stimuli that evoked various emotional states, shaped different interpretations, and led to distinct behavioral responses during SLSS engagement. Lurkers tended to notice stimuli that provided entertainment, developing an emotional connection to the streamers while feeling detached from the audience. They viewed themselves primarily as observers participating in SLSS for enjoyment. In contrast, donors concentrated on game and social events, demonstrating a higher level of empathy toward the streamer and establishing emotional connections with the audience. Donors set goals to enjoy a festive gathering and leveraged donations to foster shared experiences within the community. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.