Transparentizing the “Black Box” of Live Streaming: Impacts of Live Interactivity on Viewers’ Experience and Purchase
研究直播购物平台的互动性如何影响观众的实用和享乐价值，进而影响购买意愿，基于200人调查数据发现互动性提升产品诊断性、感官吸引力和娱乐性，但产品偶然性作用不显著。
Live streaming shopping platforms are increasingly gaining momentum. However, how live streaming engages its viewers and induces purchase is poorly understood. Viewing a shopping process as fulfilling both utilitarian and hedonic values and based on <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">social information foraging theory</i> , we identify a unique characteristic of live streaming platforms, namely, <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">live interactivity</i> , and conceptualize its main components. We also hypothesize the impact of live interactivity from a utilitarian value view (i.e., <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">product diagnosticity</i> , <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">product serendipity,</i> and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">sensory appeal</i> ) and a hedonic value view (i.e., <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">entertainingness</i> ). We argue that viewers will experience enhanced utilitarian and hedonic values when using the live streaming shopping platform, which in turn leads them to exhibit heightened <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">purchase intention</i> . Based on the survey data of 200 individuals, we find that live interactivity is positively related to product diagnosticity, serendipity, sensory appeal, and entertainingness. Except for product serendipity, the other three significantly lead to viewers’ purchase intention on a live streaming platform. Our findings add to the live streaming literature by conceptualizing and dimensionalizing live interactivity, theorizing its impacts, and exploring its underlying processes associated with product features and viewer engagement in their decision-making.