How social presence influences impulse buying behavior in live streaming commerce? The role of S-O-R theory

TLDR

The study addresses the underexplored impact of social presence and telepresence on impulsive buying in live‑streaming commerce. It investigates how social presence and telepresence influence consumer trust and flow state to trigger impulsive buying, with personal sense of power acting as a moderator. Using the S‑O‑R framework, the authors surveyed 405 Chinese live‑streaming shoppers and applied structural equation modeling to test relationships among social presence, telepresence, trust, flow state, sense of power, and impulsive buying. Results show that social presence and telepresence enhance trust and flow state, which drive impulsive buying, and that sense of power moderates this pathway, providing actionable insights for live‑streaming commerce stakeholders.

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine how presence (the social presence of live streaming platforms, of viewers, of live streamers and telepresence) affects consumer trust and flow state, thus inducing impulsive buying behaviors, personal sense of power as moderator. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, the conceptual model covers social presence, telepresence, consumer trust, flow state, personal sense of power and impulsive buying behavior. An online survey was conducted from 405 consumers with the experience of live streaming shopping in China; structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis. Findings Results find that three dimensions of social presence (the social presence of live streaming platforms, of viewers, of live streamers) and telepresence have a positive and significant influence on consumer trust and flow state, thus triggering consumers’ impulsive buying behavior. Furthermore, consumers’ sense of power moderates the process from consumer trust, flow state to impulsive buying behavior. Practical implications This study will help live streamers and e-retailers to have a further understand on how to stimulate consumers’ buying behavior. Furthermore, it also provides reference for the development of live streaming commerce in other countries. Originality/value This research examines the effect of social presence and telepresence on impulsive buying behavior in live streaming commerce, which is inadequately examined in extant literature.