How can live streamers enhance viewer engagement in eCommerce streaming?

Abstract

eCommerce live streaming has enabled new forms of customer engagement, where live streamers, viewers and platform owners engage each other in real time to hawk and trade goods and services. Central to live streaming sales are live streamers. It is therefore critical to discover techniques to maximize live streamers’ engagement with viewers. Based on the intimacy theory, we propose the perceived intimacy live streamers created improves online engagement with viewers. Our survey results suggest streamers’ authenticity, attitudinal similarity and customer response capability enhance intimacy perceived by online viewers, leading to viewers' online engagement. Contributions of our study are discussed.