How the live streaming commerce viewers process the persuasive message: An ELM perspective and the moderating effect of mindfulness

Abstract

• Based on ELM, both central and peripheral route factors affect perceived persuasiveness. • Perceived persuasiveness exert significant influence on purchase and response intention. • Mindfulness exerts moderating effect on viewers’ response intention. Live streaming commerce has gained its popularity among consumers, as it creates a novel environment to facilitate viewers to process product information and conduct related behaviors. Elaboration likelihood model (ELM) is applied to explore the viewers’ decision-making process via two distinct routes, comprised of central and peripheral routes. By integrating mindfulness as a moderator, this study develops a research model to examine the effects of central route factors (information completeness, information accuracy, and information currency) and peripheral route factors (streamer trustworthiness, streamer attractiveness, bullet-screen consistency, and co-viewer involvement) on perceived persuasiveness. The research results indicate, by using 395 valid empirical data, which both route factors exert significant effects on viewers’ perceptions of the persuasive message and lead to apropos behavior intentions. Mindfulness positively moderates the relationship between perceived persuasiveness and response intention. This investigation provides theoretical implications for the literature of live streaming commerce and ELM as well as managerial implications for live streaming commerce practitioners.