Investigating impulse purchases in live streaming e-commerce: A perspective of match-ups

Abstract

Enabled by live streaming technologies, live streaming e-commerce (LSE) is becoming an increasingly promising marketing channel. Due to high entertainment and immersion, LSE greatly telescopes consumer decision journeys from awareness to purchase, thereby more readily stimulating consumer impulse purchase desire. This study reveals the influence of product-based fit on impulse purchases through affective and cognitive systems from the match-up perspective. The results indicate that both streamer-product fit and self-product fit enhance affective intensity and reduce perceived product risk. Unexpectedly, live content-product fit increases perceived product risk but has no significant impact on affective intensity. In addition, both streamer-product fit and live content-product fit enhance consumer perception of self-product fit, which, in turn, influences perceived product risks and affective intensity. However, emotion but not cognition breeds impulse purchase intention. Our findings can offer guidance for online retailers on how to utilize live streaming technology to increase sales.