Research on Douyin as an E-commerce Platform Impacts the Buying Decisions of Users

Abstract

With the drastic rise of the e-commerce model and pervasive online shopping behavior in this decade, the logistics and insights behind many social media and e-commerce platforms attract more attention and discussion. In China, among varied options of social media application, Douyin is the most distictive social media application for e-business. Some researchers conducted studies about Douyin and recognized that impulse buying behavior is usually used to explain online purchases. And some researchers found that users’ different desires and social needs result in the popularity of live streaming channels. However, not many pieces of research have focused on how Douyin, as a live streaming channel and an e-commerce platform, serves the user’s purchase behavior differently. Therefore, this research analyzes these two significant features separately and explore the correlation between features and users’ buying decision. The research method includes collecting data through the platform’s official database and past journal articles. The study’s findings prove that for live streaming services, product individualization and platform loyalty directly lead to purchasing decisions; for the feature of short video clips, the recommendation algorithm, and personalized content directly related to the longer screen time for users to be on Douyin. The possible explanation is that the more addicted the users to be on Douyin, the greater possibility of the action of purchase. However, this assumption still needs further investigation and proof.