Explore the Feeling of Presence and Purchase Intention in Livestream Shopping: A Flow-Based Model

Abstract

Livestream shopping has attracted great attention in an increasingly digitalized society. This study is to explore the mechanism through which social presence and physical presence affect consumer purchase intentions in livestream shopping as an emerging e-commerce model. Based on the flow theory, this study proposes an integrated model to explain the mechanism through which the feeling of presence affects consumers’ purchase intentions in livestream shopping. Empirical data on livestream shopping were collected in China to test the proposed model for an exploratory study. The results show that the feeling of physical presence influences consumers’ purchase intentions through concentration and perceived control, and the feeling of social presence influences consumers’ purchase intentions through concentration and enjoyment, and, thus, both social presence and physical presence are important elements in livestream shopping. This study provides a better understanding on the mechanism of how the feeling of presence helps improve purchase intentions in livestream shopping. This study shows both physical presence and social presence are positively related to consumers’ purchase intention, but with different paths, and, thus, sheds new lights on the feeling of presence and its impact on consumer behaviors in e-commerce.