The impact of streamer emotions on viewer gifting behavior

Evidence from entertainment live streaming

Bibliographic Data

ID12420709
AuthorsDinghao Xi (0000-0002-1685-8066, Renmin University of China, corresponding author), Wei Xu (0000-0002-4727-1540, Renmin University of China), Liumin Tang (0009-0000-5349-2510, Renmin University of China), Bingning Han (Renmin University of China)
Year2023
Volume34
Issue3
Pages748-783
Publication date2023-10-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternet Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1066-2243 • E-ISSN: 2054-5657
PublisherEmerald Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1108/intr-05-2022-0350
OpenAlexW4388270486
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited83

Purpose The boom in live streaming has intensified competition among streamers for viewers' gifts, which makes it meaningful to study the factors that affect the viewers’ gifting behavior. Given the emotional attachment between streamers and viewers, the authors set out to elucidate a new driver on viewer gifting: expressions of the streamer. This research aims to explore the impact of streamer emotions on the viewer gifting behaviors, including free and paid gifting. The loyalty level of the viewers is also introduced as a moderating factor to investigate the heterogeneous effect of streamer emotions on gifting behavior. Design/methodology/approach The dataset the authors collected consists of two parts, including 1809.69 h of live streaming videos and 358,002 gift giving records. Combined with deep learning methods and regression analysis, the authors performed empirical tests on the 81,110 valid samples. Several robustness checks were also conducted to ensure the reliability of main results. Findings The empirical results show that streamer emotions do have effects on viewers' free and paid gifting behavior. The authors’ findings show that positive streamer expressions, such as happiness and surprise, have a positive influence on viewer gifting behavior. However, some negative expressions, like sadness, can also have a positive impact. Moreover, the authors discovered that higher viewer loyalty amplifies the positive effect of streamer emotions and reduces the negative effect. Originality/value This research contributes to the study about streamer emotions and viewers' consumption behavior, which extends the application of emotion as social information model (EASI model) in the live streaming setting. The authors carefully divide the gifting behavior into two types: free and paid, and study how these two types are affected by streamer emotions. Besides, these effects are analyzed within viewers of different loyalty levels. This study offers practical emotion management strategies for streamers and live streaming platforms to gain more economic profits

Advertising · Anger · Art · Cognitive psychology · Distraction · Empirical research · Entertainment · Happiness · Loyalty · Sadness · Surprise · Visual arts · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Customer Service Quality and Loyalty · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Psychology · Social Psychology · Marketing

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