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Do Real-Time Reviews Matter? Examining how Bullet Screen Influences Consumers’ Purchase Intention in Live Streaming Commerce

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Abstract

Bullet screen as a type of real-time reviews published by viewers is an important unique feature in live streaming commerce. However, it is unclear whether and how bullet screen affects consumers’ purchase intention. Drawing upon elaboration likelihood model, this study developed a conceptual model integrating two variables for central cues and three variables for peripheral cues to explain consumers’ purchase intention. Using a big dataset of 668,591 records from the Taobao Live, the largest live streaming commerce platform in China, our empirical study finds that bullet screen has a vital role in influencing consumers’ purchase intention. Interestingly, bullet screen sentiment has a curvilinear relationship with purchase intention, and source credibility has a negative effect on purchase intention. In addition, product type moderates the impact of bullet screen on purchase intention, and the results indicate that peripheral cues have a stronger influence on purchase intention of experience products than search products. Our study contributes to customer review literature by exploring the influence of real-time reviews on consumer behaviors in live streaming commerce. It also offers a useful practical framework for platform providers and sellers.

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  1. The 47th “Statistical Report on Internet Development in China”, http://www.cnnic.net.cn/hlwfzyj/hlwxzbg/hlwtjbg/202102/t20210203_71361.htm

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71102138).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Management and Electronic Commerce, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, 777 Guoding Rd, Shanghai, China

    Qingfeng Zeng, Wei Zhuang & Yu Zhang

  2. School of Business, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China

    Qian Guo

  3. Department of Management Sciences, Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Weiguo Fan

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Zeng, Q., Guo, Q., Zhuang, W. et al. Do Real-Time Reviews Matter? Examining how Bullet Screen Influences Consumers’ Purchase Intention in Live Streaming Commerce. Inf Syst Front 25, 2051–2067 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-022-10356-4

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