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Enhancing consumer engagement in e-commerce live streaming via relational bonds

Mingyao Hu (School of Modern Post, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China)
Sohail S. Chaudhry (Department of Management and Operations, Villanova School of Business, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA)

Internet Research

ISSN: 1066-2243

Article publication date: 5 March 2020

Issue publication date: 18 May 2020

14303

Abstract

Purpose

Enhancing consumer engagement in e-commerce live streaming is critical for e-commerce operators to build relationships and create consumer loyalty. Using the stimulus–organism–response model and theories from relationship marketing, the authors develop and test an integrative conceptual framework that combines various relational bonds, affective commitment, and consumer engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

Using 327 valid responses from consumers of Taobao Live, the authors employed the software Mplus7.0 to evaluate the measurement model and the structural model.

Findings

The results empirically demonstrate that social and structural bonds positively affect consumer engagement directly and indirectly via affective commitment, while financial bonds have only an indirect effect via affective commitment on consumer engagement.

Practical implications

The findings provide useful insights for e-commerce operators, who should invest in establishing relational bonds and stimulating affective commitment to improve consumer engagement.

Originality/value

This study adds to e-commerce research by being one of the first empirical studies on e-commerce live streaming, extends the marketing literature by integrating different relational bonds as antecedents of consumer engagement from the relational perspective, and enriches the affective commitment literature by distinguishing commitment to the online marketplace from commitment to the broadcaster.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant NO.2018RC42), and the insightful comments and suggestions by the editor and the anonymous reviewers.

Citation

Hu, M. and Chaudhry, S.S. (2020), "Enhancing consumer engagement in e-commerce live streaming via relational bonds", Internet Research, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 1019-1041. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-03-2019-0082

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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