Live streaming has emerged as a critical channel for connecting farmers with markets. However, the majority of farmers lack e-commerce operation experience, often presenting awkwardly and expressing themselves inadequately during live streaming, which significantly hinders sales performance. Virtual streamers, with their characteristics of round-the-clock availability and extensive knowledge reserves, inject new momentum into agricultural live streaming. Nevertheless, how to efficiently leverage virtual streamers to expand sales channels remains a key issue requiring urgent resolution. Based on the source credibility theory and trust transfer theory, this study focuses on the influence of virtual streamers' source credibility (i.e., trustworthiness, expertise, attractiveness, similarity) on purchase intentions in agricultural live streaming, and explores the mediating role of swift trust and the moderating effect of platform reputation. An analysis of 607 valid questionnaires reveals that virtual streamers' source credibility has a positive impact on purchase intention, with swift trust playing a mediating role in this relationship. Moreover, platform reputation not only positively moderates the effect of virtual streamers' source credibility on swift trust but also moderates the effect of swift trust on purchase intention. Additionally, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) identifies five configurational paths that trigger high purchase intention. This research expands the research perspective on virtual streamers in agricultural live streaming and provides theoretical references and practical guidelines for optimizing the application strategies of virtual streamers in agricultural live streaming.
Crowdfunding platforms (CFP) are increasingly interested in enhancing their impact, by funding projects with positive environmental and social impacts. This article is the first that models the CFP strategies in this context. We compare two attitudes: a neutral (passive) facilitating attitude and an active one. In the latter case, the CFP implicitly favors a subset of the projects by promoting them to the crowd. We model the utility of the CFP, linked to its monetary outcome and the impact of the funded projects, and formulate an optimization problem that maximizes it by acting on the promotion strategy. We show how to solve this problem using real options and dynamic programming. For applying this framework, we perform an empirical study based on a large dataset that quantifies the attractiveness gain for projects when they are promoted by the platform. We then propose a novel hybrid empirical/analytical method, where platform data is processed and provides input parameters to the optimization tool. Our results show that substantial gains are expected when applying the optimization framework with respect to a platform adopting a classical passive attitude. Our study provides guidelines for platform managers on how to design and implement strategies that maximize their impact.
Livestreaming commerce has become a key sales channel, yet streamer communication effectiveness, particularly their spoken content volume across selling steps, remains underexplored. Drawing on social exchange and complexity theory, we argue that multiple interdependent configurations of selling steps can lead to high product sales, consistent with the principle of equifinality. Focusing on snack products, this research examines how content volume allocation across four selling steps-approach, presentation, overcoming objections, and close sales-impacts product sales. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis on data from a major snack brand's livestreams, we identify three configurations associated with high product sales: (1) high content in approach, presentation, and close sales, with low overcoming objections; (2) high content in approach, overcoming objections, and close sales, with low presentation; and (3) high presentation with low approach and close sales (with overcoming objections as peripheral). Conversely, misalignment between approach and close sales, despite high presentation, is linked to low sales. These findings underscore the configurational nature of effective selling: multiple combinations of content volume across the four steps can drive high product sales. Further, the findings reveal that presentation and overcoming objections can substitute for each other, while approach and close sales are complementary. This research advances understanding of streamer communication effectiveness and provides actionable guidance for streamers on structuring scripts to improve sales.
In today's digital era, where celebrities hold immense influence over consumer behavior, understanding the factors that shape trust and online purchase toward endorsed brands is crucial. Especially, in the landscape of celebrity endorsement, the effectiveness of celebrity authenticity, online celebrity fandom, and their interaction has been fruitful yet underexplored research direction. Drawing upon signaling theory and trust transfer mechanism, we conducted a 2 & times;2 between-subjects factorial design experiment to examine how signals from celebrity authenticity and sense of online fandom affect trust development and subsequent online purchase among consumers. Data from 200 participants were analyzed using MANCOVA and PLS-SEM. Our findings indicate that high celebrity authenticity and a sense of healthy fandom lead to greater wishful identification and celebrity trust. Additionally, the effects of perceived celebrity authenticity on wishful identification and celebrity trust are stronger in the presence of a sense of healthy fandom compared to toxic fandom. Furthermore, wishful identification directly influences consumers' online purchase intentions, while brand trust fully mediates the effect of celebrity trust on purchase intention. This original study pioneers experimental research on the joint effects of celebrity authenticity and online fandom, advancing signaling theory and trust transfer literature within the e-commerce and celebrity endorsement context.
In the current e-commerce marketing environment, artificial intelligence (AI) recommendation systems are widely used in various business scenarios, but little attention has been given to their application to social goods. On the basis of the persuasion knowledge model and goal framing theory, this study explores the mechanism of the recommendation approach (AI vs. human) in promoting consumer purchase behavior related to social goods. Three experiments are conducted, which show that AI recommendations have significant advantages in increasing consumers' intention to purchase social goods on e-commerce platforms. Specifically, perceived manipulative intention serves as a mediator between the recommendation approach (AI vs. human) and consumers' purchase intentions. Additionally, goal framing moderates the effects of the recommendation approach on consumers' purchase intentions: consumers respond more positively to AI recommendations under loss framing, whereas human recommendations have greater persuasive power under gain framing. This study expands the application scenarios of AI recommendation in the field of social marketing and enriches the theoretical explanatory power of persuasion knowledge models in the promotion of social goods via e-commerce.
