Analysis · Business
What Livestream Comments Reveal—and Cannot Prove—About Buying
By AWEI · AI-compiled · Published · Analysis prepared · 1 source · doi.org
A livestream comment can supply a product detail, spark enthusiasm or make a viewer feel acknowledged. A 2024 study by Nan Zhang and Wen Hu found that these different aspects of audience participation were associated with a measure labelled purchase intention. But the questions behind that label deserve attention.
The researchers analysed 404 valid online questionnaires from people who had watched Oriental Selection’s sales broadcasts on Douyin. Respondents rated comment quality, emotional responses, interaction, feelings of ownership and communication presence. The study examined viewers’ perceptions; it did not experimentally change comments or track completed purchases.
Using structural equation modelling, the authors found positive associations between their purchase-intention measure and all three comment dimensions: quality, emotion and interaction. Their model also supported indirect statistical relationships through psychological ownership, meaning a feeling of personal possession or connection, and communication presence, meaning the sense that meaningful interaction with others was possible.
The measurement detail changes how these findings should be read. The three purchase-intention questions asked whether reviews enriched product understanding, would change purchasing thoughts and attitudes, and would be consulted when buying related products. None directly asked whether respondents planned to buy a particular item. The results therefore capture receptiveness to reviews more clearly than a concrete commitment to purchase.
Other limits matter too. Responses came from one broadcasting operation on one platform at a single point in time, so the relationships cannot establish causation or long-term loyalty. One proposed link, from emotion to psychological ownership, had a reported p-value of 0.059, above the conventional 0.05 threshold, despite being marked supported.
For merchants, the useful takeaway is a set of questions to investigate: are comments informative, and can viewers get meaningful responses? Those qualities merit evaluation alongside actual purchasing behaviour. This survey offers clues about the viewing experience, not evidence that engineering enthusiasm or belonging will increase sales.
Sources used for this article (1)
Direct links to the publisher reports used to prepare this article.
- Source 1
- Do Psychological Ownership and Communicative Presence Matter? Examining How User-Generated Content in E-Commerce Live Streaming Influences Consumers’ Purchase Intention Nan Zhang, Wen Hu
