As platforms such as Shopee, Tokopedia, and Lazada continue expanding live streaming features, understanding the psychological mechanisms behind consumer behavior has become increasingly important. Live commerce is rapidly transforming online shopping from a simple transaction into an interactive and entertainment-driven experience. Businesses, marketers, and platform operators are investing heavily in this format to increase customer engagement and sales.
Interactive Shopping Creates Strong Emotional Experiences
Unlike conventional e-commerce, live streaming commerce allows consumers to communicate directly with sellers and hosts in real time. Buyers can watch product demonstrations, ask questions, interact with other viewers, and receive limited-time promotions.
According to Cheng-Wen Lee and his colleagues at Chung Yuan Christian University, these interactions create a sense of social presence and immersion that affects consumers psychologically. The researchers explain that viewers become deeply involved in the shopping experience, making them more likely to purchase products spontaneously.
The study highlights that impulse buying in live commerce is driven not only by product quality or discounts but also by emotional experiences created during the live session.
Survey of Users on Shopee, Tokopedia, and Lazada
The researchers used a quantitative research design and surveyed users who had interacted with live streaming features on Shopee, Tokopedia, and Lazada during the previous six months. Participants had actively watched, communicated, or purchased products through live broadcasts.
The collected data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS), a method commonly used to examine relationships among multiple factors affecting consumer behavior.
The analysis focused on how social presence, telepresence, flow state, and consumer trust influence impulse buying behavior.
All Proposed Relationships Were Supported
The findings demonstrated that all ten hypotheses in the model were statistically supported.
Four major factors were found to influence consumers:
- Social presence of the platform.
- Interaction with other viewers.
- Presence and characteristics of streamers.
- Telepresence, or the feeling of being immersed in a virtual environment.
These factors positively affected two psychological conditions:
- Flow state, characterized by enjoyment, concentration, and deep engagement.
- Consumer trust toward sellers and products.
Both conditions subsequently encouraged impulse buying behavior.
Emotional Engagement Is More Powerful Than Trust
One of the most important findings is that emotional involvement, represented by flow state, has a much stronger influence on impulse buying than consumer trust.
The study found that flow state had a path coefficient of 0.501, while consumer trust had a coefficient of only 0.139.
This means consumers are more likely to make spontaneous purchases when they become fully immersed and emotionally engaged in live streaming sessions.
Meanwhile, telepresence emerged as the strongest factor influencing flow state, with a coefficient of 0.285. Features that create a realistic and immersive shopping environment help users feel as though they are physically present, increasing their engagement.
In terms of trust, streamer presence showed the strongest effect, with a coefficient of 0.264. Professionalism, authenticity, and interactive communication from streamers significantly increased consumer confidence.
The findings indicate that human interaction and emotional experiences are more influential than purely rational considerations when consumers make unplanned purchases.
Implications for E-Commerce Businesses
The research provides practical guidance for digital businesses and online marketplaces.
According to the authors, successful live commerce strategies should focus on creating immersive and interactive experiences rather than relying solely on discounts and promotional campaigns.
E-commerce companies can improve sales performance by:
- Enhancing real-time interaction features.
- Encouraging communication among viewers.
- Working with professional and trustworthy streamers.
- Improving visual quality and immersive technologies.
- Strengthening transparency and transaction reliability.
These strategies can help increase customer engagement and support sustainable brand loyalty.
Expanding Understanding of Consumer Behavior
The study also contributes to consumer behavior theory by extending the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework. The model explains how external stimuli, such as technology and social interaction, influence internal psychological states before resulting in purchasing decisions.
Prof. Cheng-Wen Lee and his colleagues at Chung Yuan Christian University concluded that emotional and immersive experiences play a more decisive role in triggering impulse buying than cognitive evaluation alone.
Their findings suggest that future e-commerce platforms should prioritize human interaction and user engagement to create more compelling shopping experiences.
Author Profiles
Prof. Cheng-Wen Lee, Ph.D.
Department of International Business, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan. His research expertise includes international business, consumer behavior, digital marketing, and strategic management.
Moch Bisyri Effendi
Doctoral Candidate in Business, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan. His research interests include digital commerce, consumer behavior, and marketing analytics.
Erwin Mangatur Siburian
Doctoral Candidate in Business, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan. His expertise focuses on business management, digital transformation, and e-commerce strategy.
Source
Article Title: How Social Presence and Telepresence Drive Impulse Buying: Evidence from Live Streaming Commerce
Authors: Cheng-Wen Lee, Moch Bisyri Effendi, and Erwin Mangatur Siburian
Journal: International Journal of Economic, Finance and Business Statistics (IJEFBS)
Year: 2026
Volume: 4, Issue 3
Pages: 169–188
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59890/ijefbs.v4i3.1
Official Source: http://journalijefbs.my.id/index.php/ijefbs
0 Komentar