How perceived attributes of livestreaming commerce influence customer engagement: a social support perspective

Purpose The boom in livestreaming commerce (LSC) has brought significant changes to social interaction methods. Understanding customer engagement in LSC is critical for online sellers who try to enhance the social influence and improve marketing effectiveness of LSC. Based on the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) paradigm, this study aims to develop a model to investigate the effects of perceived attributes of LSC (real-time interaction, perceived proximity and perceived authenticity) on social support (informational and emotional support) and subsequent engagement. Design/methodology/approach An online survey is conducted to collect data from LSC customers, and data are analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS. Findings The results indicate that informational and emotional support are positively affected by real-time interaction, perceived proximity and perceived authenticity. In turn, informational and emotional support enable and mediate the prediction of customer engagement intention in LSC. Originality/value Prior LSC studies tend to focus on the motivation influencing LSC engagement from the perspective of perceived value. This study confirms the importance of perceived attributes of LSC in driving customer engagement from the perspective of social support.