Psychological ownership and parasocial relationships: pathways to loyalty in livestream commerce

Purpose By integrating Information Technology (IT) affordances, source effects and the 3M model, this study endeavors to verify the mechanism by which consumer loyalty is formed in livestream commerce retailing. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and necessary condition analysis (NCA) were used for data analysis. Findings The results show that IT affordances (i.e. metavoicing and guidance shopping), source effects (i.e. attractiveness, trustworthiness and affinity) and consumer characteristics (i.e. need for arousal and susceptibility to information influence) can drive psychological ownership and parasocial relationships, thereby enhancing consumer loyalty. The findings also evidence the moderating role of perceived homophily. Originality/value This study introduces the psychological mechanism by which IT affordances, source effects and consumer characteristics can foster desired consumer behavior (i.e., loyalty) in livestream commerce.