Examining social media live stream’s influence on the consumer decision-making: a thematic analysis

Social media live streaming, in the form of live video and user stories, is widely used by influencers, organisations and individuals to connect with their audiences. Its popularity is well-established in a range of theoretical and managerial contexts. However, there is a lack of scholarship on the role of this phenomenon on consumer decision-making. Filling this gap in the research is essential due to the importance of consumer decision-making in marketing and brand strategy development in organisations. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore and outline the nature of the influence of live stream on the consumer decision-making. The study was part of a 12-month Netnography consisting of participant observation and social media monitoring of brand pages and branded hashtags on social media platforms, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. A thematic analysis revealed five main themes and a conceptual model is proposed which outlines the social media live stream’s influence on consumer decision-making at each stage.