Enhancing consumer engagement in e-commerce live streaming via relational bonds

Purpose Enhancing consumer engagement in e-commerce live streaming is critical for e-commerce operators to build relationships and create consumer loyalty. Using the stimulus–organism–response model and theories from relationship marketing, the authors develop and test an integrative conceptual framework that combines various relational bonds, affective commitment, and consumer engagement. Design/methodology/approach Using 327 valid responses from consumers of Taobao Live, the authors employed the software Mplus7.0 to evaluate the measurement model and the structural model. Findings The results empirically demonstrate that social and structural bonds positively affect consumer engagement directly and indirectly via affective commitment, while financial bonds have only an indirect effect via affective commitment on consumer engagement. Practical implications The findings provide useful insights for e-commerce operators, who should invest in establishing relational bonds and stimulating affective commitment to improve consumer engagement. Originality/value This study adds to e-commerce research by being one of the first empirical studies on e-commerce live streaming, extends the marketing literature by integrating different relational bonds as antecedents of consumer engagement from the relational perspective, and enriches the affective commitment literature by distinguishing commitment to the online marketplace from commitment to the broadcaster.