Which type of influencer should the brand cooperate with in the livestream e-commerce supply chain: coupon-driven or content-oriented?

The increasing sophistication of livestream selling (LSS) makes it crucial for brands to select the optimal cooperation strategy. Concurrently, influencers employ two distinct LSS strategies: one driven by coupons, and the other content-oriented. Against this backdrop, we build four game-theoretic models to identify the optimal strategy for different brands (i.e. start-up brands and established brands) to cooperate with two types of influencers (i.e. coupon-driven influencers and content-oriented influencers). Our results indicate that a start-up brand’s optimal cooperation strategy shifts from the content-oriented influencer to the coupon-driven influencer as the commission rate, brand-value enhancement coefficient, and influencer fan base increase. By contrast, established brands should prioritise content-oriented influencers to leverage content advantages for enhancing brand value, potentially creating a win-win-win outcome for the brand, the influencer, and consumers under high-quality content creation and effective audience engagement. Moreover, increasing brand awareness may reduce the incentive for established brands to cooperate with content-oriented influencers. Surprisingly, the coupon-driven influencer may be less effective than the content-oriented influencer in boosting product sales. Overall, this paper integrates LSS into operations and supply chain management practices, offering valuable managerial insights for firms’ digital transformation.