When the mindful ones experience flow: a moderated-mediation model of purchase intention in live commerce

Purpose The emerging live streaming technology has provided a novel means for streamers to interact with viewers, allowing for synchronous and vivid demonstrations of products for sale. However, individual streamers as sellers still struggle to improve sales in their live stores. Drawing upon flow theory, our study proposes and tests a moderated-mediation model that explores (1) the indirect influences of telepresence and social presence as two important live streaming affordances on viewers’ purchase intentions through the immersive state of flow and (2) the dynamic contingency embedded in the indirect relationships between presence and purchases through flow as created by mindfulness. Design/methodology/approach We collected survey data from 251 experienced consumers of a three-year Kuaishou store run by an Inner Mongolian singer in China. We applied a covariance-based structural equation modeling approach to examine the first-stage moderated-mediation model. Findings Our results show that viewers’ flow state mediated the effects of telepresence and social presence on purchase intentions of both virtual gifts and physical products. Additionally, mindfulness toward live streaming strengthened the mediation effect of flow on the relationship between telepresence and purchase intentions but weakened its mediation effect between social presence and purchase intentions. Originality/value Our study not only expands the existing knowledge on live commerce but also systematically addresses the theoretical tension between flow and mindfulness as two important user states that coexist in the live commerce context. Our findings also reveal practical implications for streamers, managers and designers of live commerce.