Exploring How the Application of Live-Streaming in E-Commerce Influences Consumers’ Trust-Building

The application of live-streaming in e-commerce has garnered substantial attention in recent years, transforming marketing tactics and customer involvement. Grounded on signal theory and presence theory, this study aims to uncover the mechanism of trust-building in live-streaming commerce that concentrates primarily on live-streaming commerce features. This study, which was exploratory in nature, gathered a dataset of 339 responses from China through an online survey. This dataset was then subjected to exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and covariance-based structural equation modeling to identify and elucidate the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The study found that the consumer’s sense of presence and authenticity in live streaming significantly impacts the consumer’s trust. Visual appeal and interactivity influence the consumer’s presence and authenticity; however, only interactivity can directly influence consumer trust; visual appeal can only influence consumer trust indirectly through presence and authenticity. This study expands the existing body of research regarding consumer trust in live-streaming commerce. Additionally, this study provides evidence that the consumer’s perception of presence and authenticity play mediating roles in the relationship between live-streaming commerce features and consumer trust.