dc.description.abstract | Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019, coupled with the maturity of Internet connection speed and mobile devices, live streaming has flourished rapidly. It has also been applied to various services such as e-commerce, entertainment interaction, online teaching and video conferencing for new business opportunities and customer channels.
The purpose of this research is to investigate the behavioral factors affecting the audiences of live streaming services. Based on the stimulus-organism-response model, the research model also includes the factors of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use from the technology acceptance model. There are 8 research hypotheses related to the influence of environmental stimuli (such as streamer attractiveness, para-social interaction, and information quality) on audience cognitive status (such as cognitive assimilation, social presence and trust) in live streaming platforms. Additionally, 10 research hypotheses related to the influence of audience cognitive status and acceptance of live streaming (such as perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) on response behaviors (such as hedonic consumption, social sharing and urge to buy impulsively) were proposed as well.
To test the practicability of the above mentioned hypotheses, an empirical study was conducted on the Generation X (aged 42 to 57) and Generation Y (aged 26 to 41) in Taiwan. Based on 515 valid survey data, the study applied confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model analysis to measure the reliability and validity of the questionnaire and to test the research hypotheses. Results show that 5 research hypotheses are not supported, while the other 13 research hypotheses are accepted. Among the relations from stimulus to organism, the result shows that para-social interaction has the most significant influence on social presence. Among the relations from organism to response, the result indicates that trust has the most significant influence on social sharing. The research results can be used as a reference for companies and streamers to develop strategies for live streaming through understanding environmental stimulation effects and audience cognitive status. | en_US |