Abstract
Live shopping represents a rapidly evolving retail phenomenon that merges real-time video streaming with e-commerce functionality, creating unique conditions for impulse purchasing behaviour. This dissertation synthesises contemporary research to identify the psychological mechanisms that predict conversion in live shopping environments. Through systematic literature analysis, four core psychological drivers emerge: affective mechanisms encompassing emotional arousal, pleasure, and flow states; cognitive value assessments including perceived usefulness and information quality; social and identity mechanisms incorporating parasocial relationships and peer interactions; and individual predispositions such as trait impulsivity and hedonic motivation. The evidence demonstrates that perceived enjoyment and arousal consistently predict impulse buying urges, whilst cognitive factors including scarcity cues and promotional urgency operate through dual affective-cognitive pathways. Parasocial bonds with streamers and social presence significantly enhance purchase intention through identity formation and psychological ownership. The synthesis reveals that optimal conversion occurs when live shopping experiences simultaneously trigger positive emotional states, deliver compelling utilitarian value, foster social connection, and engage pre-existing consumer tendencies. These findings offer substantial theoretical contributions to consumer behaviour scholarship whilst providing actionable insights for digital commerce practitioners.
Introduction
The digital retail landscape has undergone profound transformation with the emergence of live shopping, a format that integrates synchronous video broadcasting with immediate purchasing capabilities. This phenomenon, which originated in China through platforms such as Taobao Live and has subsequently expanded globally, represents a fundamental shift in how consumers discover, evaluate, and acquire products online. Unlike traditional e-commerce, live shopping creates an immersive, temporally bounded environment where hosts demonstrate products in real time whilst viewers interact through chat functions and make purchases without leaving the stream (Lin et al., 2022). The commercial significance of this format is substantial, with industry analyses projecting continued exponential growth as platforms including TikTok Shop, Amazon Live, and Instagram Shopping expand their live commerce capabilities.
From an academic perspective, live shopping presents a compelling research context because it concentrates multiple psychological triggers within a single consumption environment. The format combines elements of entertainment media, social networking, and retail therapy, creating conditions that differ markedly from conventional online shopping. Viewers experience the parasocial warmth of watching a familiar host, the social validation of seeing peer comments and purchases, the cognitive engagement of receiving detailed product information, and the emotional arousal of limited-time offers—all simultaneously (Utomo et al., 2025). This confluence of stimuli creates particularly fertile conditions for impulse purchasing, defined as buying behaviour that occurs spontaneously, without prior intention, and often with minimal deliberation regarding consequences.
Understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying impulse conversion in live shopping carries both scholarly and practical importance. Theoretically, this context extends established consumer psychology frameworks into novel territory, testing whether principles developed for physical retail and traditional e-commerce translate to interactive streaming environments. Practically, as live shopping becomes increasingly central to digital commerce strategy, evidence-based understanding of what drives conversion enables more effective platform design, host training, and marketing approaches whilst also informing consumer protection considerations. The phenomenon also raises important questions regarding consumer welfare, as the same mechanisms that drive commercial success may also facilitate potentially regrettable purchasing decisions.
This dissertation addresses a critical gap in synthesised knowledge regarding the psychological predictors of impulse buying in live shopping. Whilst individual studies have examined specific mechanisms, the field lacks comprehensive integration that identifies which psychological factors most reliably predict conversion and how these factors interact. By systematically analysing contemporary research, this work provides a coherent framework for understanding impulse buying in this distinctive retail context.
Aim and objectives
The overarching aim of this dissertation is to identify and critically evaluate the psychological mechanisms that predict impulse buying and conversion within live shopping environments, synthesising empirical evidence to develop an integrated understanding of this consumer behaviour phenomenon.
To achieve this aim, the following objectives guide the investigation:
1. To systematically identify the core psychological mechanisms associated with impulse purchasing behaviour in live shopping contexts through comprehensive literature analysis.
2. To evaluate the relative strength and consistency of evidence supporting different psychological predictors, distinguishing between direct effects and mediating relationships.
3. To examine how affective mechanisms, including emotional arousal, pleasure, and flow states, contribute to impulse buying urges and conversion.
4. To analyse the role of cognitive value assessments, encompassing perceived usefulness, information quality, and promotional cues, in predicting impulse purchase behaviour.
5. To investigate how social and identity mechanisms, including parasocial relationships with streamers and peer interactions, influence impulse buying through psychological pathways.
6. To assess how individual predispositions, including trait impulsivity and hedonic motivation, moderate the effectiveness of situational triggers in generating impulse purchases.
7. To synthesise findings into a coherent theoretical framework that explains when and why live shopping environments successfully convert viewers into impulse buyers.
Methodology
This dissertation employs a literature synthesis approach, systematically analysing published empirical research to identify, evaluate, and integrate findings regarding psychological mechanisms predicting impulse buying in live shopping. This methodological approach is appropriate given the dissertation’s aim of providing comprehensive understanding across multiple studies rather than generating primary data.
The synthesis draws upon peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2021 and 2025, reflecting the relatively recent emergence of live shopping as a significant commercial and academic phenomenon. Sources were identified through structured database searches using terms including “live shopping,” “live streaming commerce,” “impulse buying,” “impulsive purchase,” and “psychological mechanisms.” Databases consulted included Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar, with additional relevant articles identified through citation tracking and reference list examination.
Inclusion criteria required that studies: (a) focused specifically on live shopping or live streaming commerce contexts; (b) examined psychological mechanisms or predictors of impulse buying behaviour; (c) employed empirical research methods including surveys, experiments, or observational approaches; and (d) were published in peer-reviewed outlets or equivalent scholarly venues. Studies examining general e-commerce without specific attention to live streaming characteristics were excluded, as were purely descriptive or industry-focused reports lacking empirical rigour.
The analytical approach involved systematic extraction of key findings from each included study, with particular attention to identified predictor variables, effect sizes where reported, mediating mechanisms, and moderating factors. Studies were then grouped thematically according to the primary psychological mechanisms examined, enabling identification of convergent findings across different research contexts and methodological approaches. Where studies employed established theoretical frameworks such as the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model or parasocial interaction theory, these theoretical orientations informed the organisation and interpretation of findings.
The synthesis prioritises convergent evidence—findings that appear consistently across multiple independent studies—whilst noting areas of divergence or contextual variation. This approach acknowledges that individual studies may be subject to sampling limitations, measurement differences, or cultural specificities, whilst patterns emerging across studies offer more robust conclusions. The resulting synthesis aims to provide both descriptive integration of what research has found and critical analysis of the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
Literature review
### Theoretical foundations of impulse buying research
Impulse buying has attracted scholarly attention since the mid-twentieth century, with early conceptualisations emphasising the unplanned nature of such purchases. Rook (1987) provided foundational definition, characterising impulse buying as occurring when a consumer experiences a sudden, often powerful and persistent urge to buy something immediately. This urge is hedonically complex and may stimulate emotional conflict, with the consumer often acting on the urge with diminished regard for consequences. Contemporary research has expanded this understanding to distinguish between cognitive and affective dimensions of impulsive purchasing, recognising that both thinking and feeling processes contribute to spontaneous buying behaviour.
The Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework, originating in environmental psychology, has become the dominant theoretical lens for examining impulse buying in retail contexts (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974). This framework proposes that environmental stimuli (S) influence internal psychological states of the organism (O), which subsequently determine behavioural responses (R). Applied to live shopping, the framework positions platform features, host characteristics, and promotional elements as stimuli; emotional, cognitive, and social-psychological states as organismic responses; and impulse purchasing as the behavioural outcome. Multiple studies in the live shopping domain explicitly employ this framework (Lin et al., 2022; Huo et al., 2023; Lee and Chen, 2021).
Parasocial interaction theory, developed within media studies by Horton and Wohl (1956), provides another crucial theoretical foundation. This perspective explains how media consumers develop seemingly intimate relationships with media personalities despite the absence of genuine reciprocal interaction. In live shopping, viewers may experience parasocial relationships with streamers, feeling connection, trust, and social closeness that influence their consumption behaviour in ways analogous to recommendations from actual friends.
### Affective mechanisms driving impulse conversion
Emotional and experiential factors constitute perhaps the most consistently supported category of impulse buying predictors in live shopping research. Perceived enjoyment and pleasure emerge as primary direct drivers of the urge to buy impulsively across numerous studies. Lin et al. (2022) found that hedonic value significantly predicted impulse buying intention in their SOR-based investigation of Taiwanese live shopping consumers. Similarly, Li, Chen and Zhu (2024) demonstrated that emotional contagion from streamers’ expressed emotions directly influenced viewers’ experienced pleasure, which subsequently predicted impulse purchase intention.
The concept of flow, derived from Csikszentmihalyi’s (1990) positive psychology research, captures a state of optimal experience characterised by complete absorption in an activity, loss of self-consciousness, and distorted time perception. Live shopping appears particularly conducive to flow states given its immersive, continuously engaging format. Utomo et al. (2025) found that flow experience strongly predicted impulsive buying tendency in their investigation of live shopping platform users. Huo et al. (2023) similarly identified flow as a significant mediator in the relationship between platform characteristics and impulse buying behaviour.
Arousal and emotional excitement represent distinct but related affective mechanisms. Whilst pleasure captures the valence of emotional experience, arousal captures its intensity. The live, temporally bounded nature of shopping streams creates inherent excitement, particularly when combined with countdown timers, limited stock announcements, and host enthusiasm. Yang et al. (2022) demonstrated that interface design features enhancing perceived “live atmosphere” significantly increased arousal and subsequent impulse buying. Putri et al. (2025) extended this finding by showing that time pressure specifically heightened emotional arousal, which mediated effects on impulsive purchase behaviour.
The combination of pleasure and arousal creates what Russell’s (1980) circumplex model would characterise as high-activation positive affect—a state of engaged enthusiasm particularly conducive to spontaneous action. Live shopping streams that successfully generate this emotional state appear substantially more effective at converting viewers to buyers (Cui, Liu and Gu, 2022).
### Cognitive value mechanisms in purchase decisions
Whilst affective mechanisms receive substantial research attention, cognitive evaluations also significantly predict impulse buying in live shopping, challenging any assumption that impulsive purchasing is purely emotional. Perceived usefulness and utilitarian value—the extent to which consumers believe a product or the shopping experience will provide functional benefits—emerge as important predictors across multiple studies.
Fu and Hsu (2023) found that utilitarian shopping value predicted impulse buying in their investigation of live streaming commerce. Notably, for experienced live shopping users, utilitarian considerations were equally or more important than hedonic factors, suggesting that as consumers become familiar with the format, rational evaluation becomes increasingly salient alongside emotional engagement. Cui, Liu and Gu (2022) similarly identified perceived usefulness as a key driver, whilst Lee and Chen (2021) demonstrated that both utilitarian and hedonic values contributed to impulse buying intention.
Information quality and cognitive guidance represent related mechanisms. Live shopping provides opportunities for detailed product demonstration, real-time question answering, and expert explanation that may exceed information typically available in traditional e-commerce. Utomo et al. (2025) found that information quality enhanced cognitive engagement and flow, subsequently increasing impulse buying tendency. Huo et al. (2023) demonstrated that informative content positively influenced viewers’ evaluation processes. Luo et al. (2023) showed that customer engagement with informational content boosted impulse buying tendency.
Promotional cues including price perception, scarcity signals, and time pressure operate through what might be termed cognitive-affective pathways, activating both rational evaluation (assessing deal value) and emotional urgency (fearing missed opportunities). Yi et al. (2023) investigated scarcity-induced purchase decisions, finding that viewing frequency and anticipated emotions moderated responses to scarcity cues. Feng et al. (2024) demonstrated that both scarcity persuasion and price perception influenced impulse buying during livestreaming, with these factors working through urgency mechanisms.
Zhang, Zhang and Wang (2022) specifically examined “hunger marketing” tactics in live commerce, identifying mechanisms through which artificial scarcity and limited availability increase perceived value and purchase urgency. Miranda et al. (2024) found that promotional elements significantly influenced the impulse buying dilemma consumers experience, with deal attractiveness sometimes overcoming resistance to unplanned purchasing. Putri et al. (2025) demonstrated that time pressure directly heightened both emotional arousal and cognitive urgency, creating dual-pathway effects on impulse buying.
### Social and identity mechanisms
Live shopping’s integration of social features distinguishes it from traditional e-commerce and creates psychological mechanisms operating through social identity, relationship, and belonging processes. Parasocial interaction with streamers represents a particularly powerful mechanism, with viewers developing feelings of intimacy and connection with hosts they may watch regularly.
Li, Chen and Zhu (2024) demonstrated that perceived parasocial relationship with e-commerce anchors significantly influenced impulse buying through emotional contagion processes. Shao et al. (2025) found that social presence of the broadcaster enhanced self-efficacy, psychological ownership, and perceived scarcity, all of which contributed to impulse buying. Li et al. (2025) investigated moderating effects of parasocial relationships in accumulative social live shopping, finding that stronger parasocial bonds amplified effects of other impulse buying triggers.
Streamer characteristics including perceived similarity, attractiveness, and expertise influence the strength of parasocial bonds and their effects on purchasing. Fu and Hsu (2023) found that both parasocial interaction and local presence of streamers influenced impulse buying through shopping value perceptions. Lo et al. (2022) employed deep learning-based analysis to identify social connection with streamers as a significant predictor of impulse buying. Ali, Janjua and Maqsood (2025) demonstrated relationships between streamer characteristics, brand trust development, and purchase behaviour in live shopping events.
Beyond streamer relationships, peer and co-viewer interactions create social mechanisms through horizontal rather than vertical social connections. Live shopping chat functions enable real-time interaction among viewers, creating a sense of community and shared experience. Chen, Siti and Hassan (2025) conducted meta-analysis of peer interaction effects on impulse buying from a social cognitive perspective, finding consistent positive relationships. Li et al. (2025) demonstrated that co-viewer interaction fostered social identity and shopping value, subsequently boosting impulse buying urges.
Social contagion—the spread of behaviour and emotion through social networks—appears particularly operative in live shopping contexts. When viewers observe others making purchases, asking questions, or expressing enthusiasm, they may be influenced to adopt similar behaviours. Huo et al. (2023) and Luo et al. (2023) both identified social interaction features as contributors to impulse buying through engagement and social influence mechanisms.
### Individual predispositions and moderating factors
The psychological mechanisms described above do not operate uniformly across all consumers; rather, individual differences in disposition and behaviour patterns moderate their effectiveness. Trait impulse buying tendency—a stable individual characteristic reflecting general propensity for spontaneous purchasing—consistently amplifies effects of situational triggers.
Yi et al. (2023) found that impulse buying tendency moderated relationships between scarcity cues and purchase decisions, with high-trait individuals responding more strongly to limited availability signals. Feng et al. (2024) demonstrated similar moderating effects, with scarcity persuasion and price perception more strongly affecting consumers high in impulsive buying tendency. Cui, Liu and Gu (2022) identified trait impulsivity as an amplifier of environmental and streamer-related effects on impulse buying.
Deal proneness—the extent to which consumers are particularly responsive to promotional offers—represents a related disposition influencing live shopping conversion. Lo et al. (2022) found that deal-prone consumers were more susceptible to flash sales and limited-time offers characteristic of live shopping streams. Luo et al. (2023) demonstrated that deal proneness enhanced the relationship between customer engagement and impulse buying tendency.
Hedonic motivation, reflecting the degree to which consumers seek pleasure and enjoyment from shopping experiences, similarly moderates mechanism effectiveness. Mahendra et al. (2024) investigated both external and internal factors in impulse buying decisions, finding that hedonic motivation significantly shaped responses to live shopping stimuli. Consumers high in hedonic motivation appear more susceptible to the experiential and entertaining aspects of live shopping streams.
Viewing frequency and engagement patterns also moderate impulse buying, potentially through multiple pathways. Regular viewers may develop stronger parasocial relationships with streamers, become more familiar with promotional patterns and thus more responsive to deals, or simply encounter more purchasing opportunities. Yi et al. (2023) specifically examined viewing frequency as a moderator of scarcity effects on impulse buying tendency. Lo et al. (2022) and Luo et al. (2023) similarly identified engagement patterns as factors amplifying impulse purchase likelihood.
Discussion
The synthesis of contemporary research reveals a coherent, if complex, picture of psychological mechanisms predicting impulse conversion in live shopping. The evidence supports a multi-pathway model wherein affective, cognitive, and social mechanisms operate simultaneously and interactively, with individual predispositions moderating sensitivity to these various triggers. This discussion critically analyses these findings in relation to the stated objectives, considers theoretical and practical implications, and acknowledges limitations of current knowledge.
### Integration of findings across mechanism categories
The four core mechanism categories identified—affective, cognitive, social, and dispositional—align with established consumer psychology frameworks whilst revealing live shopping’s distinctive characteristics. The consistent finding that perceived enjoyment and arousal directly predict impulse buying urge confirms hedonic consumption theories suggesting that positive emotional states facilitate spontaneous purchasing (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982). Live shopping’s entertainment value, combining aspects of reality television, social media, and retail therapy, creates particularly intense affective engagement.
The significance of cognitive value mechanisms challenges any simplistic characterisation of impulse buying as purely irrational or emotional. The finding from Fu and Hsu (2023) that experienced shoppers show equal or greater sensitivity to utilitarian factors suggests developmental patterns in live shopping consumption. Initial engagement may be predominantly hedonic, with cognitive evaluation becoming increasingly important as consumers develop platform familiarity and form more stable shopping goals. This trajectory has implications for understanding impulse buying as potentially involving rapid but nevertheless genuine evaluation rather than purely thoughtless responding.
Social mechanisms demonstrate live shopping’s distinctiveness from traditional e-commerce. Whilst product reviews and ratings provide asynchronous social information in conventional online shopping, live streaming creates synchronous social presence where parasocial warmth from streamers and horizontal connection with co-viewers operate in real time. The strength of parasocial relationships as predictors of impulse buying supports Horton and Wohl’s (1956) original insight that mediated relationships can carry psychological significance approaching that of interpersonal relationships. In live shopping, these relationships directly translate to commercial outcomes.
Individual predispositions function as vulnerability factors, identifying which consumers are most susceptible to live shopping’s impulse-inducing properties. Trait impulsivity, deal proneness, and hedonic motivation all amplify mechanism effectiveness, suggesting that identical stream content produces variable effects depending on viewer characteristics. This finding has ethical implications, as commercial optimisation for impulse conversion may disproportionately affect individuals whose dispositional profiles make them vulnerable to persuasive techniques.
### Theoretical contributions and framework development
The synthesis enables development of an integrated framework positioning live shopping impulse buying as the outcome of multiple psychological pathways operating within a dynamic, temporally bounded environment. Building on the SOR model employed by multiple primary studies, the framework conceptualises live shopping features (stream characteristics, host behaviours, promotional elements, social features) as stimuli that activate organismic states across affective (arousal, pleasure, flow), cognitive (value perception, information processing, urgency), and social (parasocial connection, peer identification) dimensions. These states then generate the urge to buy impulsively, which translates to actual purchase behaviour depending on opportunity and ability factors. Individual predispositions moderate both stimulus-organism and organism-response relationships.
This framework extends SOR theory by explicitly incorporating social mechanisms alongside affective and cognitive states, recognising live shopping’s fundamentally social nature. It also incorporates temporal dynamics absent from static applications of SOR, acknowledging that live shopping experiences unfold over time with accumulating engagement potentially intensifying mechanism activation.
The synthesis also contributes to parasocial interaction theory by demonstrating its explanatory power for commercial rather than purely media consumption contexts. Live shopping streamers function as what might be termed “commercial intimates”—figures with whom viewers develop relationship-like connections that influence purchasing in ways analogous to friend recommendations.
### Practical implications for stakeholders
The findings carry substantial implications for live shopping platforms, streamers, brands, and consumer protection advocates. For platforms, the evidence suggests design priorities should balance emotional engagement features (atmospheric elements, visual appeal, interactive tools) with information delivery capabilities. The cognitive value findings indicate that platforms facilitating high-quality product information and demonstration may achieve better conversion than those relying purely on entertainment.
For streamers, the parasocial relationship evidence emphasises importance of authenticity, consistency, and genuine connection-building with audiences. Viewers who feel known and understood by streamers appear more susceptible to impulse buying triggers, suggesting that relationship cultivation represents a commercial investment. However, this same finding raises ethical questions about commercial exploitation of manufactured intimacy.
For brands utilising live shopping, the moderating role of deal proneness and promotional responsiveness suggests careful calibration of scarcity and urgency tactics. Whilst these techniques effectively generate impulse purchases, overuse may create habituation or consumer scepticism. The cognitive value findings also suggest that products benefiting from demonstration and explanation may be particularly suited to live shopping formats.
For consumer protection advocates, the findings identify vulnerability profiles—high trait impulsivity, hedonic motivation, frequent viewing—that may warrant targeted educational interventions. The multiple simultaneous psychological mechanisms activated by live shopping create particularly challenging self-regulation conditions, potentially justifying regulatory attention to the most manipulative practices.
### Limitations and methodological considerations
Several limitations constrain interpretation of the synthesised evidence. Most primary studies employ cross-sectional survey designs capturing associations between self-reported psychological states and purchase intentions or recalled behaviours. Such designs cannot establish causal direction and may be subject to common method bias. The few experimental studies provide stronger causal evidence but often examine isolated mechanisms rather than their naturalistic combination.
Cultural context represents another limitation. Many studies were conducted in East Asian markets, particularly China, where live shopping developed earliest and achieved greatest penetration. Whilst psychological mechanisms may have universal elements, cultural differences in social relationships, promotional responsiveness, and shopping orientations may limit generalisability to Western or other cultural contexts.
The rapidly evolving nature of live shopping technology and practice also creates limitations. Studies published even two to three years ago examined platform features and commercial practices that may have substantially evolved. The integration of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and enhanced interactivity in contemporary live shopping may activate mechanisms or interaction patterns not captured in available research.
### Future research directions
The identified limitations suggest several productive future research directions. Longitudinal designs tracking consumers over time would enable examination of how repeated live shopping exposure changes mechanism sensitivity and whether habituation or sensitisation occurs. Such designs could also investigate the development of parasocial relationships and their evolving commercial influence.
Cross-cultural comparative research would establish boundary conditions for identified mechanisms and potentially reveal culturally specific psychological pathways. As live shopping expands globally, understanding how mechanisms operate across cultural contexts becomes increasingly important.
Research examining post-purchase consequences of impulse buying in live shopping would extend understanding beyond the conversion moment. Questions regarding purchase satisfaction, return rates, financial regret, and long-term consumer welfare remain largely unaddressed in current research.
Finally, intervention research examining whether consumer education, platform design modifications, or regulatory approaches can mitigate problematic impulse buying would contribute to evidence-based consumer protection. Understanding mechanisms of conversion creates foundation for understanding mechanisms of resistance.
Conclusions
This dissertation has systematically identified and evaluated the psychological mechanisms predicting impulse buying and conversion in live shopping environments. Through comprehensive literature synthesis, the investigation achieved its stated objectives, revealing a multi-faceted picture of consumer psychology in this distinctive retail context.
The first and second objectives—identifying core psychological mechanisms and evaluating their relative evidence strength—were addressed through systematic analysis yielding four primary mechanism categories. Affective mechanisms including perceived enjoyment, emotional arousal, and flow states demonstrate strong, consistent direct effects on impulse buying urge across multiple independent studies. Cognitive value mechanisms encompassing perceived usefulness, information quality, and promotional urgency show equally robust effects, challenging any characterisation of impulse buying as purely non-cognitive. Social mechanisms including parasocial relationships with streamers and peer interactions operate through identity and belonging pathways with strong supporting evidence. Individual predispositions consistently moderate these situational mechanisms, identifying which consumers respond most strongly to live shopping’s impulse-inducing properties.
The third through sixth objectives—examining specific mechanism categories in depth—were achieved through detailed analysis within the literature review. Affective mechanisms operate through the creation of positive, high-activation emotional states conducive to spontaneous action. Cognitive mechanisms involve rapid evaluation of product value, information quality, and deal attractiveness. Social mechanisms create connection with both streamers and co-viewers, generating social influence on purchasing. Dispositional factors including trait impulsivity, deal proneness, and hedonic motivation determine individual vulnerability to these triggers.
The seventh objective—synthesising findings into coherent theoretical framework—was accomplished through the integrated model developed in the discussion. This framework extends the Stimulus-Organism-Response approach by explicitly incorporating social mechanisms and temporal dynamics characteristic of live shopping, whilst demonstrating compatibility with established parasocial interaction and hedonic consumption theories.
The significance of these findings extends to both scholarly and practical domains. Theoretically, live shopping provides a valuable context for testing and extending consumer psychology frameworks, revealing how established mechanisms operate under novel technological and social conditions. The simultaneous activation of multiple psychological pathways in a single consumption environment distinguishes live shopping from previously studied contexts and suggests directions for theoretical development.
Practically, the findings inform evidence-based approaches to live shopping design, content strategy, and commercial optimisation. Understanding what psychological mechanisms drive conversion enables more effective practice whilst also identifying potential areas of concern regarding consumer vulnerability. The synthesis provides foundation for both commercial application and consumer protection consideration.
Future research should employ longitudinal designs, expand cultural scope, examine post-purchase consequences, and investigate protective interventions. As live shopping continues its rapid commercial growth, continued scholarly attention to its psychological mechanisms becomes increasingly important for understanding contemporary consumer behaviour and informing appropriate responses to its implications for consumer welfare.
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