An SOR Theory Perspective on Consumption Alienation of Silver Consumers in Emotional Marketing within E-Commerce Live Streaming

With the rapid development of e-commerce live streaming, emotional marketing has become a common strategy to attract consumers, significantly influencing the silver generation, who are increasingly becoming an indispensable consumer group. However, with the misuse of emotional marketing, does this lead to a tendency toward consumption alienation among silver consumers? This study constructs a multiple mediation model to explore this issue based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response theory. Data collected from questionnaires across 9 provinces in China were analyzed using structural equation modeling to test the complex model. The findings reveal that emotional marketing positively affects consumption alienation among the silver generation, with para-social interaction and social presence serving as mediating factors. This study aims to furnish empirical evidence supporting the healthy evolution of e-commerce live streaming and to expand the theoretical perspectives within the domain of consumption alienation.