“Welcoming with a smile”: how anchors’ facial expressions drive consumer purchasing behavior

Purpose The relationship between anchors and consumers in livestreaming environments is a significant area of research, with most prior studies focusing on anchor-specific characteristics. Based on emotional contagion and parasocial interaction theories, this study examines the relationship between anchor facial expressions and consumer purchasing behavior. Our research aims to identify a more widely applicable phenomenon and explain the mechanisms behind this relationship, contributing to theoretical development and offering practical insights into livestreaming platforms and anchors. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from the Douyin livestreaming platform at varying traffic levels, with anchor facial expressions identified through an object detection model, resulting in a dataset of 22,406 entries. An ordinary least squares regression analysis and multiple robustness checks were performed to evaluate the proposed hypotheses. Findings The results indicate that anchors’ positive facial expressions significantly enhance consumer purchasing behavior mediated by parasocial interaction and relationships. Notably, anchor influence negatively moderates this effect; the impact of facial expressions on consumer behavior is weaker for highly influential anchors and stronger for less influential ones. Originality/value This study optimizes and categorizes facial expression classifications that adapt to livestreaming contexts, examines how anchors’ positive emotional facial expressions promote consumer purchasing behavior and explores the underlying mechanisms. This expands the research perspective on the role of visual cues in livestreaming and investigates the application of object detection models in this field, offering valuable insights from both theoretical and practical perspectives.