Perceived congruity, psychological contract and support provision of live streaming viewers: toward a dual-process model

Purpose This study explores the antecedents of viewers' support provision in the live streaming context. Design/methodology/approach An online survey with 316 valid responses was conducted to test our research model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to assess the measurement and structural models. Findings The results show that functional congruity and self-congruity promote viewer support provision through establishing psychological contracts. Specifically, the transactional contract has a stronger effect on financial support provision, whereas the relational contract has a stronger effect on emotional support provision. Practical implications The findings encourage streamers and platforms to strategically engage with viewers who share a similar image with the streamer and to facilitate psychological contracts with them. Originality/value First, this study emphasizes the importance of both functional congruity and self-congruity in motivating viewer support provision. Second, it identifies psychological contracts as mediators to explain how dual congruity works. Third, this study examines the asymmetric effects of transactional and relational contracts on viewer financial support and emotional support provision.