Anchor Credibility, Attractiveness, Interactivity and Consumers' Real-Time Shopping Behavior as Mediated by Trust and Attitude

The rapid rise of live-streaming e-commerce (e-LSC) has fundamentally transformed consumer purchasing behavior by combining real-time engagement and digital commerce. This quantitative descriptive-correlational study investigated how three anchor characteristics credibility (expertise, trustworthiness, reputation), attractiveness (physical attributes, charisma, similarity), and interactivity (real-time engagement, responsive communication, immersive experience) influence consumers' real-time shopping behavior (buy now, add to cart, recommend to others), and aimed to determine the precise mediating roles of trust and attitude towards the anchor. The study is conceptually grounded in Flow Theory and Parasocial Interaction Theory. Data were collected from 400 randomly selected online shoppers in Nanchang, China, who were actively engaged in platforms such as Taobao Live and Douyin. Data analysis utilized correlation and mediation techniques. The results demonstrated that all three anchor characteristics were significantly positively correlated with both attitude toward the anchor and trust toward the anchor (p < .001). Mediation analysis confirmed that attitude towards the anchor served as a significant partial mediator in the relationships between anchor credibility, attractiveness, interactivity, and real-time shopping behaviors. Similarly, trust towards the anchor emerged as a significant partial mediator in the relationships between all anchor characteristics and real-time shopping behavior (p < .001). The findings conclude that while anchor attributes directly drive consumer action, their influence is substantially amplified when they successfully cultivate consumer trust and favorable attitudes. Trust and attitude act as crucial psychological bridges, transforming anchor appeal and engagement into concrete purchases (buy now, add to cart) and audience advocacy (recommend to others). These results provide valuable insights for e-commerce platforms and anchors, underscoring the need to focus strategies on relational communication and build long-term credibility to optimize sales conversions.