Live-Streaming E-commerce: The Role of Firms And Influencers In Driving Sales

Livestreaming is a transformative technology that removes the limitations of time and lo- cation, enabling real-time interaction between hosts and audiences. When combined with online shopping, it creates livestreaming e-commerce, a fast-growing marketing channel where influencers promote products live and engage directly with consumers. My doctoral dissertation explores how firms and influencers collaborate effectively in this emerging retail space. Livestreaming e-commerce offers new opportunities for reaching consumers, but also raises questions about how to manage partnerships and present products in a dynamic, real-time setting. Specifically, I investigate how firms should choose and switch influencers over time, and how influencers can best select and promote products during livestream events. The dissertation consists of three chapters examining firm–influencer collaboration from different angles. The first chapter analyzes how firms should switch influencers over time and shows that switching to a moderately similar influencer can improve sales by balancing familiarity and reach. The second chapter focuses on how influencers diversify their product assortment, finding that timing and audience–product fit are key to maintaining viewer engagement. The third chapter investigates how visual and textual features of ad content affect attention during livestreams, showing that while rich features increase attention overall, they can backfire when placed next to visually competitive ads. Together, these chapters contribute to our understanding of how firms and influencers can optimize their collaboration in livestreaming e-commerce. The dissertation offers new insights into digital marketing, influencer strategy, and consumer attention in interactive online environments.