Streamer Characteristics and Brand Identification in Livestream Commerce: Evidence from Time-Honored Brands

The revitalization of time-honored brands has been identified as a strategic priority in China’s national development agenda, yet many long-established brands continue to face declining market share and limited engagement with younger consumers. E-commerce livestreaming, characterized by real-time interaction and broad digital reach, has emerged as a potentially powerful channel for reversing this trend. However, the mechanisms through which livestreaming strengthens brand identification with time-honored brands among young consumers remain poorly understood. Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework, social presence theory (SPT) and parasocial interaction theory (PSI), this study investigates how streamer characteristics—popularity, professionalism, and interactivity—shape brand identification with time-honored brands in livestreaming environments. Survey data were collected from 434 young consumers aged 18–40 who had viewed time-honored-brand livestreams within the previous six months. Structural equation modelling was used to test a model incorporating social presence, perceived authenticity of time-honored brands, and trust in time-honored brands as sequential mediators and consumer–streamer relationship strength as a moderator. The results show that streamer popularity and professionalism significantly enhance both social presence and perceived brand authenticity, whereas streamer interactivity primarily strengthens social presence. Social presence and perceived authenticity both increase trust in time-honored brands, which in turn predicts brand identification with time-honored brands. Streamer popularity and professionalism influence brand identification through two serial mediation pathways—via social presence and trust, and via authenticity and trust—while streamer interactivity operates mainly through the social presence–trust pathway. In addition, consumer–streamer relationship strength amplifies the effect of social presence on trust but attenuates the effect of authenticity on trust. By integrating SOR with SPT and PSI in a moderated serial mediation framework, this study provides new insight into how livestreaming transforms external cues into durable brand identification with time-honored brands among young consumers. The findings extend time-honored branding theory into digitally mediated commerce and offer evidence-based guidance for the strategic renewal of time-honored brands in the platform economy.