Consumer and Cultural Values Affecting Live Streaming Impulse Buying Behavior: A Cross-Cultural Study Between China and the United States

The rise of digital platforms has transformed marketing landscapes, with live-streaming emerging as a powerful tool for engaging audiences and shaping consumer behavior. While live-streaming e-commerce is rapidly expanding in Chinese and North American markets, empirical research comparing live-streaming impulse buying (LSIB) across cultural contexts remains limited. This study examined how atmospheric cues (ACs) are associated with LSIB in China and the United States through hedonic value (HV) and utilitarian value (UV), while also considering cultural value boundary conditions. Data were collected from 396 Chinese and 408 American consumers through online survey platforms. The measurement structure was first assessed using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, and the main structural relationships were then tested using controlled multi-group latent structural equation modeling (SEM). Composite score path models were estimated as robustness checks, and moderation hypotheses were examined using interaction regressions on composite scores. In both countries, AC was positively associated with HV and UV, and HV was positively associated with LSIB. In the U.S. sample, UV was negatively associated with LSIB, whereas the corresponding association was not significant in China. Formal Wald tests did not indicate statistically significant cross-country differences in the focal structural paths. On the HV pathway, collectivism strengthened the relationship between AC and HV in China, and long-term orientation strengthened the relationship between AC and HV in the U.S. The findings suggested that the core stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) mechanism replicated across two market contexts, while cultural orientations mainly condition the hedonic route. The study contributed to cross-context understanding of live-streaming consumption and provides evidence-based implications for digital marketing strategy.