Gender role reversal in live commerce: how male anchors’ feminine and masculine traits influence female purchase intention

This study aims to explore how the reverse gender characteristics of male anchors in the live streaming consumption field attract female consumers and influence their purchasing behavior. Based on the interpersonal attraction theory and the Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance (PAD) three-dimensional emotion model, the male anchor’s physical attractiveness, verbal attractiveness, femininity and masculinity are taken as independent variables, female consumers’ sense of pleasure, arousal and dominance are taken as mediating variables, social presence is taken as a moderating variable, and female consumers’ purchase intention is taken as the dependent variable, thus proposing research hypotheses and models. The study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to verify the hypotheses using empirical data from 443 female consumers. Research results show that the reverse-gender characteristics of male anchors not only have a significant positive impact directly on the PAD three-dimensional emotion model, but also affect female consumers’ purchase intention through the mediating effect of the PAD model. Social presence plays a positive moderating role in the relationship between female consumers’ sense of arousal and purchase intention. The study expands the application of gender reverse marketing-related theories in live e-commerce scenarios and provides targeted reference suggestions for e-commerce anchors, Multi-Channel Network (MCN) agencies and merchants.