电商直播中虚拟主播互动性对消费者购买行为的影响

The Mechanism of Virtual Anchor Interactivity on Consumer Purchase Behavior in E-Commerce Live Streaming

电商直播平台广泛应用的虚拟主播是由人工智能技术驱动的虚拟数字人主播,可以类似真人主播与消费者互动,进行直播带货。聚焦虚拟主播互动性,综合运用问卷调查和眼动实验,探究虚拟主播互动性对电商直播中消费者购买意愿影响的中介机制以及调节机制。问卷调查结果显示,虚拟主播互动性对消费者购买意愿的影响过程由社会临场感起完全中介作用。眼动实验从视觉注意视角进一步证明,虚拟主播互动性对消费者购买意愿的影响机制,并发现产品类型(享乐型产品和实用型产品)对上述过程具有调节作用。具体而言,消费者在观看享乐型产品的直播时,虚拟主播的高互动性促使消费者关注产品和虚拟主播,减少对互动弹幕的关注,提高了消费者的购买意愿;消费者在观看实用型产品的直播时,虚拟主播互动性水平对消费者的视觉注意以及购买意愿没有显著影响。

The virtual anchor widely used in e-commerce live-streaming platforms is a virtual digital human anchor driven by artificial intelligence technology,which can interact with consumers similar to real anchors and carry out live streaming with products.This paper focuses on virtual anchor interactivity,using a combination of questionnaires and eye-movement experiments to investigate the mediation mechanism and the regulation mechanism of the impact of virtual anchor interactivity on consumers’purchase intention in live e-commerce.The results of the questionnaire study show that the influence of virtual anchor interactivity on consumers’purchase intention is fully mediated by social presence.The eye-movement experiment further demonstrates the mechanism of virtual anchor interactivity on consumers’purchase intention from a visual attention perspective,and more interestingly,the moderating effect of product type(hedonic and practical products)on this process.Specifically,the high interactivity of the virtual anchors when consumers watch the live broadcast of hedonic products prompts consumers to pay attention to the products and the virtual anchors,reducing their attention to the interactive pop-ups and increasing their purchase intention,while the level of interactivity of the virtual anchors when consumers watch the live broadcast of practical products has no significant effect on consumers’visual attention and purchase intention.This study has practical implications for merchants to develop live-streaming strategies for virtual anchors and for platforms to develop and improve virtual anchors.