Live streaming and consumer purchase behavior: Current and future opportunities in E-commerce

This study provides a state-of-the-art review by evaluating the knowledge structure of live streaming and consumer purchasing behavior. The rise of digital marketing technology and social media influencers has increased the live-streaming phenomenon, where consumers purchase products advertised during live streams. This review uses a science-mapping technique based on bibliometric analysis to map live-streaming content and its influence on consumer purchase behavior, drawing on 604 journal articles published from 2019 to 2024. The current and future trends were analyzed using the prominent technique of bibliographic coupling and co-word analysis. The current and emerging trends discovered are 1) Customer engagement in live streaming, 2) Motivation of consumer live stream shopping, and 3) Product endorsement in live streaming. Future trends suggest 1) The impact of live streaming on online consumer commerce, 2) Trust and satisfaction in live streaming e-commerce, 3) Social media live streaming in e-commerce, and 4) Antecedents of purchase intention and adoption in live streaming commerce. These findings provide an evolving role for live streaming, from an engagement-driven tool to a strategic mechanism shaping digital commerce and consumer decision-making. The implications of live streaming for future e-commerce are immense for research and practice. From a psychological perspective, live streaming has highlighted mechanisms such as parasocial interaction, trust formation, and emotional engagement between sellers and buyers. Furthermore, the phenomenon of impulsive buying is a concern, as it significantly influences consumers’ psychological states and decision-making processes. Business owners need to capitalize on the live streaming platforms, including engagement with influencers and opinion leaders for product endorsement. This review provides a novel, state-of-the-art understanding of live streaming and its way forward for e-commerce. • This review employs science mapping through bibliographic coupling and co-word analysis to provide a state-of-the-art evaluation of live streaming and consumer purchasing behavior. • Current themes identified include consumer engagement, shopping motivation, and product endorsement in live-streaming contexts. • Future research directions highlight the role of trust and satisfaction, social media integration, and antecedents of purchase intention in live streaming e-commerce. • The study underscores practical implications for business owners, emphasizing influencer engagement and product endorsement strategies to harness live streaming's potential in digital commerce.