Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 60 (2023) 101286

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Electronic Commerce Research and Applications

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/elerap

A moderating – mediating model of the urge to buy impulsively in social

commerce live-streaming
Nguyen Huu Khoi a, b, *, Angelina Nhat-Hanh Le b, Phong Nguyen Dong b
a
Nha Trang University, 02 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Nha Trang, Vietnam
b
University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, 59C Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Responding to the call for more studies that dig deeper into the mechanism linking live-streaming’s (SC live-
Vividness streaming) distinctive characteristics with impulsive buying behaviour, this study adopts the widely-accepted
Personalisation stimulus–organism–response paradigm to develop a moderating-mediating model that investigates the mecha­
Consumption vision
nisms linking the two distinctive characteristics of vividness and personalisation as stimuli and the urge to buy
Telepresence
Urge to buy impulsively
impulsively as a response via consumption vision and telepresence as organism. To further unravel the intricate
SC live-streaming relationships among stimuli, organism, and response, the moderating role of impulsivity is also integrated as the
boundary condition between stimuli (i.e., vividness and personalisation) and organism (i.e., consumption vision
and telepresence). The direct, indirect, and moderating effects were tested on a sample of 376 live-streaming
viewers with the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) technique with SmartPLS software
version 4. The findings indicate that stimuli have an influence on organism which in turn increases response, and
the association between stimuli and organism is enhanced by impulsivity. Furthermore, organism mediates the
impact of stimuli on the response. Based on the results, this study offers some significant theoretical and practical
implications.

1. Introduction
Live-streaming social commerce (SC live-streaming) has become a
spotlight worldwide as a powerful and indispensable mainstream mar­
keting channel (Lv et al., 2022; Xue et al., 2020). It can revolutionise
conventional e-commerce with more cutting-edge features and charac­
teristics, which in turn, generate more engaging and immersive expe­
riences and, eventually, facilitate viewers’ behaviours (e.g., buying;
Kang et al., 2021; Lo et al., 2022). This line of thought is evident in the
great success of SC live-streaming, driving 6 billion USD in sales during
the Double 11 shopping festival in 2020 (Hallanan, 2020), and it is ex­
pected to become a $500 billion market in 2022 (Koetsier, 2022). As SC
live-streaming has great potential to influence viewer buying behav­
iours, it is of utmost importance that merchants have a broad and deep
understanding of how, why, and under which conditions a target buying
behaviour (e.g., impulsive buying) occurs (Liu et al., 2022; Wang et al.,
2022; Zhang et al., 2022).Fig. 1.
Impulsive buying has received increasing attention in the context of
SC live-streaming (Gao et al., 2022; Li et al., 2023), which is not sur­
prising considering that this buying behaviour is pervasive and
particularly accounts for 40% of all online expenditures (Verhagen and
van Dolen, 2011). Thus, this buying behaviour is particularly significant
in boosting sales for online commerce setting, and SC live-streaming is
no exception. Impulsive buying refers to a sudden and immediate pur­
chase with no pre-shopping intentions (Chan et al., 2017) which is the
result of “a sudden, often powerful and persistent urge to buy something
immediately” (Rook, 1987, p. 191). As such, the urge to buy impulsively
(UBI) has been widely accepted as the proxy for this behaviour. The
potential capability of live-streaming commerce to evoke the viewers’
impulsive “see-now-buy-now” attitude has been not only academically
suggested (e.g., Khoi and Le, 2023; Lo et al., 2022) but also it is anec­
dotally evidenced that an estimated 44.1% of Chinese consumers make
impulse purchases when watching live-streaming (Li et al., 2022).
Indeed, together with other theories such as the social presence theory
(e.g., the social presence of live-streamer, other viewers and product;
Zhang et al., 2022), affordance theory (i.e., guidance information, bullet
information and parasocial interaction; Wang et al., 2022), or cognitive
evaluation theory (e.g., interaction quality; Li et al., 2022), the stim­
ulus–organism–response (SOR) paradigm (Mehrabian and Russell,
1974) has been widely adopted to argue that SC live-streaming involves

* Corresponding author at: Nha Trang University, 02 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Nha Trang, Vietnam.
E-mail addresses: khoinh@ntu.edu.vn (N.H. Khoi), hanhln@ueh.edu.vn (A.N.-H. Le), phongnd@ueh.edu.vn (P. Nguyen Dong).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2023.101286
Received 11 October 2022; Received in revised form 17 May 2023; Accepted 22 June 2023
Available online 29 June 2023
1567-4223/© 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
N.H. Khoi et al.
f
f
f
f
f f
f
a b
Fig. 1. The proposed research model. Note: p < 0.001; p < 0.01;
tion purpose.
stimuli that can evoke viewers’ cognitive and affective organisms which
subsequently foster the response of impulsive buying (Khoi and Le,
2023; Zhang et al., 2022). However, prior studies have cast doubt on the
transferability of previous findings in different online contexts into the
present setting due to the distinctive nature of SC live-streaming (Khoi
and Le, 2023; Lo et al., 2022). Thus, under the lens of SOR, prior studies
(Appendix 1) have strongly focused on the stimuli of the traditional
online environment (e.g., social presence) and marketing (e.g., sales
promotion; Chan et al., 2017) influencing the organisms of cognitive and
affective reactions and subsequently leading to impulsive buying as the
response (e.g., Lou et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2022). There are few studies
that have adopted the distinctive characteristics of SC live-streaming as
stimuli in generating impulse-related cognitive and affective reactions
and ultimately promote UBI. Thus, it is urgent to establish a more pro­
found understanding of the underlying mechanisms between SC live-
streaming’s distinctive features and this buying behaviour (Lo et al.,
2022; Zhang et al., 2022).
Inspired by the idea that SC live-streaming is superior to conven­
tional e-commerce in terms of deeper modes of interacting and richer
interactive content (Li et al., 2022), this study focuses on the distinctive
characteristics of vividness (Sun et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2020) and
personalisation (Kang et al., 2021; Xue et al., 2020), which are stimuli
(Khoi and Le, 2023; Xue et al., 2020; Zheng et al., 2022) that have been
largely ignored in previous research. In the context of SC live-streaming,
vividness and personalisation are important because they can provide
viewers with real-time, sensorily rich interactive content (e.g., increased
presentation quality; Lo et al., 2022; Steuer, 1992) and real-time tailored
information generating deeper modes of interaction (e.g., quick tailored
responses; Kang et al., 2021; Li et al., 2022). As a result, vividness (Bao
and Zhu, 2022; Zhang et al., 2020; Zheng et al., 2022) and person­
alisation (Kang et al., 2021; Khoi and Le, 2023; Xue et al., 2020; Zhang
et al., 2021) can stimulate various cognitive and affective reactions such
as swift guanxi, presence and trust, usefulness and risk, and viewers’
inspiration in this context. More importantly, it is suggested that, with
such abilities (Li et al., 2022), vividness and personalisation can offer a
stimuli approach that can be a substitute for the required direct expe­
rience with the products by generating the cognitive reaction of con­
sumption vision (Yim and Yoo, 2020) and the affective reaction of
telepresence (Pelet et al., 2017) as inner processes (i.e., organism).
These inner processes can simulate and fulfil a close-to-direct shopping
experience (Sun et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2022) which generates positive
emotions (e.g., pleasure and arousal; Bagozzi et al., 1999) and flow
experience (i.e., enjoyment and concentration; Pelet et al., 2017; Ye
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 60 (2023) 101286
R2= 49%
f
f
R2= 45%
f
R2= 51%
c ns
p < 0.05; : non-significant; The indirect effects are excluded from the figure for clarifica­
et al., 2020) – the determinants of UBI (Chan et al., 2017). While pre­
vious studies have adopted various cognitive-affect reactions as in­
termediaries, the psychological perspective that vividness and
personalisation, as stimuli, can generate the organisms of consumption
vision and telepresence, promoting a close-to-direct shopping experi­
ence to shorten viewers’ decision-making process (Lv et al., 2022; Wang
et al., 2022) and ultimately promote the response of impulsive buying
has been overlooked. Therefore, this study – in the light of the SOR
paradigm – aims to fill the identified research gap by examining the
direct and indirect relationships between SC live-streaming stimuli (i.e.,
vividness and personalisation), organism (i.e., consumption vision and
telepresence), and response (i.e., UBI) to radically uncover the intricated
association between these components.
In addition, previous studies (e.g., Li et al., 2022; Liu et al., 2022)
have proposed that personality traits can enrich the knowledge
regarding the process leading to impulsive buying in the context of SC
live-streaming. While SOR is a mediation paradigm (Chen et al., 2022),
it is open for the integration of moderator variables which can further
reveal the linking mechanism between stimuli, organism, and response
in the research context (Khoi and Le, 2023; Lin et al., 2022). This study is
particularly interested in the personality trait of impulsivity (Rook and
Fisher, 1995) since it reflects the proclivity of individuals to act spon­
taneously and, thus, exerts both direct (Rook, 1987) and moderating
effects (Lo et al., 2022) on impulsive buying. Previous research has
confirmed impulsivity as a moderator of the relationship between or­
ganism and UBI/impulsive buying (Lo et al., 2022; Zafar et al., 2019).
Therefore, this study, based on the SOR framework, aims to extend the
understanding of this personality trait in modifying the mechanism
linking stimuli, organism, and response in the research context. Impul­
sivity will be investigated as the boundary condition on the direct path
from vividness and personalisation (stimuli) to consumption vision and
telepresence (organism), following the wisdom that this personality trait
makes viewers more receptive to stimuli and thus have stronger or­
ganism and response (Wells et al., 2011).
In summary, this study implements the SOR paradigm to further
fortify the relationship between SC live-streaming and impulsive buying
by unravelling the underlying mechanism, including direct and indirect,
linking vividness and personalisation as stimuli, consumption vision and
telepresence as organism, and UBI as a response under the contingent
role of impulsivity. The structure of the current study is as follows: after
an introduction of the research, the conceptual background and theo­
retical framework for the research are presented. Next, a method for
conducting this research is demonstrated, followed by the results of data
2
N.H. Khoi et al.
analysis. Finally, there is a discussion, and implications are proposed.
2. Conceptual background and theoretical framework
2.1. SC live-streaming and impulsive buying: A SOR perspective
According to the SOR paradigm (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974), in­
dividual behaviours (response) can be explained by the influence of
external provocation (stimulus), which is mediated via cognitve-
affective reactions (organism). It is a mediation model (Chen et al.,
2022) that has a powerful capability of explaining different consumer
behaviours, including impulsive buying (Li et al., 2022; Lo et al., 2022;
Lv et al., 2022). Interestingly, this paradigm has been regarded as one of
the most widely-adopted theoretical frameworks to investigate online
impulsive buying (Chan et al., 2017) since it enables the integration of a
wide range of stimuli (i.e., environmental and marketing cues), organ­
ism (i.e., cognitive and affective reactions), and personality traits (e.g.,
impulsivity) to examine different mechanisms (direct, indirect, moder­
ating) leading to impulsive buying (Chan et al., 2017; Iyer et al., 2019;
Zhao et al., 2021).
In the SC live-streaming setting, a review of previous studies (see
Appendix 1) led to the postulation that impulsive buying behaviour can
be explained from the perspective of the SOR paradigm. In these studies,
stimuli are mainly traditional online environmental stimuli such as so­
cial presence (e.g., other viewers and products; Li et al., 2023; Ming
et al., 2021), interaction and experience (Lo et al., 2022; Yu et al., 2022),
atmospheric cues and utilities (e.g., convenience, divergence, playful­
ness, experience; Gao et al., 2022; Li et al., 2023; Lin et al., 2022), and
marketing stimuli, including gamification (Yu et al., 2022), product
popularity (Lou et al., 2022), scarcity persuasion (Chen et al., 2022; Hao
and Huang, 2023), price, and sales promotion (Gao et al., 2022; Lo et al.,
2022). Only a few studies have integrated distinctive characteristics of
SC live-streaming as stimuli for impulsive buying. For example, Ming
et al. (2021) focused on the social presence of live streamers, while Chen
et al. (2022) and Liu et al. (2022) investigated live-streamers’ profes­
sionalism and attributes, and Khoi and Le (2023) examined real-time
interactivity. Thus, following the SOR paradigm, there is a need for
further studies linking distinctive features of SC live-streaming (e.g.,
vividness and personalisation) as stimuli (Chen et al., 2022; Ming et al.,
2021) and this buying behaviour as a response via various organisms (e.
g., Khoi and Le, 2023; Lo et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2022).
Prior studies have also adopted a cognitive-affective framework to
propose several cognitive/affective organisms to foster impulsive
buying, such as flow state/trust (Ming et al., 2021), risk/affective in­
tensity (Zhang et al., 2022), immersion/interest, desire (Lv et al., 2022),
Zhong-Yong tendency/emotions (Gao et al., 2022), inspiration/delight
(Khoi and Le, 2023), general cognitive/affective reactions (Lo et al.,
2022) or involvement (Chen et al., 2022)/innovativeness, presence,
enjoyment, pleasure and arousal (Li et al., 2022; Lin et al., 2022; Liu
et al., 2022; Yu et al., 2022). Nonetheless, due to the lack of direct
experience with products in the SC live-streaming context (Wang et al.,
2022), it is imperative to consider cognitive/affective reactions that
simulate and fulfil close-to-direct shopping experiences to shorten
viewers’ decision-making process and ultimately promote immediate
buying to form a deeper and broader understanding of impulsive buying
in this context (Kang et al., 2021; Lv et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2022).
Interestingly, while scholars have suggested that SC live-streaming, with
its distinctive nature (Khoi and Le, 2023; Lo et al., 2022; Zhang et al.,
2022), can foster diverse psychological reactions, prior studies have
largely neglected this perspective in explaining impulsive buying,
limiting the understanding of the intermediary mechanisms (i.e., or­
ganism) connecting the two components. Finally, within the SOR
paradigm, personality traits such as extroverted personality (Li et al.,
2022) and impulsivity (Lo et al., 2022) have also been added to examine
the boundary conditions for impulsive buying. Altogether, it is expected
that the SOR paradigm can be used as a theoretical framework to
3
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 60 (2023) 101286
delineate a comprehensive picture in which SC live-streaming’s
distinctive characteristics, cognitive/affective reactions, and personality
traits can be integrated to predict UBI (Gao et al., 2022; Lo et al., 2022;
Yu et al., 2022).
2.2. Vividness and personalisation as stimuli
Various cutting-edge communication technologies such as the
simultaneous, real-time exchange of videos, images, sounds, and texts
(Lo et al., 2022; Sun et al., 2019) have contributed to the superiority of
SC live-streaming over conventional e-commerce in terms of real-time
interaction (Lo et al., 2022) which fosters richer interactive content
and deeper interactive modes (Li et al., 2022) and consequently, plays a
significant role in evoking viewers’ cognitive/affective reactions and
behaviours (Gao et al., 2022; Khoi and Le, 2023). In this sense, vivid­
ness, which is the ability of SC live-streaming to produce real-time
sensorially richer interactive content (Steuer, 1992), and person­
alisation, which is the ability of SC live-streaming to provide real-time
tailored information to viewers’ needs and preferences to generate
deeper interactive modes (Kang et al., 2021; Komiak and Benbasat,
2006) can be considered distinctive characteristics of SC live-streaming.
For example, compared to conventional e-commerce, SC live-streaming
allows live-streamers to demonstrate products in real-time from
different angles and distances with detailed textual and verbal de­
scriptions, thus generating highly vivid product presentations. Also, SC
live-streaming fosters two-way real-time communication between live-
streamers and viewers (e.g., viewers request images, videos, and ex­
planations, and live-streamers respond to those requests) and thus can
generate a high level of personalisation (Kang et al., 2021).
Rooted in the media richness theory (Daft and Lengel, 1986), pre­
vious studies in the computer-mediated context have advocated the
importance of vividness, which contains higher image quality and
multiple sense stimulators (Yim et al., 2017), in stimulating psycho­
logical arousals and facilitating behaviours (Jiang and Benbasat, 2007).
Vividness has been demonstrated to evoke cognitive reactions such as
perceived usefulness (Kim et al., 2021), perceived cost (Maity et al.,
2018) or social presence (Fortin and Dholakia, 2005) and/or effective
reactions such as the strong impression of being in the real world (Slater
and Wilbur, 1997), arousal (Fortin and Dholakia, 2005), telepresence
(Coyle and Thorson, 2001; Kim et al., 2021), and attitudinal states (Van
Kerrebroeck et al., 2017). Meanwhile, personalisation, with its ability to
attract users’ attention with personalised information and services
during mutual interaction (Tam and Ho, 2006), can be considered an
important social stimulus that can elicit cognitive and emotional states
and, subsequently, consumers’ behaviours (Fortin and Dholakia, 2005;
Kang et al., 2021). Personalisation has been proven to foster cognitive
reactions of immersion (Lim and Ayyagari, 2018; Ou et al., 2014), social
presence and flow (Zhang et al., 2014) and/or the affective reactions of
the feeling of being taken care of (Liang et al., 2014), a sense of
belonging, and social support (Zhang et al., 2014).
Derived from previous wisdom, the context of SC live-streaming has
contended that vividness and personalisation are stimuli related to
various perceptions and inner processes (e.g., Bao and Zhu, 2022; Khoi
and Le, 2023; Xue et al., 2020; Zheng et al., 2022). Vividness can foster
swift guanxi (i.e., mutual understanding, reciprocal favours and rela­
tionship harmony; Zhang et al., 2020), elicit a sense of presence and
trust (Zheng et al., 2022), and evoke serendipity, satisfaction and
perceived value (Bao and Zhu, 2022), while personalisation can form
trust in streamers and products (Zhang et al., 2021), generate the per­
ceptions of usefulness and risk (Xue et al., 2020), decrease psychological
distance and improve tie strength (Kang et al., 2021; Xue et al., 2020),
and inspire viewers (Khoi and Le, 2023). Therefore, this study adopts
vividness and personalisation as stimuli, discussing and testing the
mechanisms of their effects on UBI and consequently contributing to a
further understanding of impulsive buying in the context of SC live-
streaming (Lo et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2022).
N.H. Khoi et al.
2.3. Consumption vision and telepresence as organism
In the SC live-streaming context, it is suggested that when there is a
lack of direct product experience, the shortening of decision-making
process and promotion of impulsive buying requires cognitive and af­
fective processes that can simulate and fulfil shopping experiences like
the viewers would have in a real shopping journey (Lv et al., 2022; Wang
et al., 2022). Hence, consumption vision (Yim and Yoo, 2020) and tel­
epresence (Pelet et al., 2017) seem particularly psychologically suitable
for explaining impulsive buying since they generate a close-to-direct
shopping experience (Pelet et al., 2017; Yim and Yoo, 2020).
Specifically, consumption vision is a cognitive reaction defined as
“visual images of certain product-related behaviours and their con­
sequences—they consist of concrete and vivid mental images that enable
consumers to vicariously experience the self-relevant consequences of
product use” (Walters et al., 2012, p. 368). Thus, it reflects an experience
of mentally envisioning anticipatory experiences with products in future
consumption contexts which contain vivid images of product-related
behaviours such as product use and consequences (Phillips, 1996;
Phillips et al., 1995; Walters et al., 2007). Previous studies in different
settings such as advertisements (Phillips, 1996; Yim et al., 2020), digital
content (Alyahya and McLean, 2021; Yim and Yoo, 2020), or retailing
(Yim et al., 2018; Yim et al., 2021) have shown that consumers can form
a consumption vision (e.g., using product scenario) through being
exposed to sensory information since such information can draw
attention and stimulate their imagination (Walters et al., 2007; Yim
et al., 2020; Yim and Yoo, 2020). Thus, consumption vision can be
considered as an important simulation reaction (i.e., organism) to
marketing communications (e.g., vivid and personalised information) to
substitute direct experience with the products and foster consumers’
behaviours (Alyahya and McLean, 2021; Chang, 2012; Walters et al.,
2007; Yim et al., 2018). Meanwhile, telepresence is an affective reaction
of decreased psychological distance (Xue et al., 2020), reflecting the
“perception that they are present at a seller’s location remote from their
own location” (Ou et al., 2014, p. 217). It fosters “the psychological state
of ‘being there’ in a computer-mediated environment, augmented by
focused attention” (Mollen and Wilson, 2010, p. 921) that can generate
indirect product experience simulated through a medium (Lim and
Ayyagari, 2018). Thus, telepresence has marked its psychological
importance as an intermediary state (i.e., organism) linking stimuli and
consumers’ behaviours in the computer-mediated context since this af­
fective state can fill the lack of actual experience, facilitating the ten­
dency to act (Debbabi et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2021; Mollen and Wilson,
2010). Indeed, previous studies have argued and validated the role of
telepresence as an internal state connecting various stimuli such as
interactivity and vividness (Kim et al., 2021), 2D vs 3D advertisements
and virtual worlds (Debbabi et al., 2010; Nah et al., 2011), AR quality (i.
e., system, information and service quality; Kim and Hyun, 2016), and
consumers’ behaviours (e.g., intention to purchase).
In the context of SC live-streaming, consumption vision and tele­
presence have been suggested as vital cognitive-affective states (i.e.,
organism) bridging SC live-streaming stimuli and responses (e.g., con­
sumer behaviour; Sun et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2021;
Zhang et al., 2022). However, this suggestion has not been empirically
validated on impulsive buying, hindering an understanding regarding
the association between SC live-streaming’s distinctive characteristics
(e.g., vividness and personalisation) and viewers’ buying behaviours (e.
g., UBI; Khoi and Le, 2023). Consumption vision and telepresence could
be the results of vividness and personalisation – the stimuli that foster
richer/deeper interactive content/modes (Li et al., 2022), generating
close-to-direct shopping experiences (Lo et al., 2022; Sun et al., 2019;
Wang et al., 2022). Furthermore, consumption vision and telepresence
(Pelet et al., 2017; Yim and Yoo, 2020) are expected to promote UBI,
because they can generate positive emotions (Bagozzi et al., 1999) and
flow experience (Ye et al., 2020) respectively. Thus, consistent with
previous discoveries on the intermediary role of consumption vision (e.
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Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 60 (2023) 101286
g., Alyahya and McLean, 2021; Phillips, 1996; Walters et al., 2007; Yim
and Yoo, 2020) and telepresence (e.g., Debbabi et al., 2010; Kim and
Hyun, 2016; Kim et al., 2021; Nah et al., 2011), this study treats con­
sumption vision and telepresence as organism, being connect-the-dots
cognitive-affective reactions linking vividness and personalisation as
stimuli and UBI as organism.
2.4. Consumption vision and telepresence linking vividness and
personalisation to UBI
Phillips (1996) has proposed that consumption vision is evoked by
external stimuli such as verbal and visual details about products since
the details can facilitate greater imageability and comprehension of the
products and thus, improve the extent to construct and embellish future
scenarios. Thus, a detailed visual representation of the product enables
viewers to imagine or picture themselves using the presented products
(Chang, 2012; Phillips, 1996; Yim and Yoo, 2020) and subsequently, is
more likely to foster consumption vision. This postulation is consistent
with Walters et al. (2007, 2012), who argue that vividness is the key
characteristic that fosters consumption vision since it stimulates the
senses, increases information processing, and elicits imagination. In the
context of SC live-streaming, vividness reflects live-broadcasting tech­
nologies (Bao and Zhu, 2022; Zhang et al., 2021) that can increase the
quality of the product representation (Jiang and Benbasat, 2007). Those
technologies include both verbal and visual tools such as real, stereo­
scopic, and dynamic pictures, texts, sounds, and videos (Kang et al.,
2021; Xue et al., 2020). Therefore, it is expected vividness can evoke
consumption vision (Wang et al., 2022).
Psychologically, such influence is rooted in the grounded cognition
theory (Barsalou, 2008), which suggests that when consumers are
exposed to objects and events as stimuli (e.g., using a product), their
automatic information collection process is activated to store perceptual
information about those objects and events to in memory which will be
used later when being stimulated by new and/or similar objects or
events (e.g., product presentation in live-streaming). Furthermore,
within the process, the previously stored information is mentally
recreated in working memory via imaginative constructions (Walters
et al., 2012) to form the imagination of using the new product in a
scenario (Yim et al., 2020; Yim and Yoo, 2020), which could be un­
derstood as consumption vision. In this manner, consumption vision can
be initiated by the exposure to product representations that foster
attention and information processing, such as the vividness of SC live-
streaming (Barsalou, 2008; Yim and Yoo, 2020). Without vividness,
product presentation is difficult to attract consumers (Kim et al., 2021;
Yim et al., 2017) and, therefore, is less likely to evoke consumption.
Therefore, this study proposes that.
H1: Vividness positively influences consumption vision.
According to Jiang and Benbasat (2007), vividness can bring a
mediated environment closer to a real environment via a high-intensity
level of stimuli to the various senses, and thus, it is one of the most
significant media characteristics capable of influencing telepresence (Li
et al., 2002). Various studies in an online context (e.g., Debbabi et al.,
2010; Papagiannidis et al., 2017) have adopted this line of thought,
proposing and demonstrating that vividness “brings the experience and
objects closer to us, allowing us to indirectly meet and experience other
objects.” (Li et al., 2002, p. 18). Thus, vividness is an important ante­
cedent of telepresence in this setting (Debbabi et al., 2010; Lim and
Ayyagari, 2018; Papagiannidis et al., 2017). Consistent with previous
findings, this study expects that in the context of SC live-streaming,
vividness can foster telepresence (Lo et al., 2022) since vivid product
representation can reduce the psychological distance between viewers
and live-streamers which fosters viewers’ perception of being at the
seller’s location to watch and obtain the product information (Sun et al.,
2019). Also, vividness elicits multiple sensory stimuli, fostering infor­
mation processing which can mimic the viewers’ observation in a
physical shopping environment and promote telepresence (Lim and
N.H. Khoi et al.
Ayyagari, 2018).
Such an impact is in line with media richness theory (Daft and
Lengel, 1986), which postulates that richer mediums of communication
(i.e., vividness; Steuer, 1992) lead to a better understanding of the
message and lower ambiguity, subsequently bringing a mediated envi­
ronment closer to a real environment by enhancing the depth and width
of the communication process. The depth and the width of communi­
cation refer to how recipients perceive the quality of the represented
information and the number of sensory dimensions a communication
medium provides, respectively (Li et al., 2002). Thus, the deeper and
wider the communication is (i.e., vividness), the stronger the impression
of being in the real world viewers develop (i.e., telepresence; Slater and
Wilbur, 1997). Thus, communications with a high level of vividness are
capable of fostering presence (Steuer, 1992). On the other hand, com­
munications lacking vividness might not be able to promote tele­
presence since they are less likely to stimulate the senses of recipients
(Lombard and Ditton, 1997; Steuer, 1992). This study, therefore pro­
poses that.
H2: Vividness positively influences telepresence.
Generally, personalisation can be understood as providing informa­
tion that fits viewers’ needs (Tam and Ho, 2006). In the computer-
mediated context, previous studies have argued that personalisation,
as a part of the interaction between the context (e.g., e-commerce sys­
tem) and users, can foster the relevance of exchanged information
(Dholakia et al., 2000; Tam and Ho, 2006). The fit and relevance of the
exchanged information can fosters users’ attention and information
absorption (Chang, 2012; Phillips, 1996), which in turn, are more likely
to evoke consumption vision (Walters et al., 2007; Yim and Yoo, 2020).
In the SC live-streaming context, personalisation reflects the provision of
product information that meets and satisfies viewers such as personal­
ized content, format, and timing based on viewers’ requests, generating
the fit and relevance between provided information and viewers’ needs
(Kang et al., 2021; Khoi and Le, 2023). Consistent with previous argu­
ments (e.g., Walters et al., 2007; Yim and Yoo, 2020), this study expects
that personalisation fosters consumption vision in this context.
This expectation is based on the perspective of task-technology fit
(Goodhue and Thompson, 1995), which proposes that fit between
viewers’ aims and purposes (e.g., asking more about a product) and
providing information (e.g., answers to the questions about the product)
should foster the association between products and viewers’ values and
goals (Celsi and Olson, 1988) in the SC live-streaming context. Thus,
personalisation can increase viewers’ interest and involvement in the
product information process and absorption. Following the theory of
grounded cognition (Barsalou, 2008), it can be argued that since per­
sonalisation can foster viewers’ attention and information processing/
absorption, it can facilitate consumption vision among viewers (Yim and
Yoo, 2020). Furthermore, communication without personalisation is less
likely to draw viewers’ attention and, thus, is less likely to facilitate
consumption vision. This study, therefore, proposes that.
H3: Personalisation positively influences consumption vision.
In a computer-mediated context, it is suggested that personalisation,
as a part of the mutual interaction (Dholakia et al., 2000; Tam and Ho,
2006), is also one of the most significant media’s forms capable of
influencing telepresence (Lombard and Ditton, 1997; Steuer, 1992). In
the SC live-streaming setting, personalisation requires direct commu­
nication between live-streamers and viewers to allow viewers to send
requests to and receive responses (Sun et al., 2019; Xue et al., 2020). As a
result, there are at least three possible mechanisms linking person­
alisation and telepresence in this context. Firstly, during this commu­
nication, viewers can ask for more information about the products or
seek advice for a purchase decision, and live-streamers can offer
personalized information for those requests. This process facilitates the
perception of live-streamers as “real people”, which in turn promotes
telepresence (Ou et al., 2014). Furthermore, the increased communi­
cation provides viewers with a warm and friendly impression and in­
duces the viewers’ feelings of being cared for and valued by live-
5
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 60 (2023) 101286
streamers (Zhang et al., 2014). These feelings decrease the psychologi­
cal distance between them (Li et al., 2022) and induce telepresence (Lim
and Ayyagari, 2018). Finally, personalisation can “simulate” the phys­
ical shopping environment (Chen et al., 2021; Kang et al., 2021),
generating the perception of “being there”, which is fundamental to the
telepresence experience (Lim and Ayyagari, 2018; Ou et al., 2014).
Without personalisation, the three mechanisms are less likely to occur,
and telepresence might not be elicited. Thus, this study proposes that.
H4: Personalisation positively influences telepresence.
UBI can be defined as “the state of desire that is experienced upon
encountering an object in an environment” (Beatty and Ferrell, 1998, p.
172). Consumption vision is widely accepted to have a strong influence
on buying behaviours (Phillips et al., 1995; Yim and Yoo, 2020). Several
studies have reasoned that consumption vision is capable of generating
positive emotions (e.g., pleasure and enjoyment; Hirschman, 1985),
which are important antecedents of impulsive buying (Chan et al., 2017;
Iyer et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2021). More specifically, from the cognitive
appraisal perspective (Bagozzi et al., 1999), consumption vision enables
viewers to assign personal meanings to imaginary product consumption
(Chang, 2012; Phillips et al., 1995; Yim and Yoo, 2020), it facilitates the
vicarious experience of the self-relevant consequences of product use
(Walters et al., 2012). As a result, consumption vision is congruent with
and relevant to viewers’ aims, purposes, and values (Chang, 2012;
Phillips et al., 1995; Yim and Yoo, 2020). It is postulated that perceived
congruence and relevance evoke a wide range of emotions, such as
pleasure and arousal (Bagozzi et al., 1999). In addition, positive emo­
tions (e.g., pleasure and arousal) are the strong drivers of UBI since they
can overwhelm deliberative decision-making, leading to an out-of-
control tendency such as UBI (Loewenstein and Lerner, 2003). For
example, the time-inconsistent preferences aspect (Hoch and Loewen­
stein, 1991) suggests that positive emotions can move viewers’ reference
point from the before-purchase position to the after-purchase one (i.e.,
the position that normally is taken after the purchase), fostering the
perception of “already possessing” the products before any committed
purchases. Thus, abandoning the presented products creates feelings of
loss and deprivation while increasing the desire to buy, which in turn,
fosters the urge to buy impulsively. Altogether, this study proposes that.
H5: Consumption vision positively influences UBI.
The computer-mediated environment has shown that telepresence is
the key contributor to flow experience (Guo et al., 2016; Yim et al.,
2012). In the online context, some studies have confirmed that increased
telepresence leads to an enhanced flow experience (Pelet et al., 2017; Ye
et al., 2020). Similar findings have also been found in the interactive
system context (Faiola et al., 2013; Shen et al., 2019). Psychologically,
the association between telepresence and flow can be explained from the
perspective that the perceptual illusion of being present (i.e., tele­
presence) permits media users (e.g., viewers) to immerse themselves in
the world constructed within a medium (Lv et al., 2022; Wang et al.,
2022). This subsequently leads to a loss of self-consciousness and a sense
of escapism (Yim et al., 2012). Hence, telepresence produces a feeling of
enjoyment as well as facilitates concentration on tasks, which are the
two key components of flow (Pelet et al., 2017). As the SC live-streaming
context can be seen as a combination of computer-mediated, online, and
interactive characteristics (Kang et al., 2021; Xue et al., 2020), we
propose that telepresence promotes the flow experience. Furthermore,
flow theory indicates that flow experience is strongly related to impul­
sive buying (Chan et al., 2017) since enjoyment and concentration on
tasks, the two components of flow, can foster this buying behaviour
(Koufaris, 2002; Wu et al., 2020). As telepresence can facilitate flow
which in turn, influences UBI, this study proposes that.
H6: Telepresence positively influences UBI.
SOR (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974) is a mediation paradigm
meaning that organism is the mediating mechanism spreading the in­
fluence of stimulus on response (Chen et al., 2022). That is to say, or­
ganism is the necessary condition for driving individual actions when
considering a certain stimulus. Without organism, a stimulus is less
N.H. Khoi et al.
likely to foster a certain response (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974).
Following the suggestion of SOR, this study expects consumption vision
and telepresence (organism) would mediate the indirect relationships
between vividness and personalisation (stimuli) and UBI (response).
More specifically, the context of SC live-streaming lacks direct
experience with products and merchants and thus, lengthens the
decision-making process due to, for example, the perception of risk and
uncertainty (Wang et al., 2022). As a result, viewers would need more
time and effort to process informational cues (Yu et al., 2022; Zhang
et al., 2022). However, this process can be shortened, and immediate
purchase can be urged when viewers form a close-to-direct experience,
simulating a real-world shopping experience through consumption
vision and telepresence (Pelet et al., 2017; Yim and Yoo, 2020). In this
sense, vividness and personalisation require consumption vision and
telepresence as intermediary steps to promote impulsive buying,
implying that the association between vividness and telepresence as
stimuli and UBI as the response is guaranteed by the generation of
consumption vision and telepresence as a necessary organism. In other
words, consistent with the SOR paradigm, consumption vision and tel­
epresence are expected to be the mediating mechanisms linking vivid­
ness and personalisation and UBI. Therefore, this study proposes that.
H7: Vividness indirectly influences UBI via consumption vision (a)
and telepresence (b).
H8: Personalisation indirectly influences UBI via consumption vision
(a) and telepresence (b).
2.5. The moderating role of impulsivity
Per definition, impulsivity reflects an enduring proclivity to act
spontaneously in a specific consumption context (Rook and Fisher,
1995). Generally, compared to individuals with low impulsivity, the
ones with high impulsivity are more inclined to experience UBI since
they have weak cognitive planning, low conscientiousness, high action
orientation, and/or weak affective autonomy (Goel et al., 2022).
Impulsivity has an important role in understanding the mechanism of
modifying the link between components of the SOR paradigm in an
online context (Chan et al., 2017; Iyer et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2021). For
example, previous studies have shown that impulsivity moderates the
link between stimuli such as website quality (Wells et al., 2011), positive
sentiments and observational learning (Zafar et al., 2019), and impul­
sive buying in e-commerce and social commerce settings. In the context
of SC live-streaming, Lo et al. (2022) have argued and validated that
impulsivity is the moderator of the association between organism (i.e.,
affective reactions) and response (i.e., urge to buy impulsively). Thus, in
this context, impulsivity might have an important role in providing a
more profound understanding of the mechanism linking stimulus (e.g.,
vividness and personalisation), organism (i.e., consumption vision and
telepresence), and response (i.e., UBI). However, the role of this variable
between stimulus and organism has received less attention. Theoreti­
cally, the moderating impacts of impulsivity on stimulus (vividness and
personalisation) – organism (consumption vision and telepresence) and
on organism – UBI relationships are equally important since both reveal
the modifying role of this variable on the process leading to UBI. Prac­
tically, however, uncovering the moderating effect of impulsivity on the
stimulus–organism association can bring more insight into the condition
of vividness, and personalisation can exert stronger impacts on con­
sumption vision and telepresence, improving the practical implications
regarding the development of effective marketing strategies.
In the current research context, it can be argued that viewers with
high impulsivity are more sensitive and receptive to environmental
stimuli (Wells et al., 2011), such as vividness and personalisation. As
such, it is expected that, compared with ones with lower impulsivity,
vividness and personalisation capture more attention and interest from
viewers with higher impulsivity. Thus, vividness and personalisation
have stronger effects on cognitive and affective reactions, resulting in a
clearer consumption vision and more intense telepresence. In other
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Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 60 (2023) 101286
words, impulsivity is capable of enhancing the link between vividness
and personalisation and consumption vision and telepresence and
finally, leads to increased UBI. Thus, this study proposes that.
H9: Impulsivity positively moderates the effects of vividness on
consumption vision (a) and telepresence (b).
H10: Impulsivity positively moderates the effects of personalisation
consumption vision (a) and telepresence (b).
2.6. Control effects
Following previous studies on the impulsive buying in the context of
SC live-streaming, this study tests the influences of gender, age, and
monthly income as control variables (e.g., Gao et al., 2022).
3. Methods
3.1. Sample
The target respondents of the current study were viewers who view
live-streaming on social media and use it as a platform to conduct online
purchases. To collect data, this study developed a questionnaire. This
study adopted the back-translation technique (Khoi and Le, 2023; Yu
et al., 2022) to ensure that the adapted measurement scales were
appropriate for the current study.
More specifically, the questionnaire was first developed using orig­
inal items from previous studies and then was translated into Viet­
namese by a language instructor. Next, the Vietnamese questionnaire
was back-translated into English, and the two English questionnaires
were compared; then, some minor modifications were implemented to
ensure that the Vietnamese questionnaire was consistent with the orig­
inal English questionnaire while appropriate to Vietnamese wording and
expression. This study further certified that the Vietnamese question­
naire was suitable to the context by having it examined by two univer­
sity professors whose majors were social media marketing and electronic
commerce. Lastly, we pretested it with 30 Vietnamese viewers who
conducted purchases on SC live-streaming platforms. During this pro­
cess, the responses indicated that the respondents could fully understand
the questionnaire, although some minor adjustments were needed.
Consequently, the final Vietnamese questionnaire was used for the data
collection.
The main data collection was conducted in November – December
2021 using the snowball sampling method. A screening question (“Have
you had the experience of watching SC live- streaming in the last
month?”; Gao et al., 2021; Lv et al., 2022) was used, and the potential
respondents who answered “No” were excluded. The online question­
naire was distributed via social media to targeted respondents. To in­
crease the generalization of the collected sample, data were collected in
North, South, and Central Vietnam. Appearing in Vietnam in late 2018,
selling goods and services through SC live-streaming is potent and
becoming a leading sales platform for e-tailers. Many live-streamer ac­
counts have high numbers of viewers, bringing high revenue for them. In
addition, e-commerce sites, including Shopee, Lazada, Sendo, and Tiki,
also apply this method (Decision Lab, 2022). According to Dieu (2020),
there are about 2.5 million live-streaming sessions every month in
Vietnam with the participation of about 50,000 product suppliers, and
this trend has grown strongly (Thong and Le, 2020). Live-streamers not
only utilise social networks (e.g., Facebook) but also take advantage of e-
commerce platforms (e.g., Lazada, Shopee, and Sendo). For example,
Lazada Vietnam indicated that in the third quarter of 2020, the number
of successful orders through the platform’s live-streaming channel
increased by more than 50 times compared to the same period in 2019
(Thong and Le, 2020). A recent report by Statista (2023) showed that
while SC live-streaming commerce is still in the growth phase in Viet­
nam, it was the most viewed type of live-streaming in Vietnam in 2022.
Thus, SC live-streaming in Vietnam has great potential as a long-term
tactic to attract consumers, boost sales, and create a strong sense of
N.H. Khoi et al. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 60 (2023) 101286

Table 1 2021 worldwide (Decision Lab, 2022). Thus, Vietnam should be a suit­
Respondents’ characteristics. able context to investigate viewers’ perceptions of SC live-streaming,
Gender Freq. % Occupation Freq. % and the findings could be applied to other countries.
The sample size was calculated following the inverse square root
Male 177 47.1 Company employee 102 27.1
Female 199 52.9 Housewife/ 57 15.2 method (Hair et al., 2021). Accordingly, the minimum sample size
husband required is the highest, with the expectation that the path coefficients
Total 376 100 Teacher 59 15.7 would be between 0.11 and 0.2. With that expectation, the minimum
Age Freq. % Businessman/ 58 15.4 sample size is 155 for a significance level of 5%. Therefore, this study
woman
Under 25 96 25.5 Doctor 59 15.7
aimed to collect a sample of 390 respondents. A total of 390 question­
25–34 104 27.7 Others 41 10.9 naires were collected, and 14 were rejected due to unreliable informa­
35–45 90 23.9 Total 376 100.0 tion. The remaining 376 questionnaires were used for processing,
Older than 45 86 22.9 Income (million Freq. % resulting in a response rate of 96.4 percent. The sample characteristics
VND)
are presented in Table 1.
Total 376 100.0 < 10 100 26.6
Education Freq. % 10 - < 15 87 23.1
background 3.2. Measurements of studied constructs
Undergraduate Degree 283 75.3 15 - < 20 120 31.9
and below
The measurements of the studied construct were derived from pre­
Master’s Degree 80 21.3 >= 20 69 18.4
Doctor of Philosophy 13 3.4 Total 376 100.0 vious studies. In more detail, five items measuring vividness and three
Total 376 100.0 Live-stream Freq. % items measuring personalisation were used from Zhang et al. (2020) and
viewing frequency Xue et al. (2020), respectively. The measurement scales of consumption
Marital status Freq. % Very low 55 14.6
vision and telepresence each had four items which were adopted from
Single 147 39.1 Slightly low 74 19.7
Married 189 50.3 Medium 99 26.3
Yim and Yoo (2020) and Sun et al. (2019). UBI scale has three items
Other 40 10.6 Slightly high 97 25.8 borrowed from Zafar et al. (2019). Finally, four items measuring
Total 376 100.0 Very high 51 13.6 impulsive buying tendency were adopted from Wells et al. (2011). All
Online Shopping Freq. % Total 376 100.0 items used a five-point Likert scale with a range from ‘strongly disagree’
Experience (Year)
to ‘strongly agree’. The measurements and corresponding items are
Under 1 60 16.0
1–2 70 18.6 presented in Appendix 2.
2–3 104 27.6
3–4 62 16.5 4. Analysis procedure and results
4 and higher 80 21.3
Total 376 100.0
4.1. Analysis procedure

brand (Decision Lab, 2022). The development of SC live-streaming in This study adopted partial least squares structural equation model­
Vietnam is consistent with the increased importance of this type of e- ling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS software version 4 to conduct data
commerce, which accounts for 76% of spending within social apps in analysis, including validating and testing the measurement and struc­
tural models. To validate the measurement model, we followed the

Table 2
Constructs measurement.
Constructs and indicators Min Max Mean S.D Loadings Cronbach’s alpha Composite reliability Variance extracted

Personalisation (PER) 0.87 0.92 0.80

PER1 1 5 3.61 0.98 0.91
PER2 1 5 3.64 1.00 0.89
PER3 1 5 3.68 0.96 0.88
Vividness (VIV) 0.90 0.92 0.71
VIV1 1 5 3.59 0.99 0.79
VIV2 1 5 3.53 0.98 0.88
VIV3 1 5 3.55 0.97 0.87
VIV4 1 5 3.53 0.96 0.84
VIV5 1 5 3.67 0.97 0.83
Consumption vision (CON) 0.86 0.91 0.71
CON1 1 5 3.86 1.03 0.81
CON2 1 5 3.58 1.05 0.83
CON3 1 5 3.59 1.02 0.87
CON4 1 5 3.37 1.04 0.85
Telepresence (TEL) 0.88 0.91 0.73
TEL1 1 5 3.57 1.00 0.82
TEL2 1 5 3.35 1.04 0.87
TEL3 1 5 3.35 1.08 0.87
TEL4 1 5 3.22 1.13 0.85
Urge to buy impulsively (UBI) 0.87 0.92 0.79
UBI1 1 5 2.98 1.16 0.88
UBI2 1 5 3.31 1.07 0.88
UBI3 1 5 3.19 1.14 0.90
Impulsivity (IBT) 0.91 0.94 0.78
IBT1 1 5 3.25 0.99 0.84
IBT2 1 5 3.01 1.13 0.91
IBT3 1 5 3.08 1.09 0.89
IBT4 1 5 3.01 1.17 0.91

Note. S.D: standard deviation.

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N.H. Khoi et al. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 60 (2023) 101286

Table 3 Predict procedure to evaluate the research model quality (Hair et al.,
Discriminant validity. 2021). As the proposed model includes a moderating variable, this study
1 2 3 4 5 6 utilised a two-step estimation to separately estimate the direct/indirect
effects and the moderating effects. Accordingly, in step 1, the present
1. Personalisation 0.89 0.66 0.51 0.49 0.35 0.09
2. Vividness 0.74 0.84 0.59 0.51 0.41 0.15 study estimated the direct and indirect effects. In step 2, the interaction
3. Consumption vision 0.59 0.67 0.84 0.67 0.54 0.19 terms were generated by adopting the two-stage approach, and subse­
4. Telepresence 0.56 0.58 0.76 0.85 0.57 0.29 quently, the moderating effects were estimated (Hair et al., 2021).
5. Urge to buy impulsively 0.40 0.47 0.62 0.65 0.89 0.42
6. Impulsivity 0.10 0.17 0.21 0.32 0.47 0.89
4.2. The reliability and validity of the studied constructs
Note. The Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) ratios and bivariate correlations are
below and above the diagonal, respectively. The square root of AVEs is on the As presented in Table 2, all factor loadings were greater than 0.7, and
diagonal. all Cronbach’s Alpha and CR values were greater than 0.7, indicating
that the measurement scales of the studied constructs were reliable.
Furthermore, all AVE values were greater than 0.5, supporting the
Table 4
Hypothesis testing results.
convergence validity of the constructs. Table 3 showed that the square
root of the AVE of a construct was greater than its correlations with
Paths Hypotheses VIF Std. t- Bootstrap Conclusions
other constructs. Also, the HTMT matrix demonstrated that all values
β values
were less than 0.85. Thus, discriminant validity between constructs was
Direct effects
acceptable.
VIV → H1 1.75 0.44 5.86a [0.28; Support
CON 0.58]
VIV → H2 1.75 0.33 5.00a [0.20; Support 4.3. Checking for common method biases
TEL 0.46]
PER → H3 1.75 0.23 2.84b [0.07; Support To check common method biases in the current study, we adopted
CON 0.38]
a the common latent factor (CLF) approach (Podsakoff et al., 2003)
PER → H4 1.75 0.27 3.79 [0.12; Support
TEL 0.40] justified for PLS-SEM (Liang et al., 2007). Accordingly, a CLF was added
CON → H5 1.81 0.29 3.88a [0.14; Support to the measurement model whose indicators were all indicators of the
UBI 0.44] studied constructs. A bootstrap procedure with 5000 sub-samples was
TEL → H6 1.90 0.29 3.49a [0.13; Support
adopted to estimate the model. The results showed that most of the
UBI 0.45]
Indirect effects
factor loadings of CLF were insignificant. Furthermore, the variance
VIV → H7a 0.13 3.22b [0.06; Support* extracted by the studied constructs and CLF were 0.750 and 0.006,
CON → 0.22] respectively, generating a proportion of 125:1. Thus, we postulated that
UBI common method biases were less likely to be a problem in the current
VIV → H7b 0.10 2.79b [0.04; Support*
study (Liang et al., 2007).
TEL → 0.18]
UBI
PER → H8a 0.07 2.23c [0.02; Support* 4.4. Hypothesis testing results
CON → 0.15]
UBI
Direct effects: As presented in Table 4, the testing results indicated
PER → H8b 0.08 2.45c [0.03; Support*
TEL → 0.15] that all proposed direct effects were supported by data. In more detail,
UBI vividness had positive effects on consumption vision (H1: β = 0.44, p <
Moderating effects 0.001) and telepresence (H2: β = 0.33, p < 0.001). Personalisation
VIV × IBT H9a 2.46 0.18 2.39c [0.03; Support exerted positive influences on consumption vision (H3: β = 0.23, p <
→ CON 0.32]
c 0.01) and telepresence (H4: β = 0.27, p < 0.001). Consumption vision
VIV × IBT H9b 2.46 0.19 2.48 [0.05; Support
→ TEL 0.34] (H5: β = 0.29, p < 0.001) and telepresence (H6: β = 0.29, p < 0.001) had
PER × H10a 2.48 0.15 2.06c [0.02; Support positive impacts on UBI.
IBT → 0.31] Indirect effects: The testing results showed that vividness had indirect
CON
effects on UBI via consumption vision (H7a: β = 0.13, p < 0.01) and
PER × H10b 2.48 0.22 3.00b [0.08; Support
IBT → 0.36]
telepresence (H7b: β = 0.10, p < 0.01), and personalisation exerted
TEL indirect effects on UBI via consumption vision (H8a: β = 0.07, p < 0.05)
R2 UBI: 0.45 and telepresence (H8b: β = 0.08, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the findings
Effect size (f2) f2VIV → CON = 0.18; f2VIV → TEL = 0.09 demonstrated that the direct effects of vividness and personalisation on
f 2PER → CON = 0.05; f 2PER → TEL = 0.06
UBI were insignificant. Thus, the indirect effects were full mediation.
f 2CON→ UBI = 0.09; f 2TEL → UBI = 0.08
f 2VIV x IBT → CON = 0.03; f 2VIV x IBT → TEL = 0.04 Moderating effects: Four moderating effects were supported by the
f 2PER x IBT → CON = 0.02; f 2PER x IBT → TEL = 0.08 data. Impulsive buying tendency positively moderated the relationship
between vividness and consumption (H9a: β = 0.18, p < 0.05) and be­
Note. VIV: Vividness; PER: Personalisation; CON: Consumption vision; TEL:
Telepresence; IBT: Impulsivity; UBI: Urge to buy impulsively; a p < 0.001; b p < tween vividness and telepresence (H9b: β = 0.19, p < 0.05). Impulsive
0.01; c p < 0.05. * full mediating effects. buying tendency also positively moderated the relationship between
personalisation and consumption (H10a: β = 0.15, p < 0.05) and be­
guidance of Hair et al. (2021) to use factor loadings, Cronbach’s Alpha, tween personalisation and telepresence (H10b: β = 0.22, p < 0.01).
and composite reliability (CR) to assess the reliability of the studied Control effects: Gender (β = -0.08, p < 0.05) negatively influenced
constructs, average variance extracted (AVE) to evaluate the conver­ UBI while age (β = -0.04, p greater than 0.05) and income (β = 0.01, p
gence validity, and Fornell and Larcker (1981) and HTMT matrix criteria greater than 0.05) did not exert significant effects on this variable.
to appraise the discriminant validity. To test the structural model, path Finally, a bootstrap procedure with 5000 sub-samples was adopted
coefficients, VIFs, and confidence intervals were used to assess the sig­ to ensure that the testing results were valid. The results demonstrated
nificance of the proposed relationships. Furthermore, this study used the that the confidence intervals of significant relationships did not contain
coefficient of determination (R2), Cohen’s effect size (f2), and the PLS- the value of zero (0). Thus, we concluded that the estimation was
reliable.

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N.H. Khoi et al. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 60 (2023) 101286

Table 5 and Yoo, 2020), can be initiated by stimuli that foster attention and
PLS-Predict procedure. information processing, such as vividness and personalisation (Barsalou,
Constructs Indicator PLS-RMSE LM-RMSE 2008; Yim and Yoo, 2020). Also, vividness and personalisation are
stimuli that reduce the psychological distance, foster the perception that
UBI UBI1 0.996 0.998
UBI2 0.963 0.985 live-streamers are “real people” taking care of and valuing viewers, and
UBI3 1.009 1.039 “simulate” the physical shopping environment. This could enhance the
perception of being at a seller’s location, i.e., telepresence (Ou et al.,
Note. UBI: Urge to buy impulsively.
2014). Thus, the more vivid and personalised the product information is,
the stronger the consumption vision and telepresence are elicited. On
4.5. Assessing research model quality
the contrary, product information that is not vivid and personalised is
less likely to evoke consumption vision and telepresence. In this sense,
The results (Table 4) showed that the proposed research model
vividness and personalisation have a significant role in fostering
explained 45% variance of UBI. The f2 of direct effects ranged from 0.05
viewers’ cognitive and affective reactions and their behaviours (Kang
to 0.18, indicating that the impacts were small and medium. The f2 of
et al., 2021; Sun et al., 2019). More importantly, they can generate a
moderating effects ranged from 0.02 to 0.08, demonstrating that the
close-to-direct experience, which shortens the decision-making process
effects were medium and large.
and promotes immediate purchase. More broadly, the results high­
The PLS-Predict procedure was adopted to evaluate the predictive
lighted the vitality of investigating SC live-streaming’s distinctive
power of the research model. The results, as shown in Table 5, showed
characteristics as the stimuli of impulsive buying.
that the RMSE values produced by PLS-RMSE were smaller than the LM
The study empirically confirmed that consumption vision and tele­
values generated by LM-RMSE for all items measuring UBI. Thus, we
presence had influences on UBI. Congruent with the SOR paradigm,
propose that the research model had high predictive power (Hair et al.,
consumption vision and telepresence are the intermediary organism that
2021).
fosters UBI as a response. Consumption vision and telepresence gener­
ated positive emotions and flow, which in turn, promoted UBI. The role
5. Discussion and implications
of consumption vision as an origin of positive emotions is supported by
the cognitive appraisal theory (Bagozzi et al., 1999), while the role of
5.1. Discussion and theoretical implications
telepresence in evoking flow is in line with previous findings in a
computer-mediated context (e.g., Guo et al., 2016; Yim et al., 2012).
Drawing on the SOR paradigm (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974), this
Thus, a higher level of consumption vision and telepresence would lead
study provides a deeper and broader understanding of how and why SC
to stronger UBI. While previous studies in the SC live-streaming context
live-streaming’s distinctive characteristics can foster impulsive buying.
have proposed a wide range of cognitive/affective reactions linking
This study employed two distinctive features of SC live-streaming, which
stimuli and impulsive buying, consumption vision and telepresence
are vividness (Sun et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2020) and personalisation
seem to have been ignored regardless of their significance in terms of
(Kang et al., 2021; Xue et al., 2020), as stimuli fostering UBI (Rook and
generating the close-to-direct shopping experience and fostering im­
Fisher, 1995) as the response via the two vital close-to-direct experi­
mediate purchases (Pelet et al., 2017; Yim and Yoo, 2020). Thus, the
ences, which are consumption vision (Yim and Yoo, 2020) and tele­
current study undoubtedly contributes to understanding the cognitive/
presence (Pelet et al., 2017) as organism. In the study, both direct and
affective organism that can promote impulsive buying in the context of
indirect links between stimuli, organism, and response were investi­
SC live-streaming. In addition, vividness and telepresence exerted full
gated. Furthermore, the personality trait of impulsivity was examined as
indirect effects on UBI via consumption vision and telepresence, which
the boundary condition of the link between stimuli and organism. The
is further consistent with SOR as a mediation model (Chen et al., 2022).
findings indicated that the proposed hypotheses were supported.
The findings confirmed that consumption vision and telepresence are
Consistent with the SOR paradigm (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974),
necessary conditions linking vividness and personalisation with UBI.
which has been widely adopted in previous studies in SC live-streaming
The finding, once again, highlighted the importance of activating psy­
context, the current study has contributed to the understanding that
chological processes for simulating and fulfilling shopping experiences
impulsive buying behaviour in this setting should be the outcome of
to foster impulsive buying behaviour in the context that lacks direct
various stimuli capable of eliciting cognitive and affective organisms
experience as in the SC live-streaming context (Wang et al., 2022). The
among viewers (e.g., Gao et al., 2022; Khoi and Le, 2023; Lo et al.,
current study, therefore, profoundly unravelled the underlying mecha­
2022). Furthermore, in line with the concept of SOR as a mediation
nism through which vividness and personalisation are linked to con­
paradigm (Chen et al., 2022), the findings have confirmed direct and
sumption vision and telepresence, and subsequently to UBI which
indirect effects between components, establishing a more comprehen­
undoubtedly articulated a more comprehensive knowledge regarding
sive understanding of how and why SC live-streaming fosters UBI.
the path leading to UBI.
Finally, with the integration and validation of the boundary conditions,
Base on the SOR paradigm, this study also enriched the under­
this study has shown that the link between SC live-streaming’s distinc­
standing of how and why online impulsive buying occurs by investi­
tive characteristics can be modified by viewers’ personalities, carving a
gating impulsivity (Rook and Fisher, 1995) as a contingency modifying
more profound knowledge of the link between stimuli, organism, and
the link between stimulus (i.e., vividness and personalisation), and or­
response in the research context.
ganism (i.e., consumption vision and telepresence). The findings that
The findings indicated that vividness and personalisation (Kang
impulsivity enhanced those associations implied that viewers with a
et al., 2021; Sun et al., 2019) had positive impacts on consumption
higher level of impulsivity, compared to those with a lower level, were
vision and telepresence (Pelet et al., 2017; Yim and Yoo, 2020). From
more attentive to stimuli (Wells et al., 2011) such as vividness and
the view of SOR, vividness and personalisation can be considered stimuli
personalisation and thus had a clearer consumption vision and stronger
which elicit consumption vision and telepresence as organism in the
telepresence and eventually had higher UBI. The results shed more light
context of SC live-streaming. Although vividness and personalisation
on the importance of boundary conditions of the link between stimuli
have been shown to impact viewers’ perceptions and psychological
and organism in the SC live-streaming setting, converting simple direct
processes (Bao and Zhu, 2022; Khoi and Le, 2023; Xue et al., 2020;
effects into conditional effects and fostering an understanding of under
Zheng et al., 2022), their influences on consumption vision and tele­
which conditions vividness and personalisation had stronger impacts on
presence have been largely disregarded. Consumption vision, which is
consumption vision and telepresence.
the imagination of using the new product scenario (Yim et al., 2020; Yim

9
N.H. Khoi et al. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 60 (2023) 101286

Table A1
Selected studies on impulsive buying in the context of SC live-streaming under the lens of the SOR paradigm.
Studies Theoretical base Context/Research Stimulus Organism/Moderators Response
design

Ming et al. Stimulus-organism- Live streaming Live-streaming characteristic: social Cognitive organism: flow state Impulsive buying
(2021) response commerce/Survey presence of live streaming platforms and Affective organism: trust behavior
live streamers
Environmental stimuli: social presence
of viewers,
telepresence
Zhang et al. Social presence theory, Live streaming Live-streaming characteristic: social Cognitive organism: perceived Urge to buy impulsively
(2022) cognitive-affective commerce/Survey presence of live-streamer risk
framework Environmental stimuli: social presence Affective organism: affective
of other viewers and product intensity.
Lv et al. Attention-interest- Tourism live Environmental stimuli: Informativity, Cognitive organism: immersion Immediate buying
(2022) desire-action (AIDA) streaming/Survey entertainment, interactivity Affective organism: product behavior, continuous
model interest, live streaming interest, watching intention.
buying desire
Lo et al. Stimulus-organism- Live streaming Environmental stimuli: parasocial Cognitive organism: cognitive Impulsive buying urge and
(2022) response commerce/Survey interaction, social contagion, vicarious responses behaviour
experience Affective organism: affective
Marketing stimuli: scarcity persuasion, responses
price Moderator: impulsive buying
perception tendency, susceptibility
to social influence
Gao et al. Stimulus-organism- Live streaming Environmental stimuli: atmospheric Cognitive organism: Zhong Yong Impulsive buying intention
(2022) response commerce/Survey cues tendency Affective organism:
Marketing stimuli: sales promotion emotions

Khoi and Le Stimulus-organism- Live streaming Live-streaming characteristic: Cognitive organism: inspiration Urge to buy impulsively
(2023) response commerce/Survey Interactivity Affective organism: delight
Moderator: idea shopping

Li et al. Stimulus-organism- Live streaming Environmental stimuli: divergence, Cognitive organism: perceived Impulsive buying intention
(2023) response commerce/Survey social presence value
Affective organism: positive
effect
Moderator: need for cognition
Wang et al. Affordance Brand self-built live Environmental stimuli: guidance Cognitive and Affective Impulsive purchase
(2022) theory streaming e- information, bullet information, organism: dynamic brand intention
commerce/Survey parasocial interaction experience
Moderator: guidance
information, parasocial
interaction
Chen et al. Stimulus-organism- Live streaming Live-streaming characteristic: Cognitive organism: Impulsive purchase
(2022) response commerce/Survey Perceived anchor attributes involvement behavior
Environmental stimuli: immersion
Marketing stimuli: perceived scarcity
Lou et al. Stimulus-organism- Live streaming Live-streaming characteristic: streamer Cognitive organism: perceived Impulse purchase
(2022) response commerce/Survey popularity streamer reputation, perceived
Marketing stimuli: product popularity competition
Moderator: perceived power
Yu et al. Stimulus-organism- Gastronomy live Live-streaming characteristic: Affective organism: social and Impulsive consumption
(2022) response streaming/Survey perceived professionalism hedonic innovativeness
Environmental stimuli: telepresence
Marketing stimuli: gamification
Li et al. Cognitive evaluation Live streaming Live-streaming characteristic: Affective organism: pleasure, Impulsive purchase
(2022) theory commerce/Survey Interaction quality arousal intention
Moderator: extroverted
personality
Lin et al. Stimulus-organism- Live streaming Environmental stimuli: demand, Affective organism: perceived Intention of
(2022) response commerce/Survey convenience, interactivity, and enjoyment impulsive purchase
playfulness
Liu et al. Information source and Live streaming Live-streaming characteristic: Anchors’ Affective organism: presence Impulsive buying intention
(2022) social network theory commerce/Survey professionalism Moderator: consumer
competitive arousal
Hao and Psychological reactance Live streaming Marketing stimuli: time scarcity Affective organism: urgency Impulsive buying
Huang theory commerce/ Moderator: product type
(2023) Experiment (hedonic vs. utilitarian)
This study Stimulus-organism- SC live-streaming Live-streaming characteristics: Cognitive organism: Urge to buy impulsively
response vividness, personalisation consumption vision
Affective organism: telepresence
Moderator: Impulsivity

10
N.H. Khoi et al.
5.2. Managerial implications
The research findings showed that, in the context of SC live-
streaming, it is significant for merchants to increase impulsive buying
(Lv et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2022), which can be implied from the
perspective of the SOR paradigm. Generally, the SOR paradigm sug­
gested that live-streamers who aim to increase viewers’ impulsive
buying during SC live-streaming sessions must have suitable stimuli to
foster viewers’ cognitive and affective reactions. Following the findings
of the current research, the suitable stimuli could be vividness and
personalisation, while the cognitive and affective reactions of con­
sumption vision and telepresence should be stimulated. With the exis­
tence of these perceptions, impulsive buying behaviour is more likely to
happen. Thus, during live-streaming sessions, live-streamers should
have tools to measure these perceptions to better foster effective live-
streaming scripts. Broadly, live-streamers should understand various
SC live-streaming characteristics and their capability to promote
impulsive buying behaviour.
Also, improving vividness and personalisation is important since
these characteristics can foster impulsive buying by eliciting consump­
tion vision and telepresence as bridges. As vividness reflects product
presentation quality (Jiang and Benbasat, 2007), it is significant that the
live-streamers must use specialized equipment and professional sup­
porting teams so that the images (e.g., of products), sounds (e.g., of
music), and voices (e.g., of live-streamers) and texts (e.g., product
description) can be fully and vividly transferred to viewers. Further­
more, since vividness is about depth and breadth (Li et al., 2002), new
technologies should be adopted to generate higher stimulation of
viewers’ senses. To enhance personalisation, live-streamers need to
respond to viewers’ requests for product information, answer viewers’
questions, and interact with viewers with images, videos, sounds, and
texts (Kang et al., 2021). More importantly, these activities should
provide information matching viewers’ preferences and needs (Komiak
and Benbasat, 2006) to foster the perception that the content has been
designed exclusively for them, form the feelings of being cared for, and
help them become more engaged with live-streamers.
In addition, consumption vision and telepresence have important
practical implications for fostering impulsive buying since they can
promote the urge to buy impulsively. To encourage a clear consumption
vision, live-streamers need to provide viewers with fruitful product in­
formation, both nonverbal and verbal (Phillips, 1996), that serves as
cues for the product information evaluation and absorption process.
Besides, such information must be effectively communicated to viewers
by using specialty tools, space design, and product representation to
further captures viewers’ attention and elicit the imagination and self-
relevant experience (Chang, 2012; Phillips et al., 1995; Yim and Yoo,
2020), and finally promote impulsive buying. To generate the sense of
telepresence, live-streamers need to bring the live-streaming experience
closer to a real shopping journey by generating high-resolution images
and videos of products and space to “simulate” the physical shopping
environment and promote the perception of “being there” (Mollen and
Wilson, 2010). Moreover, live-streamers should foster the viewers’
perception of them as “real people” that truly care about personal needs
and preferences (Lim and Ayyagari, 2018; Ou et al., 2014; Zhang et al.,
2014).
Finally, impulsivity is a stable personality trait that enhances the link
between vividness and personalisation, and consumption vision and
telepresence. Thus, viewers with this personality trait should be an
important target consumer segmentation of live-streaming shopping
since they are more sensitive to external stimuli (i.e., vividness and
personalisation; Wells et al., 2011) and thus are more likely to experi­
ence an urge to buy impulsively. To identify viewers with the impul­
sivity trait, live-streaming platforms can utilize big data analysis
technologies to analyse social media users’ data (Chen et al., 2022).
Subsequently, social CRM should be adopted as an important tool to
manage viewers (Kotler et al., 2016).
11
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 60 (2023) 101286
Table A2
Measurement scales.
Personalisation: the ability of SC live-streaming to provide real-time Source
tailored information to viewers’ needs and preferences (Kang et al.,
2021; Komiak and Benbasat, 2006)
When viewing live-stream, …
The live-streamers offer professional suggestions that suit me Xue et al.
according to my shopping situation (2020)
The live-streamers can focus on my needs for products or services
The live-streamers provide personalized products or information
for my personal needs
Vividness: the ability of SC live-streaming to produce real-time Zhang et al.
sensorially richer interactive content (Steuer, 1992) (2020)
When viewing live-stream, the product information …
stimulates my senses (sight, hearing, etc.)
is clear
is concrete
is realistic
is colourful
Consumption vision: a cognitive reaction defined as “visual images of Yim and Yoo
certain product related-behaviors and their consequences—they (2020)
consist of concrete and vivid mental images that enable consumers to
vicariously experience the self-relevant consequences of product
use” (Walters et al., 2012, p. 368)
When viewing live-stream, …
It brings to mind concrete images of presented products
Vivid and detailed images of presented products come to mind
It is easy to see myself experiencing the presented products
I am able to ‘transport’ myself into product use scenarios
Telepresence: an affective reaction of decreased psychological Sun et al.
distance (Xue et al., 2020), reflecting the “perception that they are (2019)
present at a seller’s location remote from their own location” (Ou
et al., 2014, p. 217)
When viewing live-stream, …
I often feel my body is in the room, but my mind is inside the world
created by the live-streamers
I feel that I am immersed in the world that the live-streamers
create
The shopping-generated world seems to me to be “somewhere I
visit” rather than “something I see”
I feel I am more in the “real world” than the “computer world”
Urge to buy impulsively: “the state of desire that is experienced upon Zafar et al.
encountering an object in an environment” (Beatty and Ferrell, (2019)
1998, p. 172)
When viewing live-stream, …
I feel several sudden urges to buy products that I do not plan
before
I often have the desire to buy items that are irrelevant to my
specific shopping goal
I have the inclination to purchase outside my shopping list
Impulsivity: an enduring proclivity to act spontaneously in a specific Wells et al.
consumption context (Rook and Fisher, 1995) (2011)
“Just do it” describes the way I buy things
I often buy things without thinking
“I see it, I buy it” describes me
“Buy now, think about it later” describes me
5.3. Limitations and future research
This study has some limitations that should be noted. Firstly, the
current study proposes a SOR-based model to explain impulsive buying
in the context of SC live-streaming. While direct, indirect, and moder­
ating effects have been tested, the moderated-mediating effects of
impulsivity on indirect relationships have been ignored. Therefore,
future studies should validate these effects to form a deeper under­
standing of the mechanism leading to impulsive buying in this context.
Secondly, while the two distinctive characteristics (i.e., vividness and
personalisation) have been examined, SC live-streaming offers various
features, for example, responsiveness (Xue et al., 2020), that might act
as stimuli fostering impulsive buying. Furthermore, more internal pro­
cesses such as immersion or inspiration should be investigated as the
organism that links stimuli and impulsive buying. Also, other person­
ality traits such as openness to experience might act as boundary con­
ditions and thus should also be examined in future studies. Finally,
N.H. Khoi et al.
future studies might want to adopt an experimental design to understand
the impacts of unique characteristics of SC live-streaming compared to
traditional e-commerce on viewers’ cognitive and affective reactions
and impulsive buying.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Nguyen Huu Khoi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation,
Formal analysis, Writing – original draft. Angelina Nhat-Hanh Le:
Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing –- original draft, Reviewing &
editing, Proofreading. Nguyen Dong Phong: Conceptualization,
Methodology, Reviewing & editing, Proofreading.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgments
This research is funded by University of Economics Ho Chi Minh city
(UEH), Vietnam
Appendix
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
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