Purchase intention in TikTok streaming commerce: the role of recommendation accuracy, streamer’s attractiveness, and consumer-to-consumer interactions

A deeper understanding of purchase intentions within the unique context of real-time streaming platforms, on which consumers interact by exchanging opinions and recommending products, is required. Based on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory, this study investigates the effect of real-time streaming on purchase intention for e-commerce products, which goes beyond traditional e-commerce platform research. The findings reveal that accuracy of product recommendation increases functional value and the streamers’ attractiveness enhances social value and immersion. Additionally, consumer-to-consumer (C2C) interactions elevate both social and functional values as well as immersion. Based on SOR theory, this study empirically extends the purchase intention model tailored to the unique context of streaming commerce. We include the roles and significance of streamers’ attractiveness and C2C interactions as variables to explain this context and provide a mediation mechanism for purchase intention. This study provides empirical evidence of the operational direction for the success of real-time streaming commerce platforms.