Understanding purchase intention in e-commerce live streaming: Roles of relational benefits, technological features and fan identity salience

E-commerce live streaming is flourishing in online marketplace, and an increasing number of customers make purchase via Internet celebrity streamers' live stream sessions. Such prosperity intensifies the competition. To survive in the competition, it is crucial for Internet celebrity streamers to understand what stimulates customers to purchase in their live stream sessions. Incorporating the literature of relational benefits and fan identity salience, we propose that three relational benefits (i.e. confidence, social and special treatment benefits) will contribute to customers purchase intention and that such relational benefits will be developed through technological features of e-commerce live streaming (i.e., vicarious trialability, personalization, sociability and competitiveness) with fan identity salience playing a moderating role. Questionnaire survey will be conducted to test the proposed research model. Findings from this study will enrich existing literature on the determinants and outcomes of relational benefits.