Nowadays, an increasing number of people are concerned about the live streaming e-commerce around the world, especially in China. Although there are some research results on the theories of offline and online consumer purchasing decision-making, there are not many studies on consumer impulse purchase behavior in the live e-commerce scenario. This research takes the impulse purchase behavior of live e-commerce consumers as the study object, and discusses its formation mechanism. The main marketing stimulus factors including functional interaction, social interaction and host characteristics are analyzed. Also, the mediating effects of normative evaluation, arousal and trust are investigated. In addition, the thesis explores the moderating effects of practical reasonal values and gender. The thesis uses a quantitative analysis to study the influencing factors and influencing mechanisms of live streaming e-commerce consumers' impulse buying behavior. First, observations of real life and literature review are done. Then measurement scales are adapted and questionnaires are issued. Drawing on surveys based sample of Taobao Live consumers and use of the software SPSS and AMOS, data is statistically analyzed and hypotheses are tested.
The results show that the research framework and most of the hypotheses proposed in this thesis are valid. The main research conclusions are as follows.
1) The indirect effect of functional interaction on impulse buying behavior, via normative evaluation and arousal, is significant.
2) Social interaction has a significant indirect effect on impulse buying behavior through the mediators of normative evaluation and arousal.
3) Practical reasonal values have a significant moderating effect between arousal and impulse buying behavior. Also practical reasonal values have a moderating effect on the relationship between price discount and arousal.
4) Gender significantly moderates the relationship between arousal and impulse buying behavior. And, gender has a moderating effect on the relationship between functional interaction and normative evaluation.
5) Trust mediates the relationship between host characteristics and impulse buying behavior.
Based on the conclusions of the empirical analysis, this thesis gives some specific strategic suggestions on how e-commerce companies can stimulate consumption and thereby increase consumers' impulse purchase intentions.
1) E-commerce operators should train hosts in interaction skills and professional knowledge to help them behave in a more efficient manner and foster a stronger social bond with customers in live streaming platform.
2) Merchants should pay more attention to product quality and cost performance, and to choose sales methods that reduce the retail price of the live streaming room as much as possible.
3) In the marketing process, because there are far more female consumers than men, merchants should determine the types of products to be promoted and the intensity of promotion based on the buying preferences of female consumers. At the same time, the intensity of marketing stimulus should be moderate. Only at a moderate level of arousal, consumers' overall impulse buying behavior can be maximized.
4) Merchants should strengthen host training and create star hosts to increase sales.