Building Consumer Engagement in Live Streaming on Social Media: A Comparison of Facebook and Instagram Live

Abstract

The rising popularity of live video streaming (LVS) on social media platforms has opened up opportunities for numerous businesses. One of the primary benefits of LVS is the ability to generate interactions between streamers and viewers, as well as between viewers and viewers in real-time, which can significantly increase consumer engagement. This study aims to explore how customer engagement is established through interactivity on LVS activities, with a focus on Facebook and Instagram Live. The study used a mixed-methods approach, consisting of in-depth interviews with experienced LVS viewers followed by an online survey. The qualitative findings revealed that two essential platform-related factors that drive interactions and engagement are aesthetic relevance and recommendation relevance, with the recommendation being more relevant for Facebook and aesthetic relevance being more typical for Instagram. The quantitative results support these findings and offer additional insights into the distinct mechanisms for generating engagement, while aesthetic relevance directly leads to interaction and engagement, recommendation relevance only generates engagement indirectly via interaction. Theoretically, this article contributes to the live streaming literature by exploring the platform-related influencers of interactivity and customer engagement and the mechanisms of how customer engagement is built via interactivity on different social media platforms.

Keywords:

• Interactivity
• customer engagement
• live video streaming
• aesthetic relevance
• recommendation relevance
• mixed methods

Authors’ contributions

We confirm that all authors have participated in (a) conception and design, analysis, and interpretation of the data; (b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (c) approval of the final version. This manuscript has not been submitted to, nor is it under review at, another journal or other publishing venue.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no affiliation with any organization with a direct or indirect financial interest in the subject matter discussed in the manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jengchung Victor Chen

Jengchung Victor Chen is a Distinguished Professor at the Institute of International Management, College of Management, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. His research focuses on Electronic Commerce, Information Ethics, Social Networking Sites and has been published in Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Information & Management, and so on.

Duyen Thi Pham

Duyen Thi Pham is an MBA holder and graduated from the Institute of International Management, College of Management, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. Her research focuses on Electronic Commerce, Social Commerce, and Consumer Behavior.

Sinh Thi Thu Tran

Sinh Thi Thu Tran is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of International Management, College of Management, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. Her research interests include Electronic Commerce, Social Media, and Information Ethics, and has been published in Behaviour & Information Technology, Internet Research and Industrial Management & Data Systems.