Real-time viewer comments in live streaming e-commerce
(A2026-134118)

AUTHORS

Dingning Liu, Monash University; Junzhao Ma, Monash University; Shanfei (Sophie) Feng, Monash University

ABSTRACT

Live streaming e-commerce blends shopping, entertainment, and socializing, accounting for 20% of China’s e-commerce sales. Despite its growth, research on its success is limited. This paper examines the role of real-time viewer comments through two empirical studies. Study one develops a scalable AI-assisted method for categorising large volumes of comments and validates it against human and machine coding. Study two uses these categories to analyse how different types of comments (product-focused, social, incentivized) influence sales performance, moderated by live streamers’ selling styles. Findings show that spontaneous comments drive sales, especially for live streamers with more professional or value-based styles. The research advances understanding of live streaming e-commerce and introduces a novel generative-AI approach for analysing unstructured interaction data.