Purchase intention in live-streaming context - A self-presentation perspective

Digital items purchase from live-streaming is becoming a key source for revenue for virtual community (VC). However, some VCs face uncertainty and high turnover rate and the understanding about how to transform users' motivation into purchase intention remains absent. This study aims to fill the gap by proposing a motivation-goal-intention model based on a self-presentation perspective. The model proposes that purchase intention is determined by goal achievement, which in turn is affected by motivation for management of social activities. We characterize motivation as self-efficacy, norms, and social motivation, and goal achievement as community support and identity verification. The model was evaluated by using data collected from Twitch. This work contributes to our understanding of the decision processes of digital items purchase by extending theory of self-presentation and deepening understanding of VC goal achievement. This has implication for both VC users and vendors (streamers).