Can Virtual Streamers Win Consumers’ Hearts? The Influence of Role Types on Consumers’ Virtual Place Attachment in E-Commerce Live Streaming

Despite the considerable attention given to virtual streamers, their effectiveness in live streaming warrants further investigation. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework, social role theory and social cognitive theory, this study examines the influence mechanism of virtual streamer roles on consumers’ virtual place attachment. An online scenario experiment employing a 2 (assistant-role virtual streamers vs. friend-role virtual streamers) and 2 (search products vs. experience products) between-subjects design (N = 328) was conducted to verify research hypotheses. The results demonstrate that, compared with the assistant-role virtual streamer, the friend-role virtual streamer elicits a higher level of virtual place attachment among consumers. This effect is mediated through three distinct pathways: the positive mediation of social self-efficacy, the negative mediation of task self-efficacy, and the positive serial mediation involving both. Moreover, product type exerts a significant moderation effect on the association between social self-efficacy and task self-efficacy. Specifically, this relationship is stronger under search (vs. experience) product conditions. Such a moderation effect, however, is conditional upon consumer expertise and is only significant for consumers with low expertise. Additionally, consumer expertise moderates the influence of task self-efficacy on virtual place attachment, and this influence is stronger for high-expertise consumers than for low-expertise consumers. These findings shed empirical light on the functioning and influence of virtual streamers in e-commerce live streaming and extend the theoretical literature on virtual place attachment. They also offer practical insights for companies to optimize virtual streamer design, implement differentiated interaction strategies, and configure personalized features.