Based on Consumer Psychology to Explore a New Online Marketing

Model: Live Streaming E-Commerce

Yatong Jin

Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, U.K.

Keywords: Live Broadcast, Homogenization, Quality, Innovation.

Abstract: With online shopping gradually becoming the main shopping method for consumers, real-time e-commerce

has emerged as an emerging marketing model and developed rapidly. This article explores how real-time e-

commerce affects consumers' decision-making process and purchasing behavior from the perspective of

consumer psychology. By analyzing relevant theories and cases, this article reveals that e-commerce models

such as real-time live streaming have to some extent promoted consumption, but also brought negative

problems such as impulsive consumption by consumers, false advertising by merchants, serious

homogenization of marketing content, and insufficient innovation. Therefore, this article proposes the

following suggestions. Relevant departments should pay attention to strengthening quality supervision,

encouraging product innovation, and guiding consumers to consume rationally, to promote the sustainable

development of the real-time e-commerce industry. Finally, the article suggests that future research can focus

on the characteristics of new online marketing models and their relationship with consumer psychology, to

further deepen the understanding and exploration of this field.

1 INTRODUCTION

In recent years, online shopping has gradually

become the main way for consumers to shop. As

consumers become more dependent on online

shopping, online marketing methods are also

constantly innovating. Through the discussion and

analysis of consumer psychology theory, there are

relatively rich, such as Cheung and Chan's critical

analysis of online consumer behavior, and Daryl's

establishment of a comprehensive framework for

consumer online consumption (Cheng et al., 2005;

Darley et al., 20210). However, there is still room for

further research on how the new e-commerce

marketing model, live e-commerce, affects consumer

psychology. Therefore, the study of this new

marketing model of real-time e-commerce is very

important and urgent. This paper aims to discuss the

relationship between this new marketing model and

consumer psychology, and how real-time e-

commerce affects consumer decision-making. This

paper will combine case analysis to analyze how real-

time e-commerce uses consumer psychology to

achieve rapid development and its marketing effect.

Secondly, this paper will critically point out the

negative impact of real-time e-commerce on itself,

consumers, society, and the economy. Finally, this

paper will propose reform suggestions for the current

form and model of real-time e-commerce. At the

same time, it will put forward requirements for the

regulatory capacity of society and other

organizations. At the same time, it is urgent to take

the negative impact it brings seriously to reform and

improve this marketing model.

2 CONCEPT AND STATE

Live e-commerce is one of the many forms of e-

commerce, but now it has become the most promising

and most popular online marketing model (Wang et

al., 2022). Its core feature is to set up a live broadcast

room on a platform with a large number of users

through real-time live broadcasts to recommend and

display products. Brands usually use a variety of

strategies to promote live e-commerce operations.

Some brands will form professional teams, recruit

anchors, and open exclusive brand live broadcast

rooms to promote products. At the same time, brands

will also send products to celebrities or well-known

Internet celebrities, allowing them to use their

influence to promote and sell products during live

454

Jin, Y.

Based on Consumer Psychology to Explore a New Online Marketing Model: Live Streaming E-Commerce.

DOI: 10.5220/0014129900004942

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Applied Psychology and Marketing Management (APMM 2025), pages 454-459

ISBN: 978-989-758-791-7

broadcasts. This kind of live broadcast e-commerce

promotion strategy can expose and display products

at a high frequency (Ge et al., 2020). Consumers often

see live broadcast promotions of the same product

multiple times on different platforms, or even on the

same platform. This intensive exposure method

significantly increases the visibility of the product

and can quickly attract many potential customers for

the brand. At the same time, it further strengthens the

important position of live broadcast e-commerce in

the e-commerce market.

3 THE KEY REASONS FOR

THRIVING DEVELOPMENT

3.1 The Role of the Authority Effect

First of all, the authority effect is one of the important

reasons for the vigorous development of live

broadcast e-commerce. Most consumers are more

likely to believe or obey the opinions and

recommendations of authoritative or well-known

figures (Sikor & Lund, 2009). As public figures, with

their wide social popularity and strong influence, the

products recommended by celebrities are usually

considered to be of high quality by consumers. When

some celebrities promote cosmetics, clothing, and

other products, consumers often associate their image

value with the value of the products, believing that

these products can help them get closer to the

celebrity's aesthetic and lifestyle (Anselmsson, 2014).

When some celebrities promote products such as

cosmetics and clothing, consumers will associate

their image value with the value of the product. Many

Internet celebrities have accumulated many loyal fans

by publishing short videos related to fashion or

beauty for a long time, and they have established a

deep trusting relationship with their fans. Consumers

usually refer to some of their clothing and beauty tips.

When these influencers start to promote products,

consumers will tend to buy the products they

recommend because of their recognition of the

influencers' aesthetic level and the trust they have

established in the past. For example, from the

perspective of consumers, when comparing an

unknown person with an imperfect body that does not

conform to public aesthetics with a celebrity with a

perfect body and a superior image who has many fans

and followers, consumers will tend to choose healthy

foods recommended by celebrities. The reason is that

the authoritative image of celebrities makes

consumers think that these products are high-quality

and trustworthy, thus speeding up their purchasing

decision-making process. In addition, many Internet

celebrities further strengthen their authoritative effect

by creating an "expert image" in their professional

fields. For example, they will analyze the ingredient

ratio or technical advantages of the product in detail

during the live broadcast, and use a large number of

professional terms to create professionalism. This

strategy not only makes influencers appear more

credible but also gives consumers confidence in the

products they recommend. Many consumers are even

impressed by these "unintelligible professional

terms", further strengthening their willingness to buy.

At the same time, many Internet celebrities have

accumulated a large number of loyal fans by

publishing short videos related to fashion, beauty, etc.

for a long time. They have built a deep relationship of

trust with their fans through authentic and

entertaining content. Consumers will refer to these

internet celebrities' dressing suggestions, beauty tips,

etc. in their daily lives. When internet celebrities start

to promote products, consumers are more inclined to

buy the products they recommend based on their

recognition of their aesthetic standards and the trust

relationship they have established before goods. This

trust relationship makes consumers more willing to

hand over decision-making power to their trusted

influencers when faced with complex product

choices.

3.2 Herd Mentality

Consumers generally have a herd mentality,

especially driven by information-based herd

mentality, and are more likely to make purchasing

decisions in live broadcast rooms (Vedadi &

Warkentin, 2020). In the live broadcast room,

consumers can intuitively see how many products

have been sold. When the products start to be sold in

the live broadcast room, the anchor will use data to

make other consumers more willing to purchase the

product by promoting, for example, how many orders

were sold in one second or how many customers have

placed orders. These real-time data not only

demonstrate the popularity of the product but also

convey the product's "high value" signal, thereby

enhancing other consumers' purchase intentions.

3.3 Scarcity Effect

Consumers are affected by the scarcity effect.

According to psychological principles, people

generally believe that scarce things are more precious

and valuable (Wu et al., 2020). When the live

Based on Consumer Psychology to Explore a New Online Marketing Model: Live Streaming E-Commerce

455

broadcast room makes publicity similar to

insufficient inventory or how many orders are left,

consumers will not be able to help but make a

consumption decision. Live broadcast rooms usually

market the scarcity of goods to create a sense of

urgency in consumers, which not only makes

consumers feel the dual pressure of time and

inventory but also further stimulates their impulse to

buy. Consumers may make a quick purchase decision

out of fear of missing out on the product. In this case,

consumers usually do not think rationally about the

quality of the product or whether they need the

product, which greatly increases the consumer's

purchase rate. At the same time, consumers' instant

gratification psychology also plays a key role in live

shopping. In the live broadcast room, consumers can

feel the comfort and sense of accomplishment that

their needs are immediately met after placing an

order. Instant feedback mechanisms make consumers'

shopping experience more pleasant, thereby

increasing their purchase frequency.

4 PROBLEM ANALYSIS

4.1 Negative Impact on Consumer

Psychology and Behavior

Although the marketing method of live e-commerce

can significantly increase consumers' purchasing

power, this consumption behavior guided by strong

stimulation and promotional activities may have

many adverse consequences on consumers'

psychology and behavior. Live e-commerce

encourages consumers to make quick decisions in the

live broadcast room by creating a sense of urgency

and a hot-selling atmosphere. By exaggerating the

value of goods, emphasizing scarcity or limited-time

promotions, anchors often let consumers make

purchase decisions in a short period, while ignoring

the actual quality and long-term demand of the goods,

leading to overconsumption (Hausman, 2000).

Although some well-designed promotional activities

can increase sales in the short term, they may cause

consumers to fall into consumption traps and buy

many unnecessary goods, further increasing their

economic burden. In the long run, this short-sighted

consumption model will cause consumers to be

manipulated by prices and marketing orientations,

and damage their ability to make rational judgments.

In addition, the marketing method of live e-commerce

may also make consumers gradually dependent and

even form consumer addiction behavior. Some

consumers may develop the habit of watching live

broadcasts frequently, and even frequently enter the

live broadcast room to shop even if there is no actual

demand for new products. This behavior not only

consumes a lot of personal time and money but also

may cause consumers to unknowingly fall into

unnecessary consumption waste, thereby further

increasing their economic burden and psychological

pressure. For example, some consumers frequently

buy large quantities of goods due to limited-time

promotions and a rush-buying atmosphere, only to

find later that these goods are not necessities or even

become idle and wasted.

4.2 Personalized Recommendations

Violate Privacy

Live e-commerce platforms provide consumers with

personalized recommendations through big data.

Although this has improved the shopping experience

to a certain extent, it has also brought many hidden

dangers (Toch et al., 2012). The platform obtains a

large amount of consumer behavior information

through precise data analysis, which not only

infringes on consumers' privacy but may also cause

consumers to fall into repeated consumption and

waste of resources. By analyzing consumers' interests

and purchasing habits, the platform will repeatedly

push recommendations for similar products, making

the types of products that consumers are exposed to

become single. This phenomenon has exacerbated the

problem of commodity homogeneity, limited

consumers' range of choices, and increased their

dependence on a certain type of product, leading to

repeated purchases and further exacerbating waste

(Zhang & Kong, 2024). In addition, consumers'

dependence on recommended products makes it easy

to ignore other products on the market that may be of

higher quality or more innovative, limiting the

diversity of consumer behavior.

4.3 Decline in Product Quality and

Innovative Technology

Although live e-commerce can quickly attract

consumers, it also has significant limitations,

especially the negative impact on product quality and

market innovation. The goods in live broadcasts are

often over-beautified or falsely advertised, and the

anchors use exaggerated visual effects and verbal

descriptions to make the goods look more attractive

than they are. However, when watching live

broadcasts, consumers cannot directly touch and

perceive the actual quality of the goods, and can only

rely on the anchor's introduction and a single visual

APMM 2025 - International Conference on Applied Psychology and Marketing Management

456

experience. After purchasing, many consumers find

that there is a huge gap between the goods and the live

broadcast display and even quality problems. This

limitation has led many merchants to reduce product

quality and launch low-quality goods in pursuit of

short-term profits, which has damaged consumers'

shopping experience and further disrupted the market

order. In addition, to achieve high-profit margins,

many merchants have launched a large number of

similar products with the support of platform big data,

attracting consumers by reducing quality and price.

This low-cost, low-quality competition strategy has

led to a significant reduction in the variety of goods

on the market. Many goods seem different but are

essentially similar, lacking real innovation and

diversity. As a result, the commodity market has

become single, uniqueness and innovation have

declined significantly, and consumers have also lost

the opportunity to choose higher quality and

differentiated goods when shopping.

The low-quality and low-price competition

environment of live e-commerce further inhibits the

development of innovative technologies (Liu &

Atuahene-Gima, 2018). The advancement of

innovative technologies often requires a lot of

investment and market trials, but in this environment,

merchants are more inclined to occupy the market

through imitation and price cuts, while ignoring the

long-term potential of products. Merchants pay less

and less attention to product differentiation and

quality improvement and pay more attention to short-

term market share rather than long-term development

plans. This phenomenon not only weakens

consumers' shopping experience but also hurts the

long-term development of the entire industry, further

hindering the industry's sustainable development

goals. In this market environment, innovative

companies often find it difficult to survive because

their high R&D costs and initial market exploration

make it difficult to compete with low-price

competition strategies. Merchants gradually lose their

motivation to innovate, and the development of the

industry's overall innovative technology is also

suppressed, further leading to a decline in market

vitality. In the long run, this not only affects the

healthy development of the industry but also weakens

the diversity and creativity of economic development.

Through the above-mentioned sub-theme section

structure, the negative impact of live e-commerce on

consumer behavior, data privacy, product quality, and

industry innovation is fully expressed, and more

original sentences are introduced to highlight the core

and far-reaching impact of the problem.

5 SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Enhancing Product Quality

Supervision

Strengthening the supervision of live e-commerce

product quality is a key reform proposal to promote

the healthy development of the industry, which can

effectively promote the long-term sustainable

development of the industry. Relevant regulatory

agencies urgently need to establish a sound

commodity quality supervision system

and conduct strict quality inspection and

certification for all products promoted and sold in live

broadcast rooms. Relevant organizations need to

ensure that all goods delivered in online live

broadcasts are strictly inspected and meet national

quality standards (Trienekens & Zuurbier, 1982). In

addition, relevant regulatory agencies should also

establish a sound system to strictly supervise the false

propaganda of live e-commerce and anchors, and

warn and punish merchants and anchors who

exaggerate the functions and quality of goods. For

example, measures such as banning live broadcast

rooms or restricting their sales rights on the platform

can be taken to combat false propaganda and reduce

the purchase risks caused by misleading information

to consumers. At the same time, relevant regulatory

organizations should strengthen the evaluation and

management of merchants (Braithwaite, 1982). For

those merchants who have long failed to meet sales

standards, frequently launched low-quality products,

or repeatedly violated regulatory regulations, more

severe punishment measures should be taken, such as

depriving them of the right to continue live sales.

Through this mechanism, the illegal behavior of non-

compliant merchants can be effectively curbed and

the overall quality of the platform can be promoted.

5.2 Promoting Innovation and Rational

Consumption

In addition to supervision and punishment to promote

the reform and rectification of live e-commerce,

relevant organizations can also give some positive

encouragement to promote merchants to innovate

their products. Relevant organizations provide

financial and institutional support to merchants to

encourage them to increase investment in product

research and development and innovation. Let

merchants realize that the long-term profits brought

by the sustainable development and innovation of

products are far greater than the benefits brought by

Based on Consumer Psychology to Explore a New Online Marketing Model: Live Streaming E-Commerce

457

low-quality or low-price promotions in the short term.

At the same time, relevant live e-commerce platforms

should also assume the responsibility of guiding

consumers to consume rationally. Relevant platforms

can provide rational consumption tips and reminders

when consumers are about to pay, helping consumers

reduce the possibility of impulse consumption due to

live broadcasts.

5.3 Consumers Help Live E-Commerce

Development

When consumers shop on live e-commerce platforms,

they should not only pay attention to their own

shopping experience but also promote the

standardized and healthy development of the live

broadcast industry through practical actions. First of

all, in live shopping, consumers should pay more

attention to the quality of goods, choose goods that

have been formally certified, and not blindly pursue

the so-called "explosive" or "limited goods". When

facing the exaggerated propaganda of anchors, they

should make rational judgments and avoid being

affected by the temporary atmosphere and impulse. In

addition, if it is found that there is false propaganda

or quality problems with the goods, consumers should

have the courage to report feedback through the

platform complaint channel, prompting the platform

to supervise the relevant anchors and merchants and

purify the shopping environment. At the same time,

consumers can also cultivate their rational

consumption habits during the shopping process.

When faced with various promotional activities in the

live broadcast room, consumers should judge whether

they have the need to buy, and question and analyze

their own purchase decisions and behaviors. Rational

consumption can not only help consumers save

money but also reduce the subsequent troubles caused

by blind shopping. More importantly, consumers'

shopping choices can affect the development

direction of merchants (Narver & Slater, 1990).

Reducing the purchase of low-quality and

homogeneous goods can send a clear signal to

merchants and platforms, allowing them to pay more

attention to product quality and innovation.

Supporting brands that launch high-quality,

innovative products can encourage the entire industry

to move in a healthier and more sustainable direction.

6 CONCLUSION

This article analyzes the impact of live e-commerce

on consumer psychology, pointing out problems such

as impulsive consumption, false propaganda,

homogeneity, and limited innovation. At the same

time, it puts forward targeted reform suggestions such

as strengthening quality supervision, encouraging

product innovation, and guiding consumers to

consume rationally, aiming to promote the long-term

sustainable development of the live e-commerce

industry. With the continuous development of the

web, more types of digital marketing will emerge.

Future research can focus on the characteristics and

connotations of new online marketing models, and

explore their relationship with consumer psychology.

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