Influencers who frequently switch between emotions during livestreams may attract more likes and comments, but they are likely to sell fewer products, according to new research from QUT.
- Livestream marketing on platforms like TikTok and Amazon Live growing in popularity
- Study found influencers' frequent emotional shifts lift engagement at first but distract viewers from the product, and lowers sales
- Viewers' ability to ask questions and comment in real-time maintains focus on the product with positive sales effect
Published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the research analysed more than 12,900 product pitches and 80,600 minute-by-minute observations across 1,308 livestream selling sessions.
Lead author and QUT PhD researcher Sichen Meng, from QUT's School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, said to our knowledge, this is the first study to examine how changes in influencers' emotions affect both audience engagement and sales outcomes within the same livestream environment
The researchers looked at six types of emotional shifts: positive to negative, negative to positive, positive to neutral, neutral to positive, neutral to negative and negative to neutral.
"We found that moderate changes in influencers' facial expressions increased likes and comments," Ms Meng said.
"While some variations in emotion can drive viewer engagement, emotional stability appears to be more effective for selling products,
"However, if emotional changes are too frequent, engagement starts to decline and sales consistently fall as emotional volatility increases.
"This detrimental sales effect is most pronounced within the first three minutes after the emotion transition shock.
"When influencers suddenly shift from positive to negative emotions, or vice versa, viewers appear to focus on the emotional change rather than the product itself, so as emotional volatility increases, sales decline".
"Overall, we found milder transitions involving neutral emotion were less damaging to sales suggesting influencers' take care to avoid sudden shifts of emotion."
Ms Meng said viewers' product-centric discussion provided a useful way to counter this sales penalty.
"Viewers' questions and comments about the product which appear on the screen as they happen help bring attention back to the product and raise overall sales.
"This finding is particularly helpful for influencers as the critical three-minute window in which sales are most vulnerable after transitions can be used to return viewers to focus on the product."
In summary, Ms Meng said the study provided practical tips for influencers to maintain engagement AND increase sales:
- offer stable emotions to convert your viewers to buyers
- invite product-related questions
- highlight emerging topics
- streamline viewer-initiated questions
Ms Meng said livestream influencer marketing was rapidly evolving on platforms such as TikTok and Amazon Live,
"On platforms such as Douin, a highly popular live commerce platform in China, viewers can see likes, comments, and purchases as they happen, creating a highly interactive shopping environment.
"Influencers present products directly to the camera while viewers comment on features, prices, and product benefits in real time.
The research team comprised Ms Meng, Associate Professor Frank Mathmann and Associate Professor Di Wang, all from QUT's School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations.
The study, Emotional valence transitions in livestreaming: Elevate engagement but sabotage sales, was published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
