CHANNEL SELECTION OF MERCHANTS IN COMMISSIONED LIVE-STREAMING COMMERCE: AGENT OR CELEBRITY ANCHORS?

Abstract

As an emerging e-commerce model, live-streaming commerce has attracted widespread attention from merchants. Since many merchants do not have their own anchors, they need to hire professional anchors, who are called commissioned live-streaming commerce. Merchants can choose either agent anchors or celebrity anchors, that is, a choice between two different live-streaming channels. Choosing celebrity anchors with large fan bases can crank up higher sales for merchants, but comes with higher commission expenses and potential competition from the anchors’ own brand products. Conversely, choosing agent anchors whose popularity is far less than that of celebrity anchors may still bring high profits, as these agents charge lower commissions. Inspired by this interesting phenomenon, the present study examines the challenges faced by merchants in live-streaming channel selection using commissioned live-streaming commerce. The study employs a Cournot model to investigate the issues at hand and analyze the impact of different factors on merchants' channel selection based on simulation. The results show that when the effort cost of a merchant choosing anchors is high and the merchant's brand image advantage is significant, the merchant is more inclined to choose agent anchors; otherwise, the inclination is to choose celebrity anchors. The findings provide support for the decision-making process of different parties involved in live-streaming commerce and thus, promote the sustainable development of the live-streaming commerce industry.