Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research· 2026Q1
The Persuasive Effects of AI and Human Streamers in Live Commerce for Green Products: Dual Pathways of Perceived Authenticity and Personal Selling Motive Inference, and the Moderating Role of Product Positioning
- 1citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Human streamers boost green purchase intention via perceived authenticity, while AI streamers do so through weaker personal selling motive inference (n=408). These effects depend on product positioning, with authenticity stronger for experiential products and selling motive for utilitarian ones.
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Key points
- Human streamers increase green purchase intention via perceived authenticity.
- AI streamers increase green purchase intention through weaker inferences of personal selling motive.
- The pathway through authenticity is stronger for experiential product positioning.
- The pathway through selling motive inference is stronger for utilitarian product positioning.
- Dual indirect effects partially offset each other, resulting in a nonsignificant total effect of streamer type.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Although AI streamers are increasingly used in live commerce, it remains unclear when they are more persuasive than human streamers for green products and through which psychological mechanisms their influence operates. Using a fictitious plant-based hand wash, we conducted a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment with 408 Chinese consumers; confirmatory factor analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Amos 26.0, whereas two-way ANOVA and moderated parallel mediation analysis were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0. Human streamers increased green purchase intention through greater perceived authenticity, whereas AI streamers did so through weaker inferences of personal selling motive. The authenticity pathway was stronger under experiential positioning, whereas the selling-motive pathway was stronger under utilitarian positioning; these opposing indirect effects partially offset one another, resulting in a nonsignificant total effect of streamer type. By identifying these competitive dual pathways and their positioning-dependent boundary condition, this study extends research on AI-mediated persuasion and provides e-commerce platforms and green-product brands with guidance for aligning streamer type with product-positioning strategy.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research, 2026 · DOI ↗
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