Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate what factors can affect people’s continuous watching and consumption intentions in live streaming. Design/methodology/approach This research conducted a mixed-methods study. The semi-structured interview was deployed to develop a research model and a live streaming typology. A survey was then used for quantitative assessment of the research model. Survey data were analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Findings The results suggest that sex and humor appeals, social status display and interactivity play considerable roles in the viewer’s behavioral intentions in live streaming and their effects vary across different live streaming types. Research limitations/implications This research is conducted in the Chinese context. Future research can test the research model in other cultural contexts. This study can also be extended by incorporating the roles of viewer gender and price sensitivity in the future. Practical implications This study provides managerial insights into how live streaming platforms and streamers can improve their popularity and profitability. Originality/value The paper introduces a novel form of social media and a new business model. It illustrates what will affect people’s behavioral intentions in such a new context.

China is one of the largest and fastest‐growing markets for live streaming, and the purchase of virtual gifts in live streaming is the core for streamers and live streaming platforms in China to survive and thrive. Compared to western countries, live streaming in China highlights the lively social atmosphere and heated social interactions among streamers and viewers. This study develops a cultural context‐sensitive model that contextualises the purchase of virtual gifts in live streaming in China. Specifically, we focus on the viewer's social experience and the social atmosphere in live streaming which have received limited attention yet. We introduce viewers' social perceptions with regard to the streamer and other viewers (ie, perceived proximity to the streamer and sense of belonging to the viewer crowd) and show how such social perceptions contribute to the development of flow experience, which subsequently leads to purchase intention. This study also reveals how such social perceptions can be shaped by the contextual setting consisting of the IT‐related factors of live streaming (ie, responsiveness, two‐way communication, social presence, and self‐presentation) and the cultural characteristics of China (ie, social orientation and harmony). Our research offers both theoretical guidance for practitioners into cultivating viewers' purchase of virtual gifts in China's live streaming.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of trust in service and structural assurance on the continuance intention of FinTech services, and the roles of technical factors (i.e. situational normality and system quality) and social factors (i.e. herding and subjective norm) in developing trust in service and structural assurance. YuEbao is selected as the subject as it is a representative example of FinTech services in China. Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire was deployed and a ten-point sliding scale with two-decimal points was applied to improve the accuracy of the questionnaire. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings Trust in service and structural assurance can encourage continuance intention of FinTech service. System quality, situational normality and subjective norm can boost the development of trust in service. Both herding and subjective norm can affect structural assurance significantly. Research limitations/implications The study highlights the important roles played by technical factors (i.e. situational normality and system quality) and social factors (i.e. herding and subjective norm) in developing the two levels of trust (i.e. trust in service and structural assurance). It also validates the influences of trust in service and structural assurance on encouraging customers’ continuance intention in the novel context of FinTech. Practical implications The findings of this study can be used by practitioners to encourage customers to continue using their FinTech services. To encourage continuance, service providers can improve the quality of their system, design the system to be aligned with customers’ using habits and show customers that their close friends are also using the service. Originality/value This study adds to the existing body of trust literature by investigating the direct effects of trust in service and structure assurance on continuance intention and how these two levels of trust are developed from technical and social aspects. It generates interesting insights into customers’ continuance behavior of FinTech services.

Given the multifaceted nature of digital phenomena, theorising has shifted from the correlational view toward the configurational approach, which embraces equifinality and seeks to identify conjunctural causal conditions culminating in a given outcome. Despite growing scholarly interest in the configurational approach, little is known about how moderation functions in conjunctural causation. Although there is a growing urgency for elucidating the boundary conditions of conjunctural causation to bolster the precision of theoretical explanations, a systematic approach to theorising, identifying, and interpreting moderation in configurational theories is missing. To bridge this knowledge gap, we first establish the theoretical grounding for moderation in the configurational approach. We then articulate the theoretical mechanism underlying how the interdependence of causal factors in a causal recipe is altered by the presence of a moderator. We also offer guidance on how to validate and interpret moderation in the configurational approach based on Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). We conduct an illustrative study in the context of technostress to showcase the utility of our proposed guidelines and their value in aiding theory development. Our study hence contributes to extant literature by attesting to the significance of moderation in the configurational approach and offering recommendations for theorising such moderations. Insights from this study can be harnessed to guide future theory development by identifying and validating moderated configurational relationships, which in turn can further enhance our understanding of nuances in multifaceted digital phenomena.

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