Jilei Zhou, Jing Zhou, Ying Ding, Hansheng Wang

【Abstract】

A novel function of live streaming is that viewers can send paid gifts to broadcasters. In addition, viewers can engage with broadcasters by sending danmaku, a type of comment scrolled across the screen in real time. This paper investigates the role of viewers’ social interaction in paid gifting on live streaming platforms. We argue that viewer-viewer interaction can prompt paid gifting by affecting viewers’ arousal level through stimuli extracted from danmaku. Types of danmaku-related stimuli are presence of others, social competition, and emotional stimuli. Specifically, presence of others is measured by total number of words, social competition by debate level, and emotional stimuli by similarity of danmaku, number of excitement-related words, and number of emoji. Using data from a major live streaming platform in China, empirical results show that except for number of emoji, the other four variables positively affect paid gifting.

【Keywords】

live streaming, paid gifting, danmaku, social interaction, arousal theory