473 / 2024-04-25 15:52:12

The firm's channel strategy and the streamer's live-stream marketing strategy

live-stream selling; streamer’s characteristics; streamer’s efforts; marketing strategy selection

In recent years, live-stream selling has become increasingly popular, with more firms using this platform to sell products. This study examines the interaction between sales efforts during live streams and marketing efforts prior to the event. We have developed a model that incorporates streamer characteristics, including influence and product-matching reliability. We assess three different supply chain structures: a direct selling channel (DC); a live-stream selling channel without a pre-existing marketing strategy (NE); and a live-stream selling channel with a pre-established marketing strategy (E). Using a game-theoretic approach, we analyze streamers’ preferences for marketing strategies and identify optimal conditions for firms to utilize live-stream selling channels. Our findings reveal that pre-event marketing strategies enhance streamers' sales efforts during broadcasts. Streamers with high influence typically do not prefer the E strategy, while those with low influence are likely to engage in marketing efforts before the live stream. Streamers with moderate influence increasingly favor the E strategy as product-matching reliability improves. Firms are advised to partner with high-influence streamers by opting for live-stream selling channels. To validate these model results, we used real selling data from live stream hosts, which confirmed that the findings are supported by empirical evidence.