The Streamer Selection Strategy for Live Streaming Sales: Genuine, Virtual, or Hybrid
Abstract
1. Introduction
- (1)
- What is the performance of different types of streamers (i.e., genuine and virtual) in live streaming sales activities?
- (2)
- Under what conditions does a monopolistic brand firm prefer a pure strategy (using only a genuine or only a virtual streamer) over a hybrid strategy, and vice versa?
- (3)
- How do key factors, such as coverage (or informed) level acquisition efficiency and return cost, influence the streamer selection strategies of a monopolistic brand firm?
2. Literature Review
2.1. Reviews
2.2. Research Gap
3. Problem Description
- (i)
- Pure Genuine Streamer Option. First, the firm can hire a genuine streamer for live streaming product sales. Note that a genuine streamer can only reach some of the firm’s fans during live sales. One reason for this is that genuine streamers cannot be online 24/7 for these activities. Another reason is that not all fans have time to watch live sales and buy products during the stream. Thus, for genuine streamers it is assumed that the fraction of fans watching live shows is (“coverage level” for short), which is between 0 and 1. The firm must pay a quadratic fee to reach this , and the larger the the higher the fee. For example, to obtain a large the firm may raise the streamer’s salary (to extend their hours) or hire more temporary genuine streamers; shows how efficient it is to obtain . The smaller the the higher the efficiency (e.g., a competitive and low-cost labor market). In addition, it is assumed that all fans who watch the live shows can figure out the actual product valuation before buying by interacting with the genuine streamer. These fans are often called the “informed type”.
- (ii)
- Pure Virtual Streamer Option. Alternatively, the firm can hire a virtual streamer for live streaming product sales. Unlike genuine streamers, they can be online 24/7 for live sales. They can interact with fans who want to buy products and answer their questions immediately. As a result, a virtual streamer can reach all the firm’s fans during live sales—they have no time limits. However, even with some intelligence, virtual streamers cannot properly interact with each fan or give accurate answers the way that genuine ones can. Thus, some fans cannot figure out their true valuation of the product after interacting with a virtual streamer. Specifically, for virtual streamers it is assumed that the fraction of fans informed of the product valuation before buying is (“informed level” for short), which is between 0 and 1. Similarly to the previous case, the firm must pay a quadratic fee to reach this , and the larger the the higher the fee. For example, to obtain a large the firm must spend heavily on customized and high-intelligence digital humans; shows how efficient it is to achieve . The smaller the the higher the efficiency (e.g., more mature AI tech and related markets).
- (iii)
- Hybrid Streamer Option. Finally, the firm can hire both genuine and virtual streamers simultaneously. In this situation, the main role of the virtual streamer is to carry out live streaming sales activities when the genuine streamer is resting. This combination is mainly aimed at covering all fans and enabling efficient interactions during live sales. However, at the same time, the firm has to bear the corresponding costs of both types of streamers.
4. Optimal Results and Analysis
4.1. Pure Genuine Streamer Scenario
- (i)
- if then
- (ii)
- if then
4.2. Pure Virtual Streamer Scenario
- (i)
- if then
- (ii)
- if then
4.3. Hybrid Streamer Scenario
- (i)
- if and then
- (ii)
- if and then
- (iii)
- if and then
4.4. Comparative Analysis
- (i)
- if h is relatively small then for all properly possible , may be the largest;
- (ii)
- if h is relatively large then may be the largest if is relatively small or if is relatively large but is relatively not medium; otherwise, may be the largest.
- (i)
- if h is not too large then for all properly possible may be the largest;
- (ii)
- if h is too large then may be the largest if is relatively small or if is relatively large but is relatively small; otherwise, may be the largest.
- (i)
- if h is not too large then (a) if is sufficiently small and is not too small then is the largest and, thus, the firm prefers to hire a pure genuine streamer, (b) if is sufficiently small and is not too small then is the largest and, thus, the firm prefers to hire a pure virtual streamer, (c) if and are not too small simultaneously then is the largest and, thus, the firm prefers to hire both types of streamers;
- (ii)
- if h is too large then the only difference from the result in (i) is that is the largest and both types of streamers are adopted only if is large and is relatively medium.
5. Conclusions
5.1. Main Findings
5.2. Managerial Implications
5.3. Limitations and Future Study
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
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Symbols | Descriptions |
---|---|
Fans’ product valuation in the live streaming channel. | |
The product’s selling price determined by the firm. | |
Unit return cost for the firm to deal with returned products. | |
Coverage level | |
(i.e., fraction of fans watching live shows upon hiring genuine streamers). | |
Coverage level acquisition efficiency | |
(i.e., coefficient of the quadratic cost related to coverage level). | |
Informed level | |
(i.e., fraction of fans informed of product valuation upon hiring virtual streamers). | |
Informed level acquisition efficiency | |
(i.e., coefficient of the quadratic cost related to informed level). |
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Jin, D. The Streamer Selection Strategy for Live Streaming Sales: Genuine, Virtual, or Hybrid. J. Theor. Appl. Electron. Commer. Res. 2025, 20, 273. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer20040273
Jin D. The Streamer Selection Strategy for Live Streaming Sales: Genuine, Virtual, or Hybrid. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research. 2025; 20(4):273. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer20040273
Chicago/Turabian StyleJin, Delong. 2025. "The Streamer Selection Strategy for Live Streaming Sales: Genuine, Virtual, or Hybrid" Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research 20, no. 4: 273. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer20040273
APA StyleJin, D. (2025). The Streamer Selection Strategy for Live Streaming Sales: Genuine, Virtual, or Hybrid. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 20(4), 273. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer20040273