Effects of Interface Design and Live Atmosphere on Consumers’ Impulse-Buying Behaviour from the Perspective of Human–Computer Interaction

Abstract

Since its introduction, live e-commerce has shown rapid growth, especially in regions such as China, where the total market size has exceeded trillions of RMB. However, e-commerce live streaming has also caused widespread consumer impulse-buying behaviour during the development process. Therefore, based on stimulus–organism–response theory, from the perspective of human–computer interaction, this paper develops an impulse-purchase model for live e-commerce consumers, uses partial least squares structural equation modelling to process and analyse 339 valid questionnaires and, finally, validates the proposed hypotheses. The findings show that consumers’ visual appeal, perceived arousal and engagement play a mediating role in the relations among interface design, live atmosphere and impulse purchase. To promote the sustainability of a live-streaming economy, live-streaming platforms need to design attractive live-streaming interfaces, build a pleasant live-streaming atmosphere and enhance consumers’ positive emotions, while preventing their irrational purchasing behaviour. An in-depth analysis of the formation mechanism of this behaviour can help in alleviating the limitations of the lack of rich research results and a single perspective in this field. In addition, it can help stakeholders promote the sustainability of e-commerce live streaming in practice.