The Impact of Social Presence on Consumers' Purchase Intentions: The Mediating Role of Emotional Perception

In 2022, China’s digital economy reached approximately 50 trillion-yuan, accounting for over 40% of GDP. With the rapid growth of the digital economy, various sectors of the local life services industry have maintained steady expansion, with projections indicating that the industry will exceed 2.5 trillion yuan by 2025. Since 2023, TikTok has leveraged the traffic and user engagement of short videos to enter the local life services market, forming a three-way competitive landscape with Meituan and Ele.me. Based on social presence theory, this research performs an empirical investigation of the impact of short video platforms on the local life services sector. The study formulates research hypotheses and models, designs a questionnaire and scales, it utilises descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, validity analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. The findings indicate that short videos have gained traction in local life services due to their alignment with service scenarios and adherence to social presence theory, which enhances consumer perceptions of usefulness and trust, ultimately positively impacting purchase intentions.