The socio-technical engine driving hotel live streaming engagement: insights from PLS-SEM, NCA, and cIPMA

Grounded in socio-technical systems theory and media absorption perspectives, this study investigates how social and technical affordances facilitate absorption experience (AE) as a psychologically immersive state of focused attention during hotel live streaming e-commerce (LSE), and how AE subsequently shapes consumer engagement behaviors, including both monetary (e.g., purchase intention) and non-monetary (e.g., liking, commenting, sharing). Drawing on survey data from 334 live streaming viewers, this study utilizes a multi-method analytical framework comprising partial least squares structural equation modeling, necessary condition analysis, and combined importance–performance map analysis. The outcomes verify that social presence, real-time interactivity, metavoicing, and guidance shopping significantly enhance AE, which in turn drives consumer engagement behaviors. The results indicate AE functions as a pivotal mediating mechanism between socio-technical characteristics and consumer engagement outcomes, with social presence emerging as a critical necessary condition for both monetary and non-monetary engagement behaviors. The integrated methodology separates ‘should have’ from ‘must-have’ components, offering a strong foundation for examining asymmetric causal linkages. The findings contribute to hospitality and live streaming e-commerce literature by theorizing AE as a context-appropriate immersive state in hotel live streaming and elucidating how socio-technical systems shape both monetary and non-monetary engagement behaviors, an area that remains insufficiently explored.