The Influence of Host Social Presence on Online Purchase Intention: The Mediating Effect of Consumer Trust

This study investigates the influence of live-streaming hosts’ social presence on consumers’ online purchase intention and examines the mediating role of consumer trust. A questionnaire survey is conducted among consumers with livestreaming shopping experience, and regression analysis is used to test the proposed model. The results show that respondents hold positive perceptions of hosts’ social presence, consumer trust, and online purchase intention. Hosts’ social presence can reduce perceived distance and uncertainty in online shopping by enhancing emotional presence, interactive presence, and co-presence. Social presence significantly and positively affects consumers’ online purchase intention, while consumer trust also significantly and positively affects purchase intention. Consumer trust is further verified as the core mediating mechanism through which social presence influences purchase intention. The study confirms the positive role of hosts’ social presence in live-streaming e-commerce and provides decision-making reference for optimizing live-streaming platform operation, host communication strategies, and consumer trust-building mechanisms.