The higher the better? A study on the dark side of high engagement atmosphere in live streaming sales on consumer post-purchase satisfaction

Abstract

Research on live streaming engagement has long focused on its positive aspect of promoting consumer conversion but has neglected the potential loss of post-transaction value due to high interaction intensity. This study reveals the “engagement paradox” through a mixed study of actual live streaming and post-purchase evaluation data and survey-based research: although high engagement enhances immediate purchase intention, it significantly reduces post-purchase satisfaction through the dynamic imbalance of cognitive-emotional resources. Based on the integrated framework of elaboration likelihood model, expectation confirmation theory, information overload theory, and flow theory, it is found that the paradox stems from the contextual differentiation of dual paths contextual differentiation, i.e., information dissemination and high interactivity features in live sales contexts trigger information overload and flow experiences, which can lead to satisfaction decay by amplifying the expectation-confirmation gap. This finding bridges the perceived divide in the existing literature on the paradoxical validity of engagement. Further applying gender schema theory, the study breaks new ground by finding that male consumers exhibit more significant flow attrition effects in high-engagement live streaming due to heuristic decision-making tendencies, providing key boundary conditions for gender marketing theory in digital contexts. And these findings also provide practical guidance for designing consumer engagement strategies on live-streaming platforms.