Gender economy in live streaming: Moderating effects of relational motivation on viewer contributions

Abstract

Live streaming platforms such as Amazon's Twitch and YouTube Live have rapidly grown by taking advantage of unprecedented real-time interactivity between content creators and viewers. While numerous researchers suggested that viewer-streamer interactions and relationships are significantly associated with viewer donation, which is the main business model of live streaming, the economic impact of these relationships has not been quantified perhaps due to a lack of relevant data. In this paper, we measured the impact of cross-gender relationships between viewers and streamers on viewer contributions by using a rich dataset from the largest live streaming platform in South Korea. After controlling several viewer- and streamer-specific characteristics, we found that viewers donate larger amount of money to the opposite gender streamers by 4.4 percent than the same gender streamers. We also revealed that relational motivation positively moderates preferences for the opposite gender. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.