Motivations and Expectations for Virtual Gift-Giving in Douyin Live Streams
This research addresses user engagement in mobile live streaming, particularly in the Chinese market, but is incremental as it applies existing concepts to a specific platform.
The study investigates the motivations and expectations behind virtual gift-giving in Douyin live streams, focusing on user behavior in social live streaming services.
Social live streaming services (SLSS) (e.g. Twitch, YouTube Live) combine real-time presentation of user-generated content with social networking features that allow streamers and viewers to interact in a co-present social online setting. Mobile live streaming is now an integrated feature in many social media apps (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat) and has recently advanced as a popular form of content creation on entertainment-based short-video apps, especially in the Chinese market and foremost Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.