Can You Sell Millions of Lipsticks in 5 Minutes? A Multi-method Analysis of Winning Strategies of Livestreaming Influencers

Professor Fang Wan, University of Manitoba

Date: 29 April 2024 (Monday)

Time: 14:30pm-16:30pm

Venue: A203, Mingli Building, Lihu Campus, Shenzhen University

Host: Professor Zhimin Zhou, Department of Marketing, SZUCM

Abstract

Live-streaming as an innovative marketing strategy, has enabled top influencers to sell millions of products in one hour. This study conducts comprehensive analyses of rhetoric, voice, and facial expression to unearth the winning strategies of these influencers. Through the examination of 24 preliminary videos featuring 6 Taobao influencers and a larger set of 600 videos spotlighting 50 Chinese TikTok influencers, our research demonstrated the effects of some distinct rhetorical styles (e.g., clarified jargon), voice features (e.g., energy), and facial expression (e.g., surprise) in the influencer’s live-streaming content on their sales performance. More importantly, we employed a multi-modality analysis and discovered the additive benefits of combining rhetoric styles with emotion expression (via voice and facial expression). Specifically, seven interaction effects on sales were discovered such as the interactions of multi-sensory metaphor and energy voice, multi-sensory metaphor and content voice, multi-sensory metaphor and stressful voice, multi-sensory metaphor and imagination voice, clarified jargon and contempt face, multi-sensory metaphor and surprise face, and lastly the terms of endearment with surprise face. This work is one of the first to employ a multi-method approach to examine the content and non-verbal strategies in the livestreaming marketing. It has important implications for influencers and influencers-to-be, brands, and platform companies hosting both influencers and brands.

Speaker's Biography

Dr. Fang Wan is a Professor of Marketing and Ross Johnson Research fellow at the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba. She joined the Asper School in 2003, and her research interests include Brand Management, Cross-Cultural Consumer Psychology and Entrepreneurship and Leadership. Professor Wan has published more than 30 articles, some of which have appeared in the Organization Behavior and Human Decision Processes Journal, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the Journal of Business Ethics, the Journal of Advertising, and the Journal of Interactive Marketing. Professor Wan has also been pursuing an integrative approach to teaching, researching and brand consultation. With Dr. Wan’s Brand Consortium, a brand consulting platform she created for Canadian business communities, she and her students have provided brand consultation services to companies ranging from small family business to industry conglomerates. Representing a vast number of industries, these consulting experiences have enriched Dr. Wan’s research, teaching, and training programs on branding. More importantly, brand consultation has allowed her to constantly challenge the existing viewpoints and theorizations on branding, which have enabled Wan to develop her own brand framework: Brand Triangle. Her passion for branding and immersion into the brand world not only make Wan a keen observer and researcher of brand strategies, but also equip her with refreshing lenses via which her brand teaching and consultation are conducted. Her brand workshops have won raving reviews from participants on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Actively pursued by professional and business communities as a guest speaker, Dr. Wan has been applauded as a powerful speaker who inspires and energizes her audience.

All interested faculty and students are welcome to attend!