Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Aug 11:13:953484.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.953484. eCollection 2022.

Understanding gift-giving in game live streaming on Douyu: An evaluation of PSR/social presence

Wenchi Zhang  1
Affiliations

Understanding gift-giving in game live streaming on Douyu: An evaluation of PSR/social presence

Wenchi Zhang. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

In China, live streaming has grown rapidly in recent years, with gift-giving, a unique business model in live streaming, driving the development of many industries. This article explores the association between gift-giving behavior in game live streaming and viewers' live streaming experience. Specifically, this study aims to explore the correlation between Para-social Relationships, Social Presence, and gift-giving in the context of China. Based on the survey and interview of the viewer on Douyu, a Chinese live streaming platform, this study found that there is only a weak to a medium correlation between para-social relationships and viewers' gift-giving behavior. The correlation between social presence and gift-giving was even weaker. Although the conclusion of this study may be affected by the sample size limitation, it can still provide a reference for the current research on gift-giving on Chinese live streaming platforms.

Keywords: Douyu; game live streaming; gift-giving; para-social relationship; social presence; streamers.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary table of and prevalence rates. (A) Someone who is talented. (B) Someone who is authentic. (C) Someone who is sophisticated. (D) Someone who is distant. (E) Someone I admire. (F) Someone who understand me. (G) Someone who is the person I want to meet in person. (H) Someone who is my friend (blue bar is prevalence rates, red bar is response rates. See Table 1 in the Appendix for specific values).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cross summary table. (A) Someone who is Talented. (B) Someone who is authentic. (C) Someone who is sophisticated. (D) Someone who is distant. (E) Someone I admire. (F) Someone who understand me. (G) Someone who is the person I want to meet in person. (H) Someone who is my friend Blue bar is prevalence rates, red bar is response rates (see Table 2 in the Appendix for specific values).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Summary table of response rates and prevalence rates. (A) I want to help the streamer complete the tasks prescribed by Douyu. (B) I want to encourage the streamer to present their live content better. (C) I am impressed by the streamer's skills. (D) I love the streamer's personality. (E) I love the streamer's looks. (F) I love the streamer's style. (G) I feel like the streamer and I are friends. (H) I want the streamer to notice me. (I) I want the streamer to talk to me in the live stream. (J) I see streamers thanking viewers for their gifts; I also want to be publicly thanked. (K) I am in the streamers “fan group,” giving gifts can improve my “fan badge” level. (L) Giving gifts helps me to have a better identity in the streamers' community. (M) I know that expensive gifts can make streamers agree to givers' requests. I want to see the streamer play with my choice of character, weapon, etc (blue bar is prevalence rates, red bar is response rates. See Table 3 in the Appendix for specific values).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Summary table of response rates and prevalence rates. (A) I spend a lot of time reading other viewers' live comments. (B) I write live comments to connect with other viewers. (C) I write live comments to connect with the streamer. (D) I watch the streamer longer when my comments are replied to (E). I feel that I am actually there in person. (F) I get attention when I see streamers thanking or mentioning virtual gifts or donations from other viewers. (blue bar is prevalence rates, red bar is response rates. See Table 4 in the Appendix for specific values).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Abidin C. (2015). Communicative Intimacies: Influencers and Percieved Interconnectedness. p. 8. Available online at: https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/26365
    1. Abidin C. (2016). “Aren't these just young, rich women doing vain things online?”: influencer selfies as subversive frivolity. Social Media + Society. 2, 205630511664134. 10.1177/2056305116641342 - DOI
    1. Arriagada A., Ibáñez F. (2020). “You need at least one picture daily, if not, you're dead”: content creators and platform evolution in the social media ecology. Soc. Media Soc. 6, 2056305120944624. 10.1177/2056305120944624 - DOI
    1. Auter P. J. (1992). Psychometric: TV that talks back: an experimental validation of a parasocial interaction scale. J. Broadcast. Electron. Media. 36, 173–181. 10.1080/08838159209364165 - DOI
    1. Bennett R. (2022). Twitch Bits Guide: What Are They and How to Earn /Get Free. Available online at: https://filmora.wondershare.com/live-streaming/twitch-bits-how-to-earn.html

LinkOut - more resources