Paper Type
Short
Paper Number
PACIS2026-1396
Description
Livestreaming is an emerging marketing channel where streamers play a pivotal role. In practice, streamers often disclose products' back-region information, such as upstream supply chain information (USCI), to attract consumers. Although such information can help consumers better evaluate products, it is disclosed orally by streamers and typically involves trade secrets, leaving consumers with no way to verify the information. This kind of costless and nonbinding information disclosure is known as "cheap talk." Our research investigates whether this informal USCI disclosure is effective, and how streamers should manage the vagueness of the information and adjust their vocal pitch when making such disclosures. Collaborating with Taobao, we obtained a large-scale dataset of livestreaming clips. Through text mining and multimodal analysis techniques, we reveal the impact of USCI disclosure and provide optimal communication strategies and managerial insights for the livestreaming industry.
Recommended Citation
Liu, Sijia and Chen, Xi, "Cheap Talk in E-commerce Livestreaming: Understanding Effects of Streamers’ Upstream Supply Chain Information Disclosure" (2026). PACIS 2026 Proceedings. 5.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2026/data_analtyics/data_anltics/5
Cheap Talk in E-commerce Livestreaming: Understanding Effects of Streamers’ Upstream Supply Chain Information Disclosure
Livestreaming is an emerging marketing channel where streamers play a pivotal role. In practice, streamers often disclose products' back-region information, such as upstream supply chain information (USCI), to attract consumers. Although such information can help consumers better evaluate products, it is disclosed orally by streamers and typically involves trade secrets, leaving consumers with no way to verify the information. This kind of costless and nonbinding information disclosure is known as "cheap talk." Our research investigates whether this informal USCI disclosure is effective, and how streamers should manage the vagueness of the information and adjust their vocal pitch when making such disclosures. Collaborating with Taobao, we obtained a large-scale dataset of livestreaming clips. Through text mining and multimodal analysis techniques, we reveal the impact of USCI disclosure and provide optimal communication strategies and managerial insights for the livestreaming industry.
Comments
05-DataAnalytics