AI-Powered Shopstreaming and Impulsive Buying: Parasocial Interaction, Perceived Enjoyment, and Sale Proneness

Abstract

Artificial intelligence increasingly shapes livestream shopping through virtual hosts, personalized product displays, and automated interactions that may alter consumers' social and emotional responses. This article examines how product relevance, social attraction, and content characteristics relate to parasocial interaction, perceived enjoyment, and impulsive buying in AI-powered shopstreaming. It also considers sale proneness as a moderator of the relationship between perceived enjoyment and impulsive buying. The proposed framework draws on the Stimulus–Organism–Response perspective and integrates research on AI influencers, livestream engagement, and impulsive consumption. A quantitative explanatory design is outlined, with measurement and structural analyses organized around seven constructs and their proposed relationships. The accompanying calculations provide a methodological check of the analysis and reporting procedures, rather than observations collected from shoppers. Consequently, the proposed relationships require validation using verified participant responses before empirical conclusions can be established. This study provides an integrated basis for examining when AI-mediated social cues and enjoyable shopping experiences may encourage unplanned purchases and for guiding further research on responsible AI-assisted commerce.