The Power of Live Social Commerce: Exploring the Roles of Trust and Time Pressure in Impulsive Buying
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54938/ijemdss.2026.05.2.715Keywords:
Live Social Commerce, Impulsive Buying Behavior, Trust, Time Pressure, Generation Z, PLS-SEM.Abstract
The emergence of live social commerce has reshaped the digital retail landscape by integrating live-streaming technology with interactive social media features, creating dynamic shopping experiences that encourage immediate consumer engagement. Despite its growing popularity, the psychological mechanisms through which live social commerce stimulates impulsive purchasing remain underexplored. This study investigates the effect of Live Social Commerce (LSC) on Impulsive Buying Behavior (IBB) among Generation Z, while examining Trust as a mediating mechanism and Time Pressure as a boundary condition influencing the trust–impulsive buying relationship. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted using responses from 412 Generation Z consumers who had previously engaged with live-stream shopping platforms. The proposed research framework was evaluated using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4. The empirical findings indicate that live social commerce significantly enhances both consumer trust and impulsive buying behavior. Trust was found to directly promote impulsive buying and partially transmit the influence of live social commerce on purchasing decisions. In addition, time pressure amplified the positive effect of trust on impulsive buying, while the moderated mediation analysis demonstrated that the indirect influence of live social commerce on impulsive buying through trust became stronger when consumers experienced higher levels of time pressure. These findings extend the social commerce literature by offering a comprehensive explanation of how relational and situational factors interact to shape purchasing behavior in live-stream shopping environments. The study also provides practical insights for digital marketers and online retailers by highlighting the strategic importance of building consumer trust and employing carefully designed time-sensitive promotional tactics to encourage spontaneous purchasing among Generation Z consumers.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Shah Nawaz Khan, Muhammad Umer, SanaUllah Memon, Jawad Ahmed
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