Determinants of Buying Produce on Short-Video Platforms: The Impact of Social Network and Resource Endowment—Evidence from China

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, selling by short video has become a new online selling model that enhances the communication between buyers and sellers. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the key factors influencing consumers’ purchase of agricultural products on short-video platforms. Additionally, it is also important to figure out the influencing mechanism and action path. Specifically, based on the ‘Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR)’ framework and structural equation model, we delineate and empirically test hypotheses regarding the effects of key components on consumers’ purchase intentions and behaviors. The key components refer to three external stimuli of consumers’ social network, sellers’ resource endowment, and both sides’ infrastructure development levels. Simultaneously, we analyze the mediating role of consumers’ perceived value and perceived risk between external stimuli and consumers’ purchase intentions. This paper argues that short-video merchants improving the influence of their stores and platforms strengthening supervision and management are the keys to ensuring stable growth in consumers’ willingness to purchase agricultural products sold on short videos and promoting the development of the short-video live industry.