2026-10-06T05:20:52Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34042655 2026-10-01T10:25:48Z category_19 category_21 category_39 category_45 category_734 category_61 category_106 portal_87 item_type_6 month_year_10_2026

Brand as a competitive lever: content provision and product pricing in live-streaming selling Wenchao Cheng (25155890) Qiuyan Chen (5601662) Yiwen Bian (11996940) Jennifer Shang (780361) Pharmacology Biotechnology Ecology Sociology Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Developmental Biology Science Policy Pricing decision content provision brand value market competition live-streaming selling Marketing operations management operations strategy <p>Live-streaming selling (LSS) integrates real-time content, consumer interaction, and transactions, making content allocation a key strategic decision. This study examines how strong-brand firms should allocate limited live-streaming time between product-related and brand-related content when competing with weak-brand firms offering functionally similar but vertically differentiated products. <i>Product-related content</i> communicates experiential value but may spill over to comparable products through consumer perception and comparison. <i>Brand-related content</i> crowds out product demonstrations but builds loyal demand and reduces direct comparison. We develop a theoretical model with consumer-perception-based experiential information spillover. The strong-brand firm chooses between pure-product and mixed content strategies. We show that when brand value is sufficiently high and product differentiation is substantial, pure-product content is preferred. When products are close substitutes, mixed content becomes optimal because brand-related content expands loyal demand, softens price competition, and supports higher prices. Under certain conditions, mixed content can also benefit the weak-brand firm by relaxing competition despite reducing spillover gains, creating a win-win outcome. With endogenous content allocation, the strong-brand firm devotes more time to brand-related content as competition intensifies. Overall, this study highlights the strategic role of brand communication, which strengthens loyalty, shapes competitive outcomes, and sustains long-term profitability in live-streaming selling markets.</p> 2026-10-01T10:25:48Z Text Journal contribution 10.6084/m9.figshare.34042655.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Brand_as_a_competitive_lever_content_provision_and_product_pricing_in_live-streaming_selling/34042655 CC BY 4.0