Vol. 3 No. 4

Research Article

"Knowing How to Chat" to "Driving Conversions": A Study on the Emotional Labor of Douyin  E-commerce Livestreamers Under Platform Discipline

Published 2026-07-25

  • Mingxuan Yu
    • ,
  • Susu Zeng

Mingxuan Yu
Tianjin University of Finance and Economics image/svg+xml

Susu Zeng
Guangxi Vocational Normal University

Abstract

The emotional labor of apparel e-commerce livestreamers serves as an important entry point for understanding the labor logic of livestream e-commerce. Through in-depth interviews with 15 Douyin e-commerce livestreamers, this paper examines the process by which emotional labor transforms from “knowing how to chat” to “driving conversions” under platform discipline. The study finds that the emotional labor of livestreamers unfolds across four stages: intimate expression, outfit explanation and try-on demonstration, emotional mobilization and rhythm advancement, and after-sales appeasement and relationship maintenance, thereby forming a complete conversion mechanism. Through three interlocking mechanisms of data assessment, livestreaming systems, and team training, the platform screens and solidifies the livestreamers' emotional expressions into a set of calculable sales scripts. In this process, the workers' strategy of "pseudo-authenticity" constitutes a soft resistance to disciplinary power. Although it provides limited psychological compensation, it also imperceptibly reinforces their identification with platform norms, causing them to remain more deeply entrenched within the disciplinary order.

Keywords

E-commerce livestreamers, Emotional labor, Platform discipline, Livestream e-commerce

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