“Stimulus” is a “trigger” (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974) that causes a change in the internal or external state of an individual, which can be a source of information, message content, etc. According to Turley and Kelley (1997), language appeals to product promotion can be divided into rational and emotional appeals; Pang and Lee (2004) showed that rational and emotional appeals are two types of appeals that can significantly influence consumption intention. Based on this, this study classifies anchors’ language appeals into rational appeal and emotional appeal. Rational appeal mainly changes consumers’ psychological perceptions and purchase behavior by conveying factual information, such as product recommendations in terms of price, quality, and composition (Resnik and Stern, 1977). Affective appeal influences consumers’ psychological perception and purchase behavior by stimulating consumers’ emotions toward the brand and even toward the salesperson, such as product recommendation in terms of humorous appeal and nostalgic appeal (De Pelsmacker and Geuens, 1997).

“Organism” refers to the emotional and cognitive mediated states that arise when an individual interacts with external stimuli (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974).

Self-referencing refers to an individual comparing external information with self-relevant information stored in memory (Debevec and Romeo, 1992). Research has found that there is a self-referential effect on consumers’ live shopping behavior, i.e., consumers compare the anchor with their self-characteristics (image, beliefs, personality, abilities, etc.), and the stronger the identification, the stronger their willingness to purchase (Hu et al., 2017). Study has found that when consumers receive information about products, they associate the information with their personal experiences, triggering the phenomenon of self-referencing，the outcome of treatment can affect their purchase intention (Burnkrant and Unnava, 1995; Martin et al., 2004). Research indicates that self-referencing is an important factor influencing consumers’ purchase decisions (Chang, 2011; Yoon and Park, 2012).

Consumer buying behavior is not just about satisfying physical needs, but also about satisfying psychological desires. Consumers tend to buy brands that help express and shape their self-image (Levy, 1959). Gardner and Levy (1955) refer to this phenomenon as self-brand congruity. The similarity and match between self-image and brand image. Study found that consumers make congruent judgments after acquiring information about products, and when consumers produce stronger congruence, they show stronger willingness to purchase (Roy and Rabbanee, 2015). When users watch a live broadcast, they combine the brand image perceived through the linguistic description of the anchor with their own image, and the stronger the congruence between the two, the stronger their purchase intention (Islam et al., 2018). Many studies have pointed out that self-congruity (self-consistency) is an important factor that influences consumers to choose and purchase products (Peters and Leshner, 2013).

Based on the above discussion, self-referencing and self-brand congruity are both emotional and cognitive responses that occur when individuals interact with external stimuli (Sirgy, 1982; Bellezza, 1984). In this study, self-referencing and self-brand congruity were used as mediating factors.

The user’s purchasing intention is referred to as the behavioral reaction in this study. Purchase intention is the subjective probability or potential that a consumer will purchase a specific good (Dodds et al., 1991). Purchase intention, according to Søndergaard et al. (2005), can be viewed as the irrational propensity of consumers to select particular goods, which develops during the process of product or service cognition prompted by external impacts.

E-commerce anchors recommend products to consumers through language appeals (Sun et al., 2019). In this study, anchor appeals are divided into rational appeals and emotional appeals. It has been noted that both rational and emotional appeal evoke consumers’ memories of their own experiences and trigger self-referential behaviors (Wang et al., 2013; de Graaf, 2022). On the one hand, rational appeal is used to motivate consumers by providing factual information (Lee et al., 2020). Emotional appeal, on the other hand, is used to arouse consumers’ memories by stimulating their emotional responses (Lee et al., 2020). Anchors’ language demands for products will increase users’ self-information cognition and stimulate users’ self-reference to a certain extent. As a result, this paper proposes hypothesis 1.

Past research has found that consumers matched product’s utilitarian attributes with their own ideal attributes through rational appeal, and matched product’s value express attributes with their own self-concept through emotional appeal, creating self-brand congruity (Johar and Sirgy, 1991). When customers receive information, they will relate it to their self-image and have a tendency to choose brands that are consistent with their self-image (Heath and Scott, 1998). When the values conveyed by the brand are related to the values of consumers, consumers will have a positive attitude toward the brand (Michel et al., 2022). Anchors’ language appeal to the brand will arouse users to compare the brand image with their self-image. If the two are consistent, they will increase their purchase intention. Thus, this paper proposes hypothesis 2:

Self-referencing impacts customers’ buying intentions (Debevec and Iyer, 1988; Wang et al., 2013). Consumers buy products in order to maintain or improve the self-image they pursue. The self-reference effect causes consumers to compare their self-image with the product image. A high level of self-referencing will provide more recognition and a larger desire to make a purchase (Wang et al., 2013; Yim et al., 2021). When users watch live broadcasts, they will empathize with and recognize the language demands of anchors, and trigger the self-reference effect, which will strengthen the psychological connection between users and anchors and further affect the purchase intention. Thus, this paper proposes hypothesis 3:

Previous studies have pointed out that self-brand congruity has an important impact on consumers’ purchasing behavior (Ekinci and Riley, 2003; Rabbanee et al., 2020). It is found that the higher the self-brand consistency of consumers, the more positive their attitude toward the product, the more likely they are to have the purchase intention (Liu C. et al., 2020; Wijnands and Gill, 2020). Customers are more likely to make purchases when their self-image is extremely aligned with that of the brand (Phua and Kim, 2018; Chen et al., 2021). Through rational and emotional appeals of anchor language, users connect self-concept with brand-image to improve their purchase intention. Hence, this paper proposes hypothesis 4:

Based on previous studies, the more self-referential consumers perceive, the more consistent their selves are with the brand, and the more likely they are to demonstrate a stronger sense of engagement, loyalty, and identity (Mehta, 1999). Through self-referencing, consumers compare information with themselves to promote the congruity between self-image and brand image. It has been found that consumers’ self-referential behavior helps to facilitate consumers’ association with brands and increase self-brand congruence (Wang et al., 2013). This paper argues that self-referencing triggered by anchors’ verbal appeals affects users’ self-brand congruence. Thus, this paper proposes hypothesis 5:

Individuals’ perceptions of verbal and visual stimuli can induce their self-referencing behaviors and then influence their attitudes and intentions (Debevec and Romeo, 1992). The appeals by communicators can stimulate consumers’ self-referencing behaviors, thus influencing consumers’ attitudes toward products (Yoon and Park, 2012). Further research has found that both verbal and non-verbal appeals can stimulate self-referential behavior, which in turn influences consumers’ purchase intentions (Wang et al., 2013). The self-referencing effect is mediated by the fact that users are influenced by the verbal appeal of the anchor, which stimulates self-referencing and increases their perception of their self-image, and when their perception of their self-image matches the product recommended by the anchor, they increase their purchase intention. Thus, this paper proposes hypothesis 6.

Research has found that people will consider the degree of consistency between a product’s brand image and their own image when screening the product, and the higher this consistency, the higher people’s willingness to purchase the product (Yang, 2018; Chen et al., 2021). When consumers are exposed to brand information, they develop brand image perceptions and tend to purchase the brand if they perceive that their self-image and the image portrayed by the brand converge, or if they believe that the image portrayed by the brand can satisfy their self-image (Liu C. et al., 2020; Wijnands and Gill, 2020). In a study on brand filter conditions, self-brand congruence between brand filter conditions (self-endorsing vs. other-endorsing) and brand attitudes, purchase intention Yang (2018). Based on the existing studies, this paper further explores whether self-brand congruence plays a mediating effect between anchor language appeals and purchase intention. Thus, this paper proposes hypothesis 7.

As mentioned in the previous section, the anchor’s rational and emotional appeal act as stimuli to trigger consumers’ self-referencing and self-brand congruity, which in turn influence consumers’ purchase intentions. Meanwhile, self-referencing has an impact on the relationship between anchors’ language appeals and consumers’ self-brand congruity (Mehta, 1999). Research suggests that self-referencing encourages consumers to connect with brands and increases self-brand congruence, which in turn influences consumers’ purchase intentions (Wang et al., 2013). A study by Phua and Kim (2018) also found that self-brand congruence interacts with self-referencing and perceived humor to influence consumers’ brand attitudes and purchase intentions. Users perceive brand messages through anchor language appeals, and if users’ self-reference increases, self-concept, and brand image are more likely to be congruent, which in turn increases purchase intentions. Thus, this paper proposes hypothesis 8:

The validity of hypotheses H1a and H1b indicates that the rational and emotional demands of anchors have a significant positive influence on users’ self-referencing. After receiving the information about the rational and emotional demands of anchors, users will compare these information with their own relevant experiences. Sun et al. (2019) showed that rational appeal from anchors increases consumers’ informational perceptions, triggering them to refer to factual information about the brand with their own experiences and influencing their subsequent purchase behavior, while Dong and Wang (2018) showed that emotional appeal from anchors increases the emotional connection with users, facilitating them to associate themselves with emotional information about the brand and increasing their favorability toward the brand. Increase users’ favorable perception of the brand. It is worth noting that according to the path coefficients, the path coefficient of the influence of the anchor’s language rational appeal on self-referencing is 0.241, while the path coefficient of the influence of the emotional appeal on self-referencing is 0.371, indicating that the influence of the emotional appeal is more significant than that of the rational appeal. This is consistent with research on online sales (Ahn et al., 2022). This result explains some of the impulsive consumption behavior that occurs in the broadcast room.

The establishment of H2a and H2b holds that anchors’ rational and emotional appeal have a positive impact on users’ self-brand congruity. In live e-commerce shopping, users are influenced by the linguistic appeals of the anchor, and their perception of the brand image changes, believing that the brand image described by the anchor through language is in line with their self-image. Once the user develops this perception of convergence between self-image and brand image, a self-brand congruence effect occurs. The results showed that the path coefficients of rational appeal and emotional appeal on self-brand congruity were 0.135 and 0.165, respectively, with no significant difference. This result shows that, no matter whether the host uses a rational way or an emotional way, users will compare the information with their self-image after receiving the information. Therefore, the language appeal of anchors should adopt a combination of rationality and sensibility, so as to generate self-brand consistency among users under the joint action of both. This conclusion is consistent with the research results of Chen et al. (2022).

The validity of hypothesis H3, that self-referencing has a positive effect on users’ purchase intention, suggests that, after receiving recommendations from anchors, users will process information related to their self-concept and the resulting results will influence their consumption decisions. Consumers’ purchases are often motivated by a desire to obtain symbolic meaning for a product or service, and the self-reference effect arises when the symbolic meaning of a product is consistent with the consumer’s existing or desired sense of self (Lee and Heo, 2016; Lee and Mackert, 2017; de Graaf, 2022). Under the self-reference effect, consumers will tend to purchase products that are consistent with their self-identity or status. Therefore, anchors should strive to align the products they recommend with the user’s sense of self through verbal appeals. This is consistent with the results of Yaniv et al. (2011).

The validity of hypothesis H4, that self-brand congruity has a positive effect on users’ purchase intentions, suggests that users who receive recommendations from anchors process them in relation to their self-image, and the resulting results influence their consumption decisions. Anchors establish some connection between their recommended brands and users through language appeals. The higher the consistency between self-image and brand image of users, the higher their purchase intention will be. This result is consistent with the findings of Grénman et al. (2019) and Aw et al. (2019), which is better explains that in the practice of live streaming e-commerce, anchors constantly interact and communicate with users through language to enhance their understanding of users. The purpose is to establish a connection with the recommended products according to the self-image cognition of users, form a self-brand consistency, and then enhance the purchase intention of users.

The validity of hypothesis H5, that self-referencing positively influences users’ self-brand congruity, suggests that after receiving a recommendation from the anchor, users first compare it with their self-experience for referencing, then make a comparison of congruity between their self-image and brand image. Users of live e-commerce are influenced by the linguistic appeals of the anchor in watching the live broadcast, creating a self-referential effect by connecting with information that already exists. Under the self-referencing effect, the user’s self-image perception will in turn influence product (brand) preference, i.e., the user tends to choose products (brands) that match their self-image, thus building self-brand consistency. The higher this self-brand consistency is, the more likely they are to buy. This is consistent with the findings of Mehta (1999). This result tells us that in the practice of live e-commerce, the anchor should trigger the user’s self-reference through verbal appeals, forming a perception and construction of self-image and being able to associate self-image with brand image, generating self-brand congruence.

The validity of hypotheses H6a and H6b, that self-referencing plays a partially mediating role between anchors’ language appeals and users’ purchase intentions, suggests that anchors recommend products to users by means of rational appeal and emotional appeal, and these messages cause users to engage in self-referential processing, and when self-referential congruity is high, users’ purchase intentions are also high. This result, is in line with the studies of Chang and Lee (2011) and Ahn et al. (2017). This result suggests that the linguistic appeal of the anchor prompts users to recall information about their selves in their memories, that they associate this information about their self-image with the product recommended by the anchor, and that they are inclined to buy the product when they find that the symbolic meaning of the product recommended by the anchor is consistent with the self-image that the consumer already has or wishes to acquire.

The validity of hypotheses H7a and H7b, that self-brand congruity partially mediates the relationship between anchors’ language appeals and users’ purchase intentions, suggests that anchors recommend products to users by means of rational and emotional appeal, and that this information causes users to engage in comparative processing of self-brand congruity, and that when congruence is high, users’ purchase intentions are also high. When users buy commodities in the broadcast room, they are not only based on quality, price and practical performance, but also whether the brand characteristics are in line with self-image as an important selection criteria (Phua and Kim, 2018; Wijnands and Gill, 2020). If users can find the consistency between the brand and self-image or evaluation from the anchor language appeal, that is, the self-brand consistency is high, consumers will buy the product. This result is in line with the studies by Sop and Kozak (2019) and Holmes (2021).

Hypotheses H8a and H8b, where self-referencing and self-brand congruity play a chain mediating role between the anchor’s language appeal and the user’s purchase intention, are established. The study shows that there is a relationship in which the anchor’s language appeal triggers self-referential processing by the user, and when self-referential consistency is high, the user also makes a comparison of self-brand congruity, and when the user feels that self-brand congruity is high, his or her purchase intention is also high. This result is in line with the study of Phua and Kim (2018). The existence of chain mediation suggests a complex process from the verbal stimulation of the anchor to the generation of willingness to purchase, with a series of psychological changes that occur in between, and suggests that there is a complex processing of product information and purchase decision making behavior in live shopping.