Sasin Research Seminar - When Too Much Positivity Hurts

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The Role of Emotional Coherence in Livestream Sales

By: Fang Wan, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Management and the founder of the W Institute. Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Time: 14.00 – 15.00 Venue: Room 201 at Sasin School of Management or online via Zoom Register here to reserve your seat Abstract: Livestream commerce has revolutionized global retail by blending entertainment with real-time purchasing, yet the specific non-verbal mechanisms that distinguish top-tier influencers remain under-researched. This presentation introduces the concept of “persuasive sentiment extremity”—the intensity of positive language used to drive sales—and examines its paradoxical effects on consumer behavior. Grounded in attribution theory and the persuasion knowledge model, this research analyzes 600 product pitches from Douyin (Chinese TikTok) to demonstrate a critical insight: that extreme positivity often impairs sales. However, this adverse effect is attenuated—and even reversed—when vocal arousal and facial surprise are both high and congruent. Our findings contribute to emerging literature on multi-modal persuasion and influencer marketing by identifying emotional coherence as a critical moderator of persuasion efficacy in livestream commerce. For practitioners, the results underscore the importance of aligning verbal content with vocal and facial delivery to maintain authenticity and maximize consumer engagement. Excessive verbal positivity often triggers consumer skepticism and reduces sales when used in isolation. The study reveals that while extreme positivity typically impairs sales performance, this negative effect is dramatically reversed when the influencer demonstrates high “emotional coherence”—specifically when high verbal sentiment is synchronized with high vocal arousal and facial expressions of surprise. In these instances, the synchronized delivery signals authenticity, mitigating consumer suspicion. For business practitioners, brand managers, and Multi-Channel Networks (MCNs), these results underscore the necessity of “authenticity engineering.” The implications suggest that influencer training must evolve beyond scriptwriting to performance coaching that emphasizes the alignment of verbal and non-verbal cues. To maximize conversion, brands must ensure their ambassadors’ delivery matches the intensity of their claims, as emotional congruency is the key to transforming skepticism into sales.   For more information please contact +66-2218-4000 ext. 84095 or [email protected].