Determinants of live streamers' continuance broadcasting intentions on Twitch: A self-determination theory perspective

Empowered by today's rich tools for a media generation, the rapid development of the Internet, and collaborative production, live streaming services that allow anyone to launch a stream or watch someone else perform over the Internet have gained great popularity. This study endeavored to ascertain the determinants compelling live streamers to continue broadcasting on Twitch, a live streaming video platform. This novel research model used self-determination theory to investigate different motivational forces (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic) that drive live streamers' continuance broadcasting intentions. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation significantly influenced live streamers' performance expectancies, but not their perceived website attractiveness. Efforts to influence perceived website attractiveness must be made via performance expectancies. Performance expectancy and perceived website attractiveness subsequently affect streamers' continuance of broadcasting intentions on Twitch. This study yields important managerial implications for live streaming platforms to improve their service design and understanding of streamers' behavioral intentions.