Research on the Social Currency Effect of Virtual Gift Donations in Live-Streaming E-Commerce
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: 随着数字经济的发展，直播带货的商业模式逐渐兴起。本研究基于社交货币理论，结合符号资本理论与共享消费理论，系统解构直播电商中虚拟礼物打赏的运作机制及其社会影响。研究发现：虚拟礼物通过定价符号化、仪式剧场化与算法调控三重机制，将用户经济资本转化为象征资本与社群地位。然而，该过程内嵌双面神悖论：社交货币在凝聚社群认同的同时，系统性催生等级压迫、情感剥削与关系异化。具体表现为：(1) 主播情感劳动被拆解为标准化生产单元，平台抽成制度引发情绪耗竭；(2) 用户陷入神经化学层面的成瘾回路，真实情感被符号交易替代；(3) 治理框架因资本对政策符号的劫持而失效。研究揭示，直播电商需超越流量经济逻辑，通过解构社交货币的价值二重性重构治理范式，以平衡商业效率与人的主体性价值。With the development of the digital economy, the business model of live-streaming sales has gradually emerged. This research employs social currency theory, integrated with symbolic capital theory and collaborative consumption theory, to systematically deconstruct the operational mechanisms and social impact of virtual gift giving in live streaming e-commerce. The findings reveal that virtual gifts function through three interconnected mechanisms: symbolic pricing, ritual theatricalization, and algorithmic governance. These mechanisms collectively transform users’ economic capital into symbolic capital and community standing. However, this process embodies a Janus-faced paradox: while social currency fosters community cohesion and identity formation, it simultaneously generates hierarchical oppression, emotional exploitation, and relational alienation. Key manifestations include: (1) Streamers’ emotional labor is atomized into standardized production units, with platform commission structures inducing emotional exhaustion; (2) Users become trapped in neurochemical addiction loops where authentic emotions are displaced by symbolic transactions; (3) Governance frameworks fail due to capital’s co-option of regulatory semiotics. The study demonstrates that sustainable live streaming ecosystems must transcend the logic of traffic economics. By deconstructing the value duality of social currency and redesigning governance paradigms, stakeholders can balance commercial efficiency with the preservation of human subjectivity and authentic emotional connections.
Source: E-Commerce Letters
Author: 欣忆 李
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4413038412