Research on World Agricultural Economy

Enhancing Consumer Engagement in Agricultural E-Commerce: A Moderation Analysis of Blockchain Traceability in Live Streaming Contexts

Lin Wang

School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia

Department of Economics and Management, Zhengzhou Normal University, Zhengzhou 450044, China

Siew Imm Ng

School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia

Norazlyn Kamal Basha

School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36956/rwae.v7i3.3006

Received: 18 December 2025 | Revised: 12 January 2026 | Accepted: 19 January 2026 | Published Online: 13 August 2026

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Abstract

This study investigates the moderating role of blockchain traceability adoption in enhancing consumer engagement and purchase intention within live-streaming agricultural e-commerce platforms in China. Drawing upon the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework operationalized at the aggregate market level and information asymmetry theory, this research employs longitudinal market-level time-series data spanning 2019 to 2024, utilizing hierarchical regression analysis with Hayes's conditional process framework to examine main effects, mediation mechanisms, and moderation relationships. The empirical findings reveal that platform development and information transparency exert significant positive effects on market purchase behavior, with consumer engagement serving as a partial mediating mechanism transmitting these effects. The moderation analysis demonstrates that blockchain traceability adoption significantly strengthens the relationships between platform stimuli and consumer engagement, with the information transparency pathway exhibiting substantially stronger moderation effects than the platform development pathway, demonstrating that blockchain technology functions as a selective trust-enhancing mechanism that validates quality signals rather than operating as a general platform enhancer—a distinction representing the central empirical contribution of this study. These findings extend the traditional S-O-R framework by incorporating technological infrastructure as a boundary condition shaping stimulus effectiveness at the market level, while providing practical guidance for platform operators and policymakers to prioritize blockchain traceability infrastructure investment in conjunction with transparency enhancement initiatives for promoting high-quality development of agricultural live streaming e-commerce.

Keywords: Blockchain Traceability; Consumer Engagement; S-O-R Framework; Information Asymmetry; Live Streaming E-Commerce; Agricultural Products

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