Understanding the role of influencers on live streaming platforms: when tipping makes the difference

Liying Zhou is an Associate Professor in the Business School at the Guizhou University of Finance and Economics. He received his PhD in Management Information Systems from the City University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on the B2B marketing, human–computer interaction and e-commerce. His works have been published on Journal of Business Research, Information and Management, Industrial Marketing Management and Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, among others.

Fei Jin, is an Associate Professor in the Business School at Sichuan University. She received her PhD in Management from Peking University. Her research topic includes social media and power.

Banggang Wu is an Associate Professor in Business School at Sichuan University. His research focuses on social network, big data and mobile internet. He has presented his work at academic journals such as Journal of Interactive Marketing. He received his PhD in marketing from the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University.

Xiaodong Wang is an Assistant Professor in Business School at the University of Portsmouth. His research focuses on the SME strategy. His works have been published in The European Journal of Finance, International Review of Financial Analysis and Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money.

Valerie Lynette Wang is an Associate Professor of marketing in the College of Business and Public Management at West Chester University. Dr Wang earned her PhD degree at Ohio University. Her teaching interests are social media, digital media management, marketing analytics and advertising. She has published articles in journals such as Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Journal of Advertising Research, Global Business and Organizational Excellence, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics and Industrial Marketing Management.

Zhi Chen is an Associate Professor at the Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance. His research interests include digital innovation and entrepreneurship. He has published on Creativity and Innovation Management, Chinese Management Studies, International Journal of Conflict Management and Journal of Creative Behavior, among others.