Live streaming strategies, organizational capabilities, business performances, and innovations : empirical research from a multichannel network perspective : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Abstract

Live streaming technologies have emerged as transformative instruments in business-to-business (B2B) commerce, enabling real-time engagement, dynamic coordination, and data-driven transactions. This thesis investigates how Multi-Channel Network (MCN) organizations strategically enact various live streaming strategies, including relational bonds strategy and information technology (IT) affordance strategy, through organizational capabilities to enhance B2B performance and innovation. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), dynamic capability theory, affordance theory, organizational learning theory, and organizational networking theory, this thesis develops an integrative framework across three empirical papers to examine the mechanisms through which live streaming strategies and organizational capabilities jointly shape digital B2B outcomes. Paper 1 explores the influence of relational bonds strategy, encompassing financial, social, and structural bonds, on strategic and financial performance. It further examines the moderating roles of two distinct organizational learning capabilities, namely exploratory and exploitative learning, in shaping these performance outcomes. Using survey data collected from 211 MCN organizations operating in the Chinese B2B live-streaming market, the findings show that relational bonds strategy significantly enhances both strategic and financial performance, while the two forms of organizational learning exert different contingent effects. Building on these insights, Paper 2 investigates the role of visibility, meta-voicing, and guidance shopping (VMG) IT affordances in shaping MCNs’ channel and economic performance. Based on survey data from 229 MCNs, the findings confirm that VMG IT affordances significantly enhance B2B performance outcomes. In addition, exploratory learning and business networking positively moderate these affordance–performance relationships, whereas exploitative learning exerts a negative contingent effect. Paper 3 further examines IT affordances by focusing on triggered attending, trading, and social connecting (TTS) affordances and their influence on organizational innovation. Using the same dataset of 229 MCNs, the findings show that TTS IT affordances significantly enhance organizational innovation. The results further indicate that adaptive capabilities, comprising vigilant market capability, adaptive market experimentation capability, and open marketing capability, positively strengthen the relationship between TTS IT affordances and organizational innovation. Collectively, the three studies provide a comprehensive and integrative understanding of how MCNs leverage various live streaming strategies and organizational capabilities to achieve sustained performance and innovation in digital B2B contexts. This thesis advances RBV, dynamic capability, affordance, organizational learning, and organizational networking perspectives by explaining how relational and technological strategies jointly drive B2B performance and innovation in the live-streaming context. The findings also offer practical managerial implications for MCNs and other digital B2B organizations seeking to optimise digital transformation, customer engagement, and innovation in dynamic B2B markets.