This study examines the impact of live chat on purchase decisions in the context of online outsourcing platforms. A theoretical research model based on signaling theory is proposed. The results of an econometric model based on a unique dataset from a large online outsourcing platform demonstrate that both affective signals (reflected by politeness and sentiment valence) and informative signals (reflected by information quantity and response timeliness) positively affect purchase decisions. In addition, these effects are found to be significantly influenced by consumers’ prior experience. Specifically, the findings show that consumers’ prior experience undermines the effect of politeness and sentiment valence on purchase decisions, but strengthens the effect of information quantity. In general, this study not only offers a comprehensive understanding of live chat in an outsourcing platform, but also yields insights into how live chat tools can be designed and used to promote online transactions.

中文翻译：

---

实时聊天对服务产品购买的影响：来自大型在线外包平台的证据


本研究探讨了在线外包平台下实时聊天对购买决策的影响。提出了一种基于信号理论的理论研究模型。基于大型在线外包平台的独特数据集的计量经济学模型的结果表明，情感信号（通过礼貌和情感效价反映）和信息信号（通过信息数量和响应及时性反映）都会对购买决策产生积极影响。此外，这些影响被发现很大程度上受到消费者先前经验的影响。具体来说，研究结果表明，消费者的先前经验削弱了礼貌和情感效价对购买决策的影响，但增强了信息量的影响。总的来说，这项研究不仅提供了对外包平台中实时聊天的全面了解，而且还深入了解了如何设计和使用实时聊天工具来促进在线交易。