The Spread of Virtual Gifting in Live Streaming: The Case of Twitch

Abstract

This paper examines how gifting spreads among viewers on Twitch, one of the largest live streaming platforms worldwide. On Twitch, users can purchase gift subscriptions for other viewers and often opt for community gifting, in which subscriptions are distributed to randomly selected viewers. Leveraging this random distribution as a natural experiment, we investigate the conditions under which gift recipients pay it forward to others. Our findings show that receiving a gift significantly increases the likelihood to pay it forward. This positive effect is amplified in single-recipient gifting events (i.e., one subscription is given to one individual per event) compared to mass distributions involving multiple recipients. Conversely, receiving a gift from a frequent gifter can attenuate the willingness to pay it forward. Finally, anonymous gifting has no significant influence on the spread of gifting. This research contributes to the literature on the spread of online prosocial behavior by providing robust empirical evidence and offers actionable insights for platform designers seeking to promote and sustain prosocial interactions in online communities.