Beauty or Brains? The Paradoxical Impact of Anchors Attractiveness on Purchase Intentions

The pervasive belief that higher physical attractiveness universally enhances livestreaming sales has dominated industry practices; however, emerging evidence suggests that excessive attractiveness may backfire by triggering consumer skepticism. This study investigates the dual-edged role of streamer attractiveness by examining the beauty suspicion effect where surpassing an attractiveness threshold undermines perceived professionalism, thereby eroding consumer trust. Grounded in social perception theory and the credibility-persuasion framework, we propose a model delineating how physical attractiveness influences professional credibility, affective response, and beauty doubt, which collectively shape customer trust and purchase intention, moderated by product type and consumer individual differences. A structured online survey was conducted with 335 livestreaming viewers, and the data were analyzed using a hybrid structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Results reveal that while attractiveness initially boosts credibility and affective response, it simultaneously heightens beauty doubt. Crucially, professional credibility and affective response foster trust, whereas beauty doubt diminishes it, with trust further driving purchase intention. In sum, the findings challenge the "more attractiveness is better" axiom, offering nuanced insights for streamers and platforms to strategically balance aesthetics and expertise. Theoretical contributions extend to attractiveness thresholds in digital persuasion, while practical implications guide talent selection and product-streamer matching.