How to Achieve an Optimal Balance in the “Impossible Triangle” of Live-Streaming E-commerce? — A Study on the LS-F Suppliers' Quality Investment Strategies Under the Evolution of Decision-Making Authority Regarding Pricing and Commissions

This study constructs a theoretical analysis framework of the "impossible trinity" in live streaming e-commerce. From the two dimensions of "price" and "commission", it analyzes how changes in decision-making power affect the dimension of "quality", and accordingly establishes a differential game model of the dual-quality decision-making between "streamers and LS-F Suppliers". Specifically, it explores how changes in price decision-making power and commission decision-making power influence the LS-F Suppliers' product quality investment efforts and the dynamic trajectory of live streaming product quality. The research findings are as follows: (1) When the LS-F Suppliers gradually gain the power of price decision-making and commission decision-making, their quality investment efforts remain at a high level. (2) When the streamer's commission rate is low, if the initial live streaming price is high or low, the quality trajectory of live streaming products and the LS-F Supplier's profit trajectory show a positive synchronous growth. If the initial live streaming price is moderate, both trajectories show a negative synchronous growth. When the streamer's commission rate is high, if the initial live streaming price is high or low, the product quality trajectory shows positive growth while the LS-F Supplier's profit trajectory shows negative growth. If the initial live streaming price is moderate, the LS-F Supplier's profit trajectory shows positive growth while the product quality trajectory shows negative growth. (3) The fluctuation of the live streaming product quality trajectory is always relatively stable when the streamer solely decides the price. When the initial live streaming traffic is high, the quality trajectory fluctuates sharply during bargaining scenario; when the initial live streaming traffic is low, the quality trajectory fluctuates sharply when the LS-F Supplier solely decides the price.