Paying for Affection, Intimacy, or Status? Virtual Gifting and Emotional Value in Chinese Live-Streaming

• In Event: Economic Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Roundtable 1: Relational Work

Abstract

Why and how do people buy intimate experiences in virtual spaces? Following Zelizer’s relational work framework, this study explains how virtual gifting negotiates emotional connections in China’s showroom live-streaming industry. Using ethnographic data from Douyin and semi-structured interviews with 55 streamers, patrons, and promoters, I show that streamers perform relational work to tailor emotional connections for virtual gifts while patrons engage in “emotional earmarking”—imbuing monetary gifts with socially situated emotional meanings so that money comes to count as intimacy or status, allowing them to pursue relational objectives and alleviate status anxieties. The analysis identifies three intimacy packages: (1) community bonds for belonging, (2) interpersonal connections for heterosexual intimacy or friendship, and (3) competitive gift-racing for status elevation. When meanings, emotional qualities, and boundaries align, earmarks translate into perceived emotional value that sustains engagement and future transactions. Extending relational work, the paper theorizes platform-mediated one-to-many interactions and shows how class, gender, and migration shape the emotional payoffs of earmarking. The findings illuminate how intimacy, status, and belonging are commodified in mobile virtual spaces, offering insights into the growing market for emotional exchanges amid evolving relationship structures and mental health concerns in China.

Author

• Tianyao Qu, Indiana University-Bloomington