Beyond Engagement: Monetisation Conversion in TikTok LIVE Among Malaysian Celebrities and Influencers

Mohd Nasrul Faiz Abu Azal, Abdul Latiff Ahmad

Abstract


This study examines the relationship between audience engagement and monetised participation within TikTok LIVE sessions involving Malaysian celebrities and social media influencers. While previous research has examined livestream engagement, parasocial interaction and virtual gifting motivations, less attention has been given to why high engagement does not always coincide with stronger economic participation. Guided by Affordance Theory, the study uses an affordance-informed engagement-to-monetisation framework to examine how interactional and platform conditions are associated with different monetisation patterns. Using qualitative content analysis, 20 publicly accessible TikTok LIVE sessions recorded between 6 and 11 April 2026 were analysed. The analysis focused on observable session-level patterns of audience interaction, gifting activity, emotional and competitive interaction, host acknowledgement and alternative monetisation channels. The findings show that high engagement could remain primarily social, with several highly interactive sessions recording relatively low gifting activity. Higher gifting was more frequently observed during emotionally charged and competitive PK battle interactions involving urgency, public visibility and host prompting. Host acknowledgement was also closely associated with the visibility of gifting, particularly for higher-value contributions. In addition, low TikTok gifting did not always indicate an absence of monetisation, as some sessions incorporated external tipping systems or product-oriented economic participation. The study contributes by distinguishing audience engagement and monetised participation as related but analytically separate forms of livestream participation. It highlights the need to interpret engagement metrics and monetisation outcomes separately within contemporary livestream environments.

 

Keywords: TikTok live, virtual gifting, livestream monetisation, audience engagement, creator economy.

 

https://doi.org/10.17576/JKMJC-2026-4203-18


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References


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