Process reveal or product display? The impact of product presentation strategy on consumer engagement in short-video marketing

Existing research on short-video commerce has largely zoomed in on influencers, platform factors, and content features, but has overlooked a zoomed-out perspective on the strategic role of product presentation. This research examines the influence of product presentation strategies on consumer engagement in short-video marketing. This paper first revealed that a process-oriented (versus outcome-oriented) presentation strategy significantly enhances consumer engagement by analyzing a field dataset from 3661 short videos. Three behavioral experiments were then conducted to elucidate the underlying mechanism, revealing that a process-oriented presentation strategy improves consumer engagement via the serial mediating effect of perceived authenticity and value. Moreover, the positive impact of process-oriented presentation is found to be stronger for utilitarian products compared to hedonic products. Search-oriented consumers are more positively influenced by a process-oriented presentation strategy than task-oriented consumers. The findings advance our understanding of the relationship between product presentation strategy and consumer engagement in short-video marketing and offer practical guidance for creating short-video content. • A process-oriented (vs. outcome-oriented) presentation strategy boosts consumer engagement. • The effect is mediated by increased perceptions of authenticity and value. • The process-oriented presentation strategy is more effective for utilitarian products than for hedonic products. • Search-oriented consumers are more responsive to the process-oriented presentation strategy than task-oriented consumers.