The Impact of Persuasion Mechanisms in Douyin’s “Red-Black List” Videos on Consumer Purchase Intention

Abstract

Against the backdrop of Douyin e-commerce’s rapid growth, the polarized narratives in “Red-and-Black List” videos have become key factors influencing consumer decision-making. In these types of videos, bloggers typically categorize similar products into a “Red List” of recommended items and a “Black List” of products to avoid, based on their subjective experiences, and highlight the pros and cons through strong contrasts. This paper focuses on the dual persuasive effects of list content and comment section sentiment and constructs a “dual stimulus--cognitive transformation--purchase intention” model based on SOR theory. This study employed a questionnaire survey to collect 202 valid samples and conducted empirical testing using regression analysis. The results show that “Red List” videos are more effective than “Black List” videos in stimulating purchase intention; the emotional atmosphere in the comment section positively moderates this relationship; and perceived usefulness and perceived value exert a chained mediating effect. The study reveals the synergistic influence mechanism of “content plus comments”, providing a theoretical basis for creators to optimize their narrative strategies and for brands to conduct targeted marketing.