Beyond livestreaming: The rise of social media gifting and paid memberships − A systematic literature review and future research agenda

Paid memberships and gifts are increasingly implemented in social media as content monetization functions. Here, we outline the overarching trend toward gifting and membership functions, develop a theoretical framework of stakeholder dynamics, summarize changes on major platforms, and conduct a systematic review of the literature investigating this development. We analyze 76 articles published across 51 journals using the Theory, Characteristics, Context, and Methodology framework and find that the research has primarily focused on livestreaming gifting but has neglected paid memberships and gift-giving outside of livestreaming platforms. Moreover, the research has largely neglected the role of platforms and how they can optimize gifting and membership functions to increase revenue. Based on our findings, we give an overview of the most pressing research questions and develop a comprehensive research agenda.