Spatial intermediation and regional economic relationships: Platform influencers as live-streaming intermediaries

The widespread adoption of digital technology has fundamentally reshaped the spatial organization of global economic activities, with platform influencers emerging as novel spatial intermediaries who actively reconfigure regional economic relationships through sophisticated coordination mechanisms that transcend traditional geographical constraints. While existing research predominantly focuses on platform influencers' marketing communication functions and consumer culture characteristics, systematic investigation of their role in restructuring regional economies from a spatial intermediation perspective remains limited. This paper examines how different types of platform influencer reshape regional economic relationships through distinctive spatial intermediation practices, specifically investigating how top streamers, niche streamers, and micro streamers establish differentiated spatial connections, configure supply chains and value networks, and generate economic value across regions. We employ a sequential mixed-methods approach combining web-scraped platform data analysis of over 60 million live-streaming sessions from 140,000 streamers, systematic ethnographic observation of 50 representative streamers, and 62 in-depth interviews with stakeholders across four strategically selected Chinese cities. Our findings reveal three distinct agency patterns with complementary spatial intermediation capabilities: top streamers demonstrate systematic agency through polycentric networks and comprehensive supply chain management; niche streamers exhibit specialized agency through expertise deployment and manufacturing integration; micro streamers operate through mediated agency characterized by algorithmic dependence yet generate significant collective impact. We develop a conceptual framework identifying "inter-space fields" as temporary hybrid spaces that platform influencers construct to connect different geographical locations, enabling new forms of territorial economic coordination that blur boundaries between production and consumption while transforming established practices and relationships.