04/09/2026
There is a debate that inachemka hapa about kuuza live, na kuna wale wanasema waliacha kuenda live because ilikuwa inakaa k**a wanabeg watu wanunue and ilikuwa na pressure...Let me to explain to you mbona wanafeel like wanabeg. Kuna theory inaitwa INFORMATION FORAGING THEORY yenye ilikuwa developed by Peter Pirolli and Stuart Card in 1995.
Hii theory inasuggest that people wanabehave a little like someone looking for food.
Wanatafuta signals that tell them where the valuable information is.
And on TikTok LIVE, your viewer is doing exactly that.
The moment wanaingia LIVE yako, wanajiuliza:
“Is there something here worth staying for?”
If they see you sitting quietly…
Or talking about your company…
Or spending the first two minutes saying:
“Welcome everyone. Please like, follow and share…”
There isn't much information scent telling them that something valuable is about to happen.
So they leave.
But imagine they enter and immediately hear:
“If you're looking for a phone under 30,000 shillings, I'm about to show you the one feature you should NEVER compromise on.”
Now there's information scent.
The viewer immediately understands:
There's something valuable here for me.
And that gives them a reason to stay.
This is extremely important when you're selling on LIVE.
Your viewer doesn't know your product is valuable.
They don't know your offer is good.
They don't know you're about to demonstrate something interesting.
You have to give them signals.
Show the product.
Demonstrate something.
Answer a common problem.
Compare two products.
Give a useful tip.
Show proof.
Create movement.
Give them a reason to believe that valuable information is coming.
So instead of making your LIVE feel like:
“I'm here to sell you something.”
Make it feel like:
“Something valuable is happening here.”
Because when the information scent is strong enough…
people are much more willing to stay and find out what's waiting for them.
That's Information Foraging Theory.
And on LIVE, your first job isn't always to sell.
Sometimes your first job is to make the value obvious enough that people don't swipe away.
