As e-commerce rapidly expands, new technological innovations like livestreaming commerce have emerged globally. This study, guided by the stimulus-organism-response theory and the source credibility theory, focuses on live streaming commerce. It endeavors to understand how trust mediates the impact of expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness on consumers’ attitude towards social media influencers and their impulsive buying behaviors. Additionally, the study explores the sequential mediation of trust and attitude on the relationship between expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness, and impulsive buying. It also strives to integrate collectivism as a moderating construct into the research model. Data was collected from a sample of 273 live streaming commerce consumers in an emerging country. The results show that trust mediates the relationship between expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness, and attitude. Trust also mediates the relationship between expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness, and impulsive buying. Moreover, trust and attitude serially mediate the influence of expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness on impulsive buying. Interestingly, collectivism was found to negatively moderate the impact of attitude on impulsive buying. The findings suggest different routes through which social media influencers can encourage impulsive buying. Theoretical and managerial implications of this study are also discussed.