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Gendered Esports: Predicting Why Men and Women Play and Watch Esports Games
Abstract
This study represents one of the first empirical efforts to systematically examine gender differences in esports gameplay and viewing. Notable differences and similarities were found in how and why men and women consume esports. Men watched esports for fun, whereas women watched esports to escape from life’s problems. Motivations and preferences explained men’s, but not women’s, esports gameplay while use of chat was the strongest predictor of esports gameplay for women. In addition, availability and access largely explained esports gameplay for both men and women. Sports fandom, motivations, and uses of interactive features significantly predicted esports viewing across genders.
... These communities foster the exchange of diverse game strategies and tactics while encouraging players to share insights on favorite video games and personal experiences related to eSports, thereby enhancing consumer knowledge and interest (Seo, 2013). Tang et al. (2021) emphasize the importance of community for eSports consumers, especially women, as it enables interaction with fellow players. Co-production involves the extent to which eSports players contribute to the creation and development of new games and products, as well as the promotion of the benefits of eSports games and competitions. ...
... Moreover, there is a prevailing belief that gender roles and gender-based disparities in media consumption profoundly influence the construction of meaning and the sharing of culture across societies. However, despite its significance, limited academic research has examined gender roles within eSports consumption, often constrained by an underrepresentation of women in studies analyzing eSports consumers (Tang et al., 2021). This underrepresentation primarily stems from the fact that women constitute a minority among participants, fans, and leaders within the eSports industry. ...
... Conversely, female consumers in the study placed greater importance on habit and effort expectancy. Tang et al. (2021) further supported these insights, finding that men predominantly watch eSports for entertainment, while women turn to eSports as an escape from life's challenges and as an avenue to engage in activities they may not typically pursue in real life. Their research also indicated that men allocate significantly more time to playing and watching eSports compared to women. ...
Background: With the rapid growth of eSports, understanding the psychological factors that influence participation has become increasingly important. In particular, players’ psychological needs play a crucial role in shaping their consumption behaviors within the eSports ecosystem.Purpose: This study aimed to examine the relationship between psychological needs and eSports consumption behaviors among players, with a specific focus on how gender may moderate these associations.Methodology: A survey-based research design was employed, targeting Iranian eSports players. Data were collected through two main channels: (1) distribution of questionnaires among participants at the Tehran Grand Prix Electronic Games Cup (n = 380), and (2) dissemination via dedicated gaming platforms and social media networks (n = 380), yielding a total sample size of 760 respondents. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques.Findings: The results indicated that the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness were significant predictors of various eSports consumption behaviors (p < 0.05). Additionally, gender had a significant impact on participation, with main effects observed across all psychological needs (p < 0.05).Research contribution: This study underscores the pivotal role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in understanding eSports consumption, while also highlighting the importance of gender dynamics and gaming engagement frequency in shaping the complex psychological profile of the eSports community.
... Men account for the overwhelming majority of professional athletes in eSports (Ribeiro et al., 2023), whereas women are seen as a minority that must constantly prove their skills and capacity to deal with cyberbullying (Huston et al., 2023;Tang et al., 2021). Thus, barriers to women's access to eSports consumption corroborate the perception that marketplace environments where consumers of popular culture products get together are often sexist and treat practices, such as harassment and perjury, as natural events (Jenkins & Cassell, 2008;Harrison et al., 2006;Jang & Byon, 2021;Rogstad, 2022). ...
... In order to do so, the present study investigates consumer conduct established through digital marketplaces to reproduce and likely expand social structures into online environments. Thus, it proposes a discussion to expand Tang et al. (2021) understanding of notable similarities and differences in the motivation leading both men and women to engage in eSports. On the one hand, male audiences consume eSports as an opportunity to watch and play fun contents. ...
... Broadly speaking, the current proposal aligns with studies that understand the gaming culture as an inhospitable and toxic scenario for women (Darvin et al., 2020;Harrison et al., 2006;Jenkins & Cassel, 2008). It also assumes that the marketplace environment where eSports gamers get together works as a fandom (Andrews & Ritzer, 2018;Souza-Leão & Moura, 2018;Qian et al., 2022) since it brings together practitioners (i.e., players), enthusiasts and the audience of a given media sport (Moura & Souza-Leão, 2019;Tang et al., 2021;Whannel, 2014). According to this assumption, fans' interaction provides the conditions to perform, express, and maintain social matters that represent consumers' performativity arena (Seregina & Weijo, 2017). ...
Purpose
Women’s increasing interest in eSports is an emblematic phenomenon. However, they have been facing discriminatory sexist practices based on a discourse focused on establishing gender inferiority. Thus, the present research aims to investigate how gender performativities are produced in eSports consumption by women gamers.
Originality/value
Due to a lack of discussions about female eSports consumption, the current study explores gaps in consumer culture research literature based on theoretical and epistemological concerns. Butlerian concepts of performativity are used to help better understand the conduct produced in discussions about female eSports consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretive content analysis (ICA) of 44 interviews was carried out to help better understand women gamers’ perception of their experience in games, and in the cultural scenario itself, the eSports consumers’ social network is formed by both practitioners and game enthusiasts.
Findings
The current analytical effort identified two dimensions: “Fight like a girl!” and “Girls just want to have fun!”. It was possible to perceive that even gender performativities with different interests work as gender discourse reproducers and spreaders in both dimensions when they take place without due diligence. Ultimately, this is a complex market dispositif capable of leading the eSports scenario to a patriarchal system among its consumers.
Keywords:
women gamers; eSports; gender performativity; marketplace dispositif; interpretive content analysis
... However, the e-sports industry remains predominantly male-dominated, with women representing a smaller proportion of players, fans, managers, and leaders (Hayday & Collison, 2020;Rogstad, 2022). Studies indicate that women comprise only 35% of e-sports players and a mere 5% of professional players (Hilbert, 2019;Rogstad, 2022;Tang, Cooper, & Kucek, 2021). This underrepresentation of women at the highest level of e-sports highlights the need to investigate and understand the factors contributing to this gender disparity (Kim & Kim, 2022). ...
... Unlike traditional sports, where physical advantages often favor men, e-sports provides a level playing field for both men and women, as physical attributes have no bearing on high performance (Shen et al., 2016). However, despite this equality in terms of physical abilities, the e-sports industry remains predominantly male-dominated, with women being underrepresented as players, fans, managers, and leaders (Rogstad, 2022;Tang et al., 2021). Studies indicate that only 35% of e-sports players in general, and a mere 5% of professional players, are women (Hayday & Collison, 2020;Hilbert, 2019;Kim & Kim, 2022). ...
The study aimed to examine the gender-adjusted impact of personality factors on the motivations of e-sports participants. Descriptive research was conducted using structural equation modeling. The sample consisted of 763 individuals (599 men and 164 women) selected through simple random sampling, with statistical power set at 80% and a significance level of 0.01. The research variables, including participation structure and personality traits, were measured using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) short-form questionnaire (Gassling et al., 2003) and the Motivational Participation Questionnaire` of Cianfrone et al. (2011). The findings supported all research hypotheses regarding the personality traits and motivations of e-sports players, even after adjusting for gender. The results indicated that brunerism, consensus, duty, psychology, and acceptance of experience were significant motivators for e-sports players, and the gender-adjusted analysis confirmed the research hypotheses in both male and female groups. Therefore, considering the personalities of e-sports players in sports marketing can enhance their engagement, as their motivations to participate are influenced by their traits
... However, the e-sports industry remains predominantly male-dominated, with women representing a smaller proportion of players, fans, managers, and leaders (Hayday & Collison, 2020;Rogstad, 2022). Studies indicate that women comprise only 35% of e-sports players and a mere 5% of professional players (Hilbert, 2019;Rogstad, 2022;Tang, Cooper, & Kucek, 2021). This underrepresentation of women at the highest level of e-sports highlights the need to investigate and understand the factors contributing to this gender disparity (Kim & Kim, 2022). ...
... Unlike traditional sports, where physical advantages often favor men, e-sports provides a level playing field for both men and women, as physical attributes have no bearing on high performance (Shen et al., 2016). However, despite this equality in terms of physical abilities, the e-sports industry remains predominantly male-dominated, with women being underrepresented as players, fans, managers, and leaders (Rogstad, 2022;Tang et al., 2021). Studies indicate that only 35% of e-sports players in general, and a mere 5% of professional players, are women (Hayday & Collison, 2020;Hilbert, 2019;Kim & Kim, 2022). ...
The study aimed to examine the gender-adjusted impact of personality factors on the motivations of e-sports participants. Descriptive research was conducted using structural equation modeling. The sample consisted of 763 individuals (599 men and 164 women) selected through simple random sampling, with statistical power set at 80% and a significance level of 0.01. The research variables, including participation structure and personality traits, were measured using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) short-form questionnaire (Gassling et al., 2003) and the Motivational Participation Questionnaire` of Cianfrone et al. (2011). The findings supported all research hypotheses regarding the personality traits and motivations of e-sports players, even after adjusting for gender. The results indicated that brunerism, consensus, duty, psychology, and acceptance of experience were significant motivators for e-sports players, and the gender-adjusted analysis confirmed the research hypotheses in both male and female groups. Therefore, considering the personalities of e-sports players in sports marketing can enhance their engagement, as their motivations to participate are influenced by their traits.
... As a control variable, we also included the age factor, which Tang et al. (2021) had previously utilized to investigate its function in predicting players' eSports gameplay. The results confirmed that the association did not affect the outcome variable by finding it to be negligible (β 5 0.006; p > 0.05 and t-value 5 0.172). ...
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between different hedonic (e.g. enjoyment and escapism) and utilitarian (e.g. achievement and challenge) gratifications and continuous intention to play eSports, considering the mediating role of gamer’s satisfaction. Uses and Gratification theory (U&G) has been employed as the study’s theoretical framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study used a survey research method and a self-administered questionnaire to collect the data. The data was gathered on-site from students of three universities in Pakistan’s Islamabad and Rawalpindi regions. Study respondents involved people from Gen Z and Gen Y aged between 18 to 25 and 26 to 40. A total of 401 responses were evaluated using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and necessary condition analysis (NCA).
Findings
The PLS-SEM findings evidence that eSports players’ hedonic (e.g. enjoyment and escapism) and utilitarian (e.g. challenge) gratification positively impact gamers’ satisfaction, which subsequently drives eSports gamers’ continuance intention behavior. Furthermore, gamers’ satisfaction positively mediated the relationship between gratifications (e.g. enjoyment and escapism refer to hedonic, whereas achievement and challenge represent utilitarian) and continuance intentions. NCA on eSports gamers’ satisfaction and continuance intention identified critical predictive factors. The analysis revealed that only enjoyment is necessary for predicting satisfaction. Interestingly, NCA results also indicated that enjoyment, achievement, escapism, challenge and satisfaction are all necessary for predicting eSports gamers’ continuance intention.
Originality/value
This study investigates the mediating role of eSports gamers’ satisfaction between gamers’ perceived gratifications (i.e. enjoyment, escapism, achievement, challenge) and their continuous intention to play in the Pakistani context. More importantly, we employ a multi-method approach (e.g. a combined approach of PLS-SEM with NCA) to determine the sufficient and necessary conditions of the outcome variable comprising satisfaction and continuous intention.
... Anonymity not only allows, but, also, emboldens toxic behaviour which drives to the propagation of negative behaviours, foregrounding of dominant male cultures and gender inequality (Hayday & Collison, 2020). Further, gender stereotypes are present regardless of the platform used or the type of game played (Wasserman & Rittenour, 2019), with their being little variability in the games promoted towards females (Tang et al., 2021). Males support to combat this problem is nonexistent (Choe et al., 2019;McLean & Griffiths, 2019). ...
La presente revisión tiene como objetivo describir las implicaciones educativas que tiene la tecnología digital y su consumo en los jóvenes. Se procede a conceptualizar y poner en contexto los términos: eSport, e-sport, videojuegos y deportes electrónicos y su relación con la agresividad, el género, las consecuencias psicológicas, y las posibilidades derivadas de su uso y aplicación en el entorno de la educación se explora la agresividad en los videojuegos, exponiendo que pueden implicar un aprendizaje basado en la influencia causal en la agresión grave posterior; que los jóvenes con niveles altos de agresión pueden ser atraídos por la violencia de los videojuegos y que la correlación entre el videojuego y la agresividad puede ser causada por variables subyacentes. Por otro lado, la presencia femenina es baja, los hombres juegan semanalmente y durante más tiempo. La brecha de género está presente en factores como la experiencia, el rendimiento y las habilidades de juego. Por último, se analizan las consecuencias psicológicas del uso de videojuegos. En ellas se expone que el uso de videojuegos está asociado con mayor nivel de habilidades intrapersonales, mayor control del estrés y una baja habilidad interpersonal. Como conclusión, respaldamos la necesidad de aumentar los estudios experimentales, longitudinales y correlacionales para aclarar los comportamientos y consecuencias de los jóvenes jugadores en el uso de los videojuegos, lo que permitirá en un futuro delimitar con mayor precisión las implicaciones educativas de la tecnología digital.
... As video games developed, so did gender representation, and there were more initiatives to support gender inclusivity and diversity (Lucas & Sherry, 2004). According to studies, women play video games and participate in electronic sports at a ratio of about 30 to 70 to that of men (Rogstad, 2022;Tang et al., 2021). Additionally, research has consistently shown that men and women have different gaming preferences. ...
... La necesidad de una diversidad de género visible en los videojuegos, los deportes electrónicos y el streaming en vivo de videojuegos ha sido señalada desde la industria (Valentine, 2018;FNATIC, 2021), y asociaciones como Women in Games se han creado con la visión de: "lograr que más mujeres participen en los videojuegos y los deportes electrónicos y que esto debe enmarcarse como una prioridad nacional, internacional y estratégica" (Women in Games, 2022). Los esfuerzos para una mayor representación de género también se han realizado desde la academia, aun cuando existen pocos estudios al respecto, estos recalcan la necesidad de estudiar las experiencias de las mujeres y la representación femenina en los esports, así como la realización de estudios comparativos (Ruvalcaba et al., 2018;Tang et al., 2021). La representación de género en la industria de los videojuegos y en los deportes electrónicos sigue siendo un tema que necesita investigación y, como comenta Rogstad, "si la escena de los deportes electrónicos está alineada con los resultados dañinos de la masculinidad hegemónica, la industria se beneficiará de los análisis de cómo los deportes electrónicos afectan a los participantes para que sean más inclusivos" (2021: 15). ...
... Of 1,319 esports participants in their study, only 2.1% were female. Furthermore, in one of the only esports studies to examine gender differences thus far, Tang et al. (2021) had 36.9% female participants, and found differences in individual and structural factors predicting gameplay and consumption. ...
The rapid growth of gaming and esports since 2015 demands an investigation of the habits of those who consume and engage with (i.e., participate, view, attend events) this emerging space. As previous research has suggested, women and men may engage with video games for different reasons, and to better understand this occurrence, the current study addresses whether their gaming and esports participation motivations vary. As a result, this exploratory study employed a survey design with a previously validated scale used to measure motivation differences between men and women for traditional sport and exercise spaces. In addition, insights from Hamari and Sjöblom study were used to construct the survey instrument and adapt it to gaming environments. The researchers used an exploratory factor analysis to examine the data and determine preliminary factors relating to esports and gaming motivations. Additionally, gender differences were also assessed. Implications for the gaming industry are discussed as well as future research directions.
... With the rapid increase of mobile network speed and the innovative development of new media thinking, short video platforms suitable for fragmented reading on mobile phones have become a favored source of information acquisition for readers, especially a series of short video APPs represented by Jitterbug, Bei li Bei li, Quick Hand, Watermelon Video, Wei si, Second Beat, etc., which are highly favored by users for their characteristics of multi-channel, fragmented, high-frequency, good sharing, etc. [1]. The current short video research mainly focuses on: first, short video marketing research in different industries. ...
Selecting the user comment information of short videos with top 2 likes in the top 50 topics about public cultural services in Shake App as the research object, and facilitating video platforms to identify the high and low quality of the videos and make reasonable promotion arrangements by predicting the short-term playback volume of pop-up videos and analyzing the influencing factors, which is conducive to improving the platform’s pop-up video services and economic benefits. The data related to B station videos are captured, and feature selection and different algorithms are combined to construct random forest model, XG Boost model and LSTM model to predict the playback volume of the pop-up videos, and compare and analyze the effects of different feature combinations on the experimental results. The results show that the prediction accuracy of the random forest model is higher than that of the XG Boost model and the LSTM model, and the features of the pop-up video itself have the greatest influence on the playback volume, while the features of the video markup text have a smaller degree of influence on the playback volume.
... Female esports professionals are considered a minority, being often forced to go above and beyond to have their skills acknowledged (Austin, 2020;Darvin et al., 2020;Rogstad, 2022). A further understanding of underrepresentation has been lacking in previous literature (Tang et al., 2021). Only recently have scholars begun to explore gender inequality in this industry; it is, therefore, important to identify what affects gender differences in esports and contributes to low female participation. ...
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether gender differ-ences exist in terms of the perceived response to civility as well as competitive aggressiveness and anger in esports. There is a dearth of literature on how these variables affect male and female partic-ipation in esports. To fill this gap, a total of 84 professional esports players from 27 different countries completed a quantitative survey of measures related to their competitive aggressiveness and anger and their perception of civil behaviours among competitors. Results revealed that female players perceived lower levels of civility com-pared to male participants who displayed higher competitive aggressiveness. No significant difference was found between gen-der regarding anger behaviours. This paper adds to the work in civility, diversity-gender and equity research area in esports. Specifically, it highlights how male and female professional players perceive civility while emphasising some factors that jeopardise gender equality when facing competition.
... Critically, to date, there is limited empirical and theoretical academic work which examines and outlines how esports can be used as a vehicle for social change, especially in relating to inclusion (Hayday & Collison, 2020;. Much of the research that has examined gender within an esports context has examined the realities, barriers, and reasons of female engagement (Kim, 2017;Pizzo et al., 2023;Rogstad, 2022;Tang et al., 2021), resulting in limited work exploring the value of esport as a gender equality tool. Therefore, this paper presents a new conceptual model, eSfD, and an operational framework, which demonstrates how esports can act as an innovation to current SfD methodologies. ...
Drawing on the capabilities approach to position esport within the Sport for Development (SfD) context, this paper highlights the social inclusion drivers of virtual engagement through esport as an innovative approach to progress current SfD methodologies. We present a new conceptual model in response to calls for enhanced theoretical understanding within SfD and specifically expose how esport can be used as a mechanism to support human development and inclusion outcomes. We focus specifically on gender equality as an exemplar of a prominent development objective; however, the model has applicability to any social inclusion related development aim. This paper proposes that esport should be welcomed as a new digital mechanism by policy makers, funders, and practitioners, as we indicate how this new conceptual model could be operationalized to aid SfD policy and practice.
... Esports can be further divided into a wide variety of following genres: First Person Shooters (FPS), Battle Royale (BR), Real-Time Strategy (RTS), Collectible Card Games, Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBA), Sports Simulation Video Games (SSVGs), and Fighting Games (Hamari & Sjoblom, 2016;Pu et al., 2021;Tang et al., 2021). Each of these genres offers different play styles, draws different fans, and requires specific skills to succeed. ...
... Within esports, most studies grounded in Uses and Gratifications Theory focused on identifying motives related to watching content (Billings & Mikkilineni, 2022;Brown et al., 2018;Cabeza-Ramírez et al., 2020;Macey et al., 2020;Rogers et al., 2022;Sjöblom et al., , 2020Tang et al., 2022). Fewer studies used this framework to examine motives related to playing (Bonny & Castaneda, 2022;Tang et al., 2021) or creating content. Sjöblom and Hamari (2017) published one of the first studies involving uses and gratifications theory in this context, exploring why viewers watch livestreams of gameplay. ...
Exergames require users to actively participate in sports in real time. Individuals taking part in exergames can use the livestreaming platform Twitch to create and view related content. This study employed uses and gratifications theory to examine Twitch usage and the motives of viewers and content creators of Zwift, a bicycling exergame. Thematic analysis of semistructured interviews with 10 Twitch users revealed viewers and content creators shared the motives of interaction and knowledge. Viewers also identified the motives of community, fandom, and competition as important, while content creators were additionally motivated by accomplishments, brand, and broadcasting. These findings align with previous research of Twitch usage and offer advice for practitioners. The study also highlighted the importance of studying the underinvestigated exergames, providing an opportunity to grow this participation.
... Durasi waktu dapat menjadi tolak ukur waktu mulai dan berakhirnya sebuah kegiatan olahraga, namun dalam esports durasi waktu tidak menjadi elemen yang utama. Hal ini akan berpengaruh terhadap kegiatan viewers atau penonton yang dapat melihat tayangan dalam hitungan menit maupun jam, ataupun hari (Tang et al., 2021). Aktivitas viewers dalam platform dapat sangat beragam (Brown et al., 2018), dari kegiatan dasar yakni menonton permainan pemain, mengamati konten maupun chat yang hadir sebagai bentuk interaksi, melakukan kegiatan giving gift kepada pemain, mengikut "perang" kata-kata dengan viewers lain di kolom chat, hingga berinteraksi secara live. ...
Maraknya tayangan dan konten esports yang tersaji dalam beragam platform streaming, turut menciptakan karakteristik penonton yang hanya sekedar melihat sekilas maupun ikut menonton dengan durasi yang lama. Penonton yang dapat berada di level viewers maupun fans akan merasakan hingga tenggelam ke dalam atmosfer yang diciptakan oleh pemain maupun konten yang tersaji dalam platform. Dalam proses observasi, terlihat beragam perilaku negatif yang muncul ketika proses menonton tayangan terjadi. Adanya kegiatan perang melalui kata-kata yang dituangkan dalam kolom chat platform, hingga tindakan mengancam penonton daring lainnya. Salah satu hasil dari kegiatan pengabdian masyarakat ini adalah menciptakan ‘Buku Panduan Buat Penonton’ tayangan esports, yang dalam proses penciptaannya menggunakan metode observasi, Focus Group Discussion serta wawancara dengan pemain serta penonton esports untuk mendapatkan jawaban terkait keinginan serta permasalahan yang timbul selama proses tayangan serta keinginan yang diharapkan untuk menghadirkan situasi tayangan yang kondusif. Tujuan dari lahirnya buku panduan ini adalah sebagai rekomendasi dalam menciptakan situasi dalam platform yang lebih kondusif dan mengarahkan agar penonton lebih bijaksana dalam menonton tayangan esports. Penulis juga turut menyebarluaskan buku ini kepada penonton esports yang tergabung dalam beragam komunitas di Indonesia.
... The commercial and social growth of esports has become a growing source of diverse academic interest. However, female representation and gender imbalances in esports have been given sparse academic consideration (Ruvalcaba et al., 2018;Tang et al., 2021), overlooking gender imbalances in this digital domain (Darvin et al., 2021). For instance, prominent esports leagues, such as the North American based League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) has glaring gender imbalances. ...
Esports are a leading form of digital leisure. Esports offer salient career opportunities, ranging from professional players to roles in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, fields where
women have been traditionally underrepresented. Yet women are
also underrepresented at the professional level in esports. This is particularly problematic as high-level competitors provide visible representation to inspire others, foregoing opportunities to leverage esports broad appeal. We employ the hierarchical model of leisure constraints to understand what limits individuals from engaging in leisurely pursuits. The purpose of our study is to compare leisure constraints to esports participation by gender. Data were collected from male and female esports participants (N¼402) via online survey. Results show that female esports participants had significantly higher interpersonal and intrapersonal constraints. This likely influences their desire to work in esports and related fields, thereby partially explaining the lack of female representation in the upper echelons of esports.
... First, this study offers tangible insight how consumptive needs are fulfilled within esport communities. Research on esport consumer behaviour validates how fans require social needs to be satisfied (Rietz and Hallmann 2023;Jenny et al. 2018;Qian et al. 2022;Tang, Cooper, and Kucek 2021;Xiao 2020). While research has investigated the social atmospherics components at live esport events (Jang, Kim, and Byon 2020), this study exhibits how consumers utilise online forum discussions for engagement practices within their own communities. ...
Whilst understanding the social norms of trash talking is an emerging field of research, the extent to how esport consumers perceive its practice in esports is currently limited. Guided by Chung and Rimal (2016) framework to identify how social norms and moderating attributes influence behaviour, this study investigated consumers perceptions of trash talk in FPS esports. Focusing on Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch and Rainbow Six: Siege scenes, this study used data harvesting through the popular social media forum-Reddit and gathered 1,724 comments for analysis. Subjective and descriptive norms were influenced around the context of trash talk and the moments it occurred. Behavioural, individual , and contextual moderating attributes also influence consumers perspectives on why esport players do, or do not engage in trash talk. As an area of research still in its infancy, this paper aids in enhancing how communities reflect, discuss and debate relevant themes within esports.
... Since the main distinction between the two tasks is OHA's introduction of distractor objects, we investigated whether participants responded differently based on their sex, but found no evidence to support this idea. A possible explanation is that male participants have trained their sensorimotor skills through their disproportionate representation in both sports, [51][52][53], and esports [54], with specific evidence existing that female players of action video games have faster visually guided responses than female non-players [55]. These sociocultural explanations have been previously put forward to explain why differences in visuospatial ability general favour male participants [24], though works in this field highlight multiple potential causes across biology and culture [22][23][24]. ...
Background
An individual’s rapid motor skills allow them to perform many daily activities and are a hallmark of physical health. Although age and sex are both known to affect motor performance, standardized methods for assessing their impact on upper limb function are limited.
Methods
Here we perform a cross-sectional study of 643 healthy human participants in two interactive motor tasks developed to quantify sensorimotor abilities, Object-Hit (OH) and Object-Hit-and-Avoid (OHA). The tasks required participants to hit virtual objects with and without the presence of distractor objects. Velocities and positions of hands and objects were recorded by a robotic exoskeleton, allowing a variety of parameters to be calculated for each trial. We verified that these tasks are viable for measuring performance in healthy humans and we examined whether any of our recorded parameters were related to age or sex.
Results
Our analysis shows that both OH and OHA can assess rapid motor behaviours in healthy human participants. It also shows that while some parameters in these tasks decline with age, those most associated with the motor system do not. Three parameters show significant sex-related effects in OH, but these effects disappear in OHA.
Conclusions
This study suggests that the underlying effect of aging on rapid motor behaviours is not on the capabilities of the motor system, but on the brain’s capacity for processing inputs into motor actions. Additionally, this study provides a baseline description of healthy human performance in OH and OHA when using these tasks to investigate age-related declines in sensorimotor ability.
... Since the main distinction between the two tasks is OHA's introduction of distractor objects, we investigated whether participants responded differently based on their sex, but found no evidence to support this idea. A possible explanation is that male participants have trained their sensorimotor skills through their disproportionate representation in both sports, [44,45,46], and esports [47]. The arbitrary decision rule introduced for OHA may have then been sufficiently unfamiliar as to negate this training, an effect that has been reported in high-performance athletes [48]. ...
Background: An individual's rapid motor skills allow them to perform many daily activities and are a hallmark of physical health. Although age and sex are both known to affect motor performance, standardized methods for assessing their impact on upper limb function are limited.
Methods: Here we perform a cross-sectional study of 643 healthy human participants in two interactive motor tasks developed to quantify sensorimotor abilities, Object-Hit (OH) and Object-Hit-and-Avoid (OHA). The tasks required participants to hit virtual objects with and without the presence of distractor objects. Velocities and positions of hands and objects were recorded by a robotic exoskeleton, allowing motor and cognitive parameters to be calculated for each trial. We verified that these tasks are viable for measuring performance in healthy humans and we examined whether any of the motor or cognitive parameters were related to age or sex. Results: Our analysis shows that both OH and OHA can assess rapid motor behaviours in healthy human participants. It also shows that cognitive parameters in these tasks decline with age, while motor parameters do not. Three cognitive parameters show significant sex-related effects in OH, but these effects disappear in OHA. Conclusions: This study suggests that the underlying effect of aging on rapid motor behaviours is not on the motor system per se, but on the brain's processing rate. Additionally, this study provides a baseline description of healthy human performance in OH and OHA when using these tasks to investigate age-related declines in sensorimotor ability.
... Si es cierto que, en la práctica, los deportes electrónicos aún podrían trabajar más en la línea de la igualdad de género, ya que la mayor parte de la representación en competiciones de alto nivel es masculina (Tang, Cooper & Kucek, 2021). Este hecho se explicaría bajo el papel históricamente relegado de la mujer y los roles de género asociados a cada uno de los sexos ya que no se encuentran, a priori, rasgos por lo que esto debiera ser así. ...
Los deportes electrónicos, también conocidos como esports, son un rompedor fenómeno basado en competiciones deportivas en las que el ser humano desarrolla y entrena capacidades mentales y físicas bajo el uso de videojuegos competitivos. Su especial acercamiento a las nuevas generaciones ha creado cierta preocupación social sobre la educación, concretamente ética, que ofrece esta manifestación a los más jóvenes. Apoyados en la corriente hermenéutica, nuestro objetivo es analizar, desde un prisma ético, el fenómeno de los esports y como pueden contribuir, están contribuyendo o podrían contribuir a que sus practicantes tengan una vida plena. Entre los elementos analizados encontramos el proceso de virtualización, la corporalidad, la libertad, la virtud, el autoconocimiento o la violencia. Tras el análisis, se puede concluir que esta preocupación y crítica socialmente asentada no está fundamentada pues los deportes electrónicos pueden contribuir a un desarrollo ético del individuo y, con éste, a su educación. De esta forma, el desarrollo ético del sujeto contribuye al desarrollo ético de la sociedad. Algunos aspectos desarrollados pueden las concepciones de corporalidad, género y feminismo, la democratización de la competición humana, la disonancia entre la realidad y la virtualidad, la concepción de la agresividad, la violencia y la catarsis, la idea de libertad como existencia auténtica o las implicaciones del juego y del deporte en la humanidad.
This study aimed to understand comprehensively the motivations and constraints underlying fantasy sports participation among young adults (18-25) in India. The study applied a motivation and constraint model in the Indian landscape, wherein youth groups who played and did not play fantasy sports were surveyed. Given the issue of the legality of fantasy games in India and its linkage with gambling, two additional factors of addiction and morality were added. The findings of the multiple regression show that participation in fantasy sports among the youth is influenced by intrinsic motivation instead of monetary benefits, pride, or social interaction. Constraints affecting the potential participation of non-players include addiction, consuming valuable time, causing loss of money, and perceived capitalistic exploitation for stakeholders’ profit. Producers of fantasy games need to enhance engagement levels to foster intrinsic motivation instead of external among the youth and safeguard them from addiction and gambling.
With the rapid advancement of technology, esports have become more accessible and widespread on online platforms. The behavior of fans watching live broadcasts online differs from that of those watching on TV or attending stadium events. To understand the online demand for esports, this study examines the determinants of live esports viewership using advanced data from online platforms. We examined game-level data from the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) from the summer of 2019 to the summer of 2022. We analyzed four dependent variables representing esports online demands—hours watched, peak views, concurrent average views, and view drops—based on several pre-game (outcome uncertainty and team quality), in-game (game quality and upset result), and schedule-related (evening game) variables. Using two-way least squares dummy variable regression models, we identified the key determinants. The results suggest that outcome uncertainty, team quality, game quality, and evening games significantly impact esports online viewership. In addition, in-game factors, such as the sum and difference in kills between teams, attracted more viewers. This indicates that online viewers prefer games with more kills and a closer kill difference between teams.
This chapter offers an introduction to the diverse and evolving esports scenes and communities in four prominent South American countries: Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Chile, to provide a glimpse of the esports culture in the region. The gaming culture and context of each country are explored, with a brief historical background of main titles and events, emphasizing similarities and differences in current esports consumption. The chapter delves into the prominent platforms, games, communities, competitive events, players, teams, developers, and the passionate player base that characterizes each country’s esports scene, along with accompanying challenges. This chapter underscores the region’s role in the global esports phenomenon. Key highlights include: (1) while the first competitive video gaming championships appeared in South America in the 1980s, the esports scene did not start to grow exponentially until around 2010; (2) esports labor management policies are slowly developing in South America, but support from governments, game developers, and professional teams is still a challenge; and (3) as a space marked by power asymmetries and the characteristic inequalities of post-colonial territories, South America contributes greatly to the esports ecosystem and as time passes esports will continue to grow and professionalize in the region.
Game live streaming has become a flourishing phenomenon worldwide, yet research has primarily focused on understanding user consumption behavior from a socio-psychological perspective, neglecting the role of technological affordances. This study addresses this gap by proposing a theoretical framework that integrates affordance-based gratifications, user identification, and user engagement. Drawing upon the uses and gratifications theory, social media engagement theory, and social identity theory, we conducted a survey with 565 participants in mainland China. The findings reveal that interactivity-based gratifications significantly influence both preliminary and further levels of engagement, while modality-based gratifications primarily impact preliminary engaging behaviors. Furthermore, user identification acts as a mediating factor in the relationship between affordance-based gratifications and engagement. These results offer valuable empirical evidence for scholars and practitioners to consider technological factors and streamers’ roles while examining user engagement on game live streaming platforms. The study suggests enhancing interactivity functions and emphasizing the role of live streamers to foster user engagement. By understanding the importance of technological affordances, this research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of engagement in the game live streaming industry.
As esports continues to grow in popularity, it is important to evaluate esports viewers and the fan communities that form around esports. The present study surveyed esports fans (N = 174) to examine motives for watching esports, how those motives may relate to engagement behaviors within the esports community, and if the strength of fan identity mediated the relationship between motives and engagement. The three categories of motives assessed were skill-based, entertainment-based, and relationship-based. Results suggest that the strength of fan identity predicts both viewing frequency and engagement online within esports communities. Skill-based motives predicted greater viewing frequency, while relationship-based motives predicted both viewing frequency and engagement online. Mediation analysis revealed that fan identity partially mediated skill-based motives and fully mediated relationship-based motives. Entertainment-based motives did not predict viewing or engagement. Together, our results provide additional insight into esports fandoms, and the significance of relationships formed and sustained.
The uncertainty of outcome hypothesis (UOH) explains the consumption determinants of sports fans in professional sporting events. However, only limited studies exist in the esports field, and the relationship between UOH and spectatorship in esports is still unclear. This study examined the UOH in esports by analyzing the number of viewers of an esports league on an internet-based streaming platform (Twitch). We measured within-game and ex-ante expected game uncertainty and estimated their effects on the number of real-time viewers. The results show that within-game uncertainty significantly impacts the number of viewers, but ex-ante expected game uncertainty did not.
As an emerging competition, eSports is currently receiving a growing amount of attention, but relatively little research has been conducted on the likelihood of offline watching. Using the push-pull theory, we propose and test a research model of fans’ perception-centered offline game-watching of eSports matches. Half of the
399 eSports fans we surveyed were from Korea (n = 200) and the other half were from China (n = 199).The results indicate that the entertainment atmosphere has the greatest impact on the intention to watch a match offline, followed by the intention to consume beforehand. There is no direct relationship between offline escapism and offline match-watching. In addition, the diverse personalities of fans affected the entertainment atmosphere and the intention to consume beforehand. This research has theoretical and practical implications for the growth of the eSports offline viewing and eSports tourism industries.
This chapter provides an overview of a relative newcomer to education at all levels, esports. Esports has become very popular in recent years, and it is important for educators to understand the issues surrounding this activity, as well as the benefits to student participants with respect to the experience itself and to potential careers in the field. A brief history is provided and the issues surrounding esports in education are examined. Resources are provided relevant to starting an esports program at all levels: collegiate, secondary school, and middle school.
Esports has attracted many online fans due to the unique advantages of online competition. The number of female esports fans is increasing rapidly accordingly. Under the guidance of cyberfeminism, this study examines the current situation of Chinese female esports fans. It discusses their virtual identities in cyberspace and its potential for enhancing female fans’ self-empowerment with ethnographic data. The findings demonstrate numerous types of female esports fans based on their roles in the Chinese esports fans community, which suggests a shift in the status of female fans as objects of the gaze. It implies that how female esports fans interact with online communities is crucial to forming their virtual identities and shows that they can use virtual identities to resist discrimination, assert their voice, and shape their style.
Purpose
Among scholarly analyses of sport demand, few have considered the demand for match replays despite replays' indispensable role in sport broadcasts. Different from live matches, viewers of match replays generally have access to match outcomes. Outcome uncertainty is thus less relevant in attracting viewers. This paper addresses this research gap by analyzing the demand for replays of competitive esports matches.
Design/methodology/approach
We collected match replay data for two competitive esports leagues, CrossFire Pro League and King Pro League, from two Chinese esports online platforms, Douyu.com and Huya.com. Drawing on two economic theories of superstar effects—a skilled-based theory and a popularity-based theory, we performed regression analyses and dominance analyses to examine the demand for esports match replays.
Findings
Our results indicated skill to be more important in the demand for tactical games while non-skill-popularity is more instrumental in attracting viewers to replays of leisurely games. The platform with knowledge-sharing features also exhibited a stronger skill impact for tactical games.
Originality/value
Findings contribute to the understanding of sport match replays and offer implications for esports organizers and broadcasters to market games effectively.
Building upon the traditional structural approach in audience research, this study explores the role of habits in audiences' streaming behaviors. Specifically, by employing a mixed-method approach that combines data collected via in-depth interviews and through browser extensions, the study found that habits still played a dominant role in the streaming age, not only influencing when audiences watched, but also impacting their program choices and viewing attention. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.
The esports market has been growing exponentially has been growing exponentially with much interest from industry and academia. Perhaps because of this growth, there is a lack of agreement on what esports actually encompasses. We conducted a systematic review of 461 peer reviewed, full papers that provide a definition of esports. Findings highlighted the growth of the esports field across different domains, and increasing global interest in esports, but a lack of consensus regarding definition of the term. Through thematic analysis we identified nine dimensions across esports definitions. We critically assess these dimensions in terms of their representativeness and utility in describing the multifaceted nature of esports. Our work may help create a shared understanding of what esports is- and is not-capturing a diversity of experiences within organized competitive gaming and supporting continued research growth in this increasingly important domain.
This study puts both esports gameplay and spectatorship into consideration and pinpoints how individual and structural factors explain why people play and watch esports to better understand the complexities and intricacies of esports consumption. Results indicate that both measures commonly associated with active audience, and structural theories played a significant role in explaining esports consumption. Specifically, esports gameplay was explained relatively more by structural factors than by individual factors. Different from esports gameplay, esports spectatorship was driven significantly more by individual factors. Preferences, motivations, availability, and access significantly predicted both esports gameplay and spectatorship. Sports fandom and use of interactive features, on the other hand, only predicted esports spectatorship but did not influence gameplay. By employing an integrative approach, this study aids in the development of conceptual framework that will serve to predict esports consumer behavior.
In this study, we explored the perception of sports based on gender norms in China. Applying social cognitive theory, we surveyed 423 Chinese respondents about their gender perceptions of 16 sports. Results revealed four distinct categories—masculine, lifestyle, neutral, and feminine—and that men tended to rate sports as significantly more masculine than women. Overall, gender role beliefs, sports participation, and sports media consumption all significantly correlated with individual gender typing of sports. The findings of this study, which is based on findings from Hardin and Greer and is one of the first quantitative studies about gender perceptions of sports in China, shed light on the role that gender norms play in shaping the country’s sports landscape. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
This study explored and evaluated the dimensions and consequences of esports online spectator demand. In doing so, we identified preliminary dimensions of esports online spectator demand based on semistructured interviews and online open-ended surveys. Findings resulted from the qualitative study were adopted as the foundation to develop the Scale for Esports Spectator Demand (SESD). To validate the SESD and assess the impact of the SESD factors on consumers’ cognitive and behavioral outcomes, a sample of esports online spectators (N = 1,309) responded to a survey containing the SESD, which was randomly split into two halves, with one half for an exploratory factor analysis and the other half for a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling analyses. A total of 32 items under eight SESD factors were confirmed. While demand factors including commentary features, player characteristics, event attractiveness, and schedule convenience have been found in traditional sport contexts, chat room, streamer traits, stream quality, and virtual rewards appeared to be unique in esports. All eight SESD factors, excluding schedule convenience, were significantly predictive of one or more of the outcomes associated with esports consumption.
Despite the growing popularity of eSports, the poor representation of women players points to a need to understand the experiences of female players during competitive gaming online. The present study focuses on female gamers’ experiences with positive and negative feedback and sexual harassment in the male-dominated space of eSports. In Study 1, gender differences were analyzed in online gamers’ experience with feedback from other players and spectators during online play. In Study 2, gender differences were analyzed in observations of real gameplay that focused on the types of comments spectators directed toward female and male gamers on Twitch (a popular video game streaming website). The findings suggest a mixed experience for women that includes more sexual harassment in online gaming compared with men.
eSports, organized video game competitions, are growing in popularity, with top tournaments drawing crowds of spectators rivaling traditional sporting events. Understanding the extent to which eSport operates similarly to traditional sport is vital to developing marketing strategies for the eSport industry and informing academic research on eSport. Prior research has examined eSports in isolation from traditional sports, overlooking direct comparisons to understand the degree to which eSport spectators are motivated similarly to traditional sport spectators. The current study measures widely-used sport consumption motives to examine their influence on eSport spectatorship and game attendance frequency. In South Korea, spectator motives across one traditional sport (soccer) and two eSport contexts (FIFA Online 3 and StarCraft II) were measured. MANOVA results identify similar patterns for 11 out of 15 motives across the three. Significant differences between contexts include vicarious achievement, excitement, physical attractiveness, and family bonding. Multiple regression analysis results show that spectators across contexts have distinct sets of motives influencing game attendance. The current study demonstrates that traditional sport and eSports are similarly consumed, suggesting that sport industry professionals can manage and market eSport events similarly to traditional sport events.
This study focuses on comparing the uses sought and gratifications obtained when consuming media related to eSports and traditional sports; in doing so, relevant areas of overlap and distinction are ascertained. In all, more than 1,300 American eSports participants were queried as to their interest in both eSports and traditional sports fan/followership. Results revealed that eSports participants sought out media for both eSports and traditional sports for similar motivations, specifically social sport, fanship, and Schwabism. However, it is the magnitude of the motives that truly set eSports fans apart, with participants showing far more dedication and desire to engage with eSport content than in any other realm of the traditional sporting arena.
The following study represents the first attempt in to empirically analyze the Canadian Broadcast Corporation’s (CBC) prime time Olympic broadcast to determine if there were significant trends based on the sex of the athlete. All 72 hours of the CBC’s 2014 prime time Winter Olympic broadcast were analyzed. When excluding mixed-pair competitions, men received 60.4 percent of the airtime. Men received 61.2 percent of the mentions and comprised 65 percent of the top 20 most-mentioned athletes list. Sportscaster dialogues surrounding the attributions of success and failure of athletes, as well as depictions of physicality and personality, contained some divergences based on the sex of an athlete. Men were more likely to be depicted as succeeding because of athletic ability and intelligence while women were more likely to have their successes attributed to experience. Additionally, men were more likely to have their failures attributed to lack of intelligence. In the areas of personality/physicality, women athletes were more likely to receive comments about their size/parts of the body while men were more likely to receive comments in the areas of outgoing/extroversion and emotions.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate why do people spectate eSports on the internet. The authors define eSports (electronic sports) as “a form of sports where the primary aspects of the sport are facilitated by electronic systems; the input of players and teams as well as the output of the eSports system are mediated by human-computer interfaces.” In more practical terms, eSports refer to competitive video gaming (broadcasted on the internet).
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs the motivations scale for sports consumption which is one of the most widely applied measurement instruments for sports consumption in general. The questionnaire was designed and pre-tested before distributing to target respondents ( n =888). The reliability and validity of the instrument both met the commonly accepted guidelines. The model was assessed first by examining its measurement model and then the structural model.
Findings
The results indicate that escapism, acquiring knowledge about the games being played, novelty and eSports athlete aggressiveness were found to positively predict eSport spectating frequency.
Originality/value
During recent years, eSports (electronic sports) and video game streaming have become rapidly growing forms of new media in the internet driven by the growing provenance of (online) games and online broadcasting technologies. Today, hundreds of millions of people spectate eSports. The present investigation presents a large study on gratification-related determinants of why people spectate eSports on the internet. Moreover, the study proposes a definition for eSports and further discusses how eSports can be seen as a form of sports.
This study examined motivational dimensions underlying sport video game playing, from a uses and gratification perspective, with the use of focus groups and confirmatory factor analysis. Through a rigorous scale development procedure, seven motivation dimensions were identified - knowledge application, identification with sport, fantasy, competition, entertainment, social interaction and diversion. The results also suggest that the pattern of sport video game use is more purposeful and active than uses of more traditional media. Future research opportunities and managerial implications for using video games in developing a more creative and interactive communication tool are also discussed.
This paper adopts the theory of social practices as a critical lens for understanding computer game consumption as multiple ‘nexuses of doings and sayings’, which represent the elements of and are situated within the broader context of consumer culture. Specifically, we explore an emerging phenomenon of an organised and competitive approach to computer gaming, referred to as ‘electronic sports’ or ‘eSports’, by offering a novel conceptualisation of eSports as an assemblage of consumption practices. In our endeavour, we illustrate that eSports practices are performed by consumers through multiple interconnected nexuses of unique understandings, tools, competencies and skills, whereby these nexuses transcend the elements of digital play to include the watching and governing of eSports. Accordingly, eSports consumers take on multiple roles beyond being considered merely as ‘players’; engaging with this phenomenon using different nexuses of practical activities. Our findings suggest that, in order to gain a more comprehensive perspective of what consumers actually do with computer games, we should explore gaming consumption in relation to different social practices that co-constitute multifaceted consumer engagement within this genre.
Using self-administered questionnaires, this study assessed ways in which the viewing experience for sports fans is similar to-and different from-the viewing experience for fans of other popular programming genres. Compared to fans of other genres, televised sports fans were likely to engage in a variety of pregame planning and information search activities. Their viewing was more likely to be purposive and content oriented. Sports fans were emotionally involved and cared about the outcomes. They also were more likely to check media sources for follow-up information. Fans of other genres were not as active or invested in their favorite programming genre.
This paper presents a gameplay experience model, assesses its potential as a tool for research and presents some directions for future work. The presented model was born from observations among game-playing children and their non-player parents, which directed us to have a closer look at the complex nature of gameplay experience. Our research led into a heuristic gameplay experience model that identifies some of the key components and processes that are relevant in the experience of gameplay, with a particular focus on immersion. The model includes three components: sensory, challenge-based and imaginative immersion (SCI-model). The classification was assessed with self-evaluation questionnaires filled in by informants who played different popular games. It was found that the gameplay experiences related to these games did indeed differ as expected in terms of the identified three immersion components.
On average, girls and women are less involved with video games than are boys and men, and when they do play, they often prefer different games. This article reports two studies that investigated the dislikes of German females with regard to video games. Study 1 applied conjoint analysis to female respondents’ (N= 317) ratings of fictional video games and demonstrated that lack of meaningful social interaction, followed by violent content and sexual gender role stereotyping of game characters, were the most important reasons why females disliked the games. Study 2, an online survey (N= 795), revealed that female respondents were less attracted to competitive elements in video games, suggesting an explanation for gender-specific game preferences. These findings are discussed with respect to communication theory on interactive entertainment and their implications for applied video game design.
Accounts of our digital future, both optimistic and dystopian, are often founded on three myths: users are in charge, big data is neutral and people will opt to live in enclaves. This article describes and challenges those myths. As an alternative, it posits a dynamic model of the digital media marketplace in which users, media and metrics constantly interact. It concludes by arguing that the structural features of the marketplace play an important role in shaping crossmedia encounters and inviting readers to consider the power of media to reshape preferences. The social impact of digital media has been the subject of widespread speculation, but there is little consensus. Some believe that we are at the dawn of a new participatory culture. Others are convinced that digital media will tear society apart. Most of these arguments, optimistic or dreary, are built on erroneous assumptions about digital media and how people use them. In this article, I critique three of the most prevalent myths. As a corrective, I describe a theoretical framework I call 'the marketplace of attention'. It better reflects the dynamic nature of the digital media environment by invoking a structurational model where the use of crossmedia both shapes and is shaped by the environment. The three myths Popular and scholarly commentaries about our digital futures make a number of compelling, if unfounded, assumptions about digital media: first, that users are now in charge; second, that big data is neutral; and third, that given a chance, people will opt to live in media enclaves. Sometimes, these assumptions reflect the theoretical commitments of the author(s). Often, they are buttressed by anecdotes or other questionable evidence, and they typically lead to compelling stories of hope or despair. To be sure, not everyone subscribes to these myths, but they are prevalent enough to identify and challenge.
Social media has substantially changed how people consume media content, particularly during sport mega-events. This study examined the audience social media uses during the “most social Olympics” and found that demographics, personality, motivations, preference, media use routine, and viewing context significantly predicted social media consumption for the Rio Games. Olympics viewing on social media was predominately predicted by media use routine, while following and posting on social media about the Olympics appeared to be a more “active” choice that was shaped by personal identity and virtual schemas. In addition, results indicate that social media uses during the Rio Games neither “displaced” nor “encouraged” Olympics viewing on traditional television. Uses of social media suggest a digital expansion of “group” viewing and transform ways in which the audience can experience a sport mega-event.
This study investigates why people choose to watch others play video games, on services such as Twitch. Through a questionnaire study (N = 1097), we examine five distinct types of motivations from the uses and gratifications perspective: cognitive, affective, personal integrative, social integrative and tension release. Information seeking is shown to be positively associated with the amount of hours that users chose to spend on the service, as well as the amount of individual streamers they choose to watch. Furthermore, we find that tension release, social integrative and affective motivations are positively associated with how many hours people watch streams. We also find that social integrative motivations are the primary predictor of subscription behaviour. This study lays the groundwork for understanding the motivations to consume this emerging form of new media in the context of online games and video streams.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics was the most watched television event in U.S. television history, and represented a broad expansion and emphasis on online sports content. This study examined audience's multiplatform experience with the 2008 Beijing Games, particularly the interactions between and among gender groups, viewing the Olympics, and use of new media. Results indicate that although men and women were significantly different in sports viewing and media use in general, they shared similarities in seeking Olympic content on various media platforms.
This study examined gender differences in the audience experience with televised sports. Men and women were expected to approach, observe, and respond to sports programming in different ways. Telephone interviews were conducted with 400 adults residing in Los Angeles and 307 adults residing in Indianapolis. Gender differences were tested using covariate analyses controlling for demographic attributes, favorite sport, and interest in viewing television sports. More than women, men responded like fans, even with initial levels of interest controlled. Social norms as well as varying household responsibilities may account for many of the differences uncovered.
Broadcast commentary of sport contests is often seen as biased or “one-eyed” for the “home team”. This study sought to determine if this labelling was correct. Two different broadcasts of the national Dutch team's games during the 2006 Federation Internationale de Football Association's (FIFA) World Cup in Germany were compared. Both the Dutch Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) and Australian Special Broadcast Services (SBS) networks each televised this team's matches, together providing eight matches for analysis. First, the framing strategies used by each broadcaster were identified through a fourteen category thematic scale derived from the data. Secondly, a Chi-square analysis of the results revealed significant associations for the types of themes employed by the home network (NOS) and those of a neutral broadcaster (SBS). Results also revealed associations for the use of nationalistic themes in the commentary. These results have salience for sport management and sport media studies as audience size and therefore revenue generation is of import.
The 1996 Olympic games, billed as "the gender equity Olympics," held out promise for better media coverage of female athletes; during the games, women's sport and its audience reached record levels. However, did the success for women's sports during the Olympics translate to significant changes in sports media? This study examines post-1996 editorial photographs in SI for Kids (SIK) to determine whether post-Olympic female athletes received more favorable coverage than in the magazine's inaugural issues.
Scholars have long advocated empirical integration of active-audience and structural theories to best explain audience exposure to television. This study incorporated both uses and gratifications and structural variables in an integrated model of audience exposure. Results indicated that seven statistically significant factors—ritualistic motivations, use of the Internet, audience availability, the cost of multi-channel service, age, instrumental motivations, and gender—combined to explain 30.3% of the variance in audience exposure to television. Findings suggest that no single theoretical construct explains the complexities that determine exposure to television. Future inquiry should continue to seek theoretical and empirical integration as a way to understand and explain media behavior.
This research explores the factors in choices women make about watching sports. The assumption about coverage of women's sports in post-Title IX decades has been that girls who have played will turn into women who watch, encouraging media producers to provide more women's sports programming. Yet that audience has not materialized, and women's sports have languished on the periphery of the sports media landscape. Using focus-group discussions with heterosexual, married women, we argue that sports media consumption is tied to gender roles and related domestic work. That association with emotion labor presents significant barriers to the cultivation of these women as fans of women's sports.
Women in esports: Ignore the stereotypes and do what you want. The Guardian
- E Featherstone
Motives and marketing stimuli affecting esports consumption: Cross-cultural perspective
- D Lee
- W Cheon
- L W Judge
- H Shin
- K.-O Kim
Understanding esports: An introduction to the global phenomenon
- K L Adams
- G L Devia-Allen
- M A Moore
The affective audience in professional e-sport: An exploration of spectators, and their impact on video game playing
- N Gommesen
Gaming and gender: How inclusive are esports. The Sports Integrity Initiative
- J Hilbert
Understanding esports: An introduction to the global phenomenon
- M Grabowski
Get the gear that esports pros use to become the best in the world
- M Stubbs
Competing in metagame gamespace: Esport as the first professionalized computer metagames
- M Wagner
Nielsen: Esports fans follow an average of 5.7 games
- D Takahashi
Esports’ urgent need for visible gender diversity
- R Valentine