Antecedents and consequence associated with esports gameplay
International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship
ISSN: 1464-6668
Article publication date: 2 October 2019
Issue publication date: 22 January 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Grounded in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) (Venkatesh et al., 2012), the purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents and consequence associated with esports gameplay by proposing the Esports Consumption (ESC) model, including six determinants of esports gameplay intention (hedonic motivation, habit, price value, perceived effort expectancy, social influence and flow) and behavioral consequence (media consumption intention of esports events) that were linked to esports gameplay.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed model was tested using the data (n=348) that were collected from esports consumers at two points in time. Per the technology adoption theories (i.e. TAM, UTAUT2), the authors incorporated a temporal separation when measuring the relationship between playing intention and playing behavior. For the purpose of data analysis, CFA and SEM were used to examine the hypothesized model.
Findings
As a result, four determinants (i.e. hedonic motivation, price value, effort expectancy and flow) were identified as the critical factors influencing esports consumers’ esports gameplay intention. Furthermore, the bootstrap method procedure verified that a sequential relationship among esports gameplay intention, esports gameplay and media consumption of esports events.
Originality/value
Theoretically, it has developed a research model that explains various triggers resulting from esports gameplay intention, which is causally linked to esports gameplay and media consumption behavior. Practically, the primary implication has to do with providing information regarding esports consumers’ playing behavior with esports game publishers, which organize esports events and leagues.
Keywords
Citation
Jang, W.(W). and Byon, K.K. (2020), "Antecedents and consequence associated with esports gameplay", International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-01-2019-0013
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited