No abstract

Shifting from a player-oriented approach, e-sports has increasingly positioned itself as emerging spectator entertainment. In the wake of the growing online viewer market, the industry has made tremendous efforts to innovate marketing strategies and build up a base of passionate fans across the globe. To augment this endeavor, the current study investigated push and pull factors that influence e-sports online viewers’ consumption behaviors (N = 1,309) using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The authors proposed a new way to operationalize push and pull factors that have been relatively overlooked in the literature. The findings indicated that, while push and pull factors had different effects on e-sports consumption behaviors, they should be considered equally important in e-sports livestreaming. The study expanded our understanding of the attractiveness and desirability of e-sports and shed some critical light on management and marketing issues within and beyond the e-sports space.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to encourage scholarly inquiries to critically examine broad perspectives of marketing and business operations in the sport industry of growing economies. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive review of literature was the primary research method to introduce the following critical questions, “what are the major challenges in the sport industry of developing economies in a globalized market environment and what to do?”. Findings Seven articles are selected based on their theoretical and practical contributions. Originality/value This special issue is committed to trigger more investigations into sport businesses in developing countries and ultimately advancing theories and seeking solutions.

This study examines esports fans’ psychological processes and pertinent behaviors through the lens of the self-determination theory (SDT). The extent to which the esports fans’ basic psychological needs—that is, competence, autonomy, and relatedness—are satisfied were assessed by using a composite latent variable model. Findings derived from the data analyses confirmed the relevance of the SDT in explaining pertinent information on need satisfaction, motivation, and related consumption behaviors. In particular, relatedness was identified as the most salient basic psychological need dimension, suggesting that satisfying this need is critically important for esports consumption. Both the inquiry protocol and the findings of this investigation contribute to the existing literature on motivation by developing an SDT model in esports media studies. Further discussions were made on deciphering the opportunities and challenges associated with the burgeoning esports industry.

This study explored the dimensions and consequences of esports online spectator demand. Preliminary dimensions of esports online spectator demand were identified based on semi-structured interviews of esports spectators, an online open-ended survey of esports fans, and a comprehensive review of literature. The resulted qualitative findings were adopted as the foundation to develop the Scale for Esports Spectator Demand (SESD). To validate the SESD and assess the impact of its factors on consumers' cognitive and behavioral outcomes, a sample of esports online spectators (N = 1,309) responded to a survey containing the SESD. A total of 32-items under eight SESD factors were identified. While demand factors including Commentary Attractiveness, Player Attractiveness, Event Attractiveness, and Schedule Convenience had been found in traditional sport contexts, Chat Room, Streamer Attractiveness, Stream Quality, and Virtual Rewards appeared to be unique in esports. All eight SESD factors, excluding Schedule Convenience, were found to be significantly (p < .05) predictive of one or more of the outcomes associated with esports consumption.