eSport: Construct specifications and implications for sport management

Cunningham, George B.; Fairley, Sheranne; Ferkins, Lesley; Kerwin, Shannon; Lock, Daniel; Shaw, Sally; Wicker, Pamela

doi:10.1016/j.smr.2017.11.002

Cited by 119 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Such growing popularity of the esports industry has attracted interest from researchers, ranging from those interested in conceptual discussions to those seeking to conduct empirical examinations. More specifically, scholars have prompted and largely facilitated in-depth discussions regarding the definition of esports and the qualification of esports as sport and sport management scholarship ( Cunningham et al, 2018 ; Hallmann and Giel, 2018 ). Researchers have also empirically examined esports consumer behavior in different contexts such as esports gameplay ( Seo, 2016 ; Jang and Byon, 2020 ), online esports media consumption ( Sjöblom and Hamari, 2017 ; Qian et al, 2019 ), and esports event attendance ( Pizzo et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Atmospherics, Affective Response, and Behavioral Intention Associated With Esports Events

Jang

Kim

2020

Front. Psychol.

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The purpose of this study was to conceptualize social atmospherics in the context of esports attendance and examine the relationship among social atmospherics, affective responses, and behavioral intention. Based on review literature, we conceptualized social atmospherics as five dimensions in esports events' environments: social density, suitable behavior, similarity, cosplay, and cheering behavior. Notably, cosplay (i.e., a portmanteau of the words "costumes" and "play") and cheering behavior factors adopted from extant social atmospherics served to capture the unique features associated with esports events. Via an online survey, data were collected (n = 372) from esports fans who have experienced attending esports events. The data set was split into half; the first data set (n = 189) was used to examine the psychometric properties of the measurement model and the second data set (n = 184) was employed to test the hypothesized model. The initial model fit was not shown to be acceptable. The model was re-estimated using the second data set after dropping four items with low factor loadings, resulting in the acceptable model fit. The results via structural equation modeling indicated that cheering behavior, similarity, cosplay, and social density positively and significantly influenced affective responses and behavioral intention. However, there was no significant relationship between suitable behavior and affective responses. In terms of theoretical contributions, we tested a five-factor model of social atmospherics associated with esports events and its effects on behavioral intention through affective responses. The findings in this study extend the sportscape model (Wakefield and Sloan, 1995) by incorporating the mediating effect of affective responses and expand the utility of the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework as a viable theory that can explain esports consumption behavior.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Atmospherics, Affective Response, and Behavioral Intention Associated With Esports Events

Jang

Kim

2020

Front. Psychol.

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“…Heere (2018: p. 21), for example, argues that as "the sport industry itself is embracing e-sports as a sport, scholars should embrace e-sports as a manifestation of sportification and examine their negative and positive effect". (See discussion of similarities and differences between sports and esports for example Kari & Karhulahti, 2016;Jenny et al, 2017;Cunningham et al, 2018. ) The relationship between e-sports and traditional sports is not the only factor causing hesitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Value of E-Sports Is in the Eye of the Beholder, But Can E-Sports Operators Influence What the Spectators See?

Jalonen¹

2019

AASoci

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This article considers the societal discussion revolving around e-sports to be a reflection of the incommensurability of different means of value justification. The article seeks an answer to the question of how e-sports operators can demonstrate that their work entails aspects, i.e. propose value to aspects that are generally valued. The article presents a theory-guided analysis of the means of value justification in the world of e-sports. The theoretical basis builds upon modern economic sociology. The esteem of e-sports is not generated spontaneously but requires active measures by operators within the e-sports field. This calls for an ability to recognise various means of value justification and the related value categories and conflicts in one's own work. The attractiveness of e-sports in the eyes of the corporate world as well as the general public is proportional to how credibly the e-sports operators are able to demonstrate aspects of their work that are in line with things that are generally valued. The present article contributes to the collaboration between e-sports operators and stakeholders by verbalising the tensions and possibilities related to such collaboration. The article aids in recognising the value-creating interfaces and in fortifying the collaboration and finding synergy benefits.

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“…As a result, Funk, Pizzo, and Baker (2018) wrote of the importance for the field of sport management to give serious consideration to esports. Additional sport management scholars have noted that the esports industry encompasses many aspects of traditional sports, such as the development and playing experiences of participants, and suggest additional research be conducted in this space (Cunningham et al, 2018;Hallmann & Giel, 2018;Kane & Spradley, 2017;Keiper, Manning, Jenny, Olrich, & Croft, 2017). Heere (2018) argued that regardless of whether esports qualify as traditional sport, this space should be examined within the scope of sport management literature.…”

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confidence: 99%

The playing experiences of esport participants: An analysis of treatment discrimination and hostility in esport environments

Darvin

Vooris

Mahoney

2020

JADE

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The eSport industry has seen rapid growth over the previous decade with additional opportunities for participants to compete in competitive and casual environments. As such, the sport industry has taken notice of this increase in popularity and exposure for eSport. A recent call to arms by sport management scholars suggests that the field of sport management needs to broaden research endeavors to include analyses of eSport and eSport spaces. To that end, this investigation serves as one of the first that investigates the playing experiences of eSport participants with a particular focus on the presence of discrimination and hostility in playing environments for men and women competitors. Previous events within the eSport industry, such as the now infamous harassment of female gamers known as Gamergate, suggests that female eSport players may experience discrimination and hostility at higher rates than their male counterparts. Guided by the frameworks of hegemonic masculinity and treatment discrimination, this investigation gauged the experiences of men and women eSport participants with discrimination and hostility in eSport playing environments. Results indicated that female eSport participants reported experiencing instances of treatment discrimination more frequently than their male counterparts, while male participants reported experiencing hostility more frequently. Results aim to assist the eSport industry as well as sport management scholars in guiding new policy to create inclusive spaces for eSport enthusiasts and career hopefuls.

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eSport: Construct specifications and implications for sport management

Cited by 119 publications

References 40 publications

Social Atmospherics, Affective Response, and Behavioral Intention Associated With Esports Events

Social Atmospherics, Affective Response, and Behavioral Intention Associated With Esports Events

The Value of E-Sports Is in the Eye of the Beholder, But Can E-Sports Operators Influence What the Spectators See?

The playing experiences of esport participants: An analysis of treatment discrimination and hostility in esport environments

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