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Published on: July 3, 2021
Comparison of Audience Behavior between eSports and Authentic Sports Fans
Taeyeon Oh1, Joon-Ho Kang2, Younghan Lee3
1Seoul AI School, aSSIST University, Seoul 03767, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
This study analyzed how the behavioral patterns of esports and authentic sports viewers differ, adopting user and gratification theory and media transportation theory. In particular, it was investigated whether there was a difference in behavioral patterns according to the experience of playing the sport even among authentic sports viewers. As a result of analyzing the relationship between viewers' motivation and media transportation outcomes through structural equation modeling and multigroup structural equation modeling, it was observed that cognitive motivation was more important for esports viewers than for authentic sports viewers. A second analysis of comparisons among fans of authentic sports showed that viewers with sports experience had greater cognitive needs. This result shows that there is a difference between the viewer behaviors of esports and traditional sports, but it is concluded that the presence or absence of sports participation experience rather than content is the factor that separates the difference.
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