Audience response to endemic and non-endemic sponsors of esports events

Abstract

Purpose

To understand how esports viewers perceive endemic and non-endemic sponsors during an event.

Design/methodology/approach

The researchers employed a four-condition experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to watch a clip with one of four possible sponsors. After participants watched the stimuli, they responded to a questionnaire assessing their opinions of the sponsor in the clip they watched.

Findings

Generally, the more endemic a sponsor was, the more positive audience members had. Perceptions of credibility were also important to attitudes toward sponsors.

Originality/value

Esports is an emergent area where little empirical research has been published. This study is designed to expand upon research on sponsorships such that it explores audience perceptions of endemic versus non-endemic sponsors of esports events.

Citation

Rogers, R., Farquhar, L. and Mummert, J. (2020), "Audience response to endemic and non-endemic sponsors of esports events", International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 561-576. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-09-2019-0107