The Infancy of the Esports Industry as a Risk to its Sponsors

In less than 10 years, esports have turned into a global phenomenon with a large following that rivals the audience size of popular established sports. This has resulted in a massive influx of esports sponsors. However, because it appeared and evolved so rapidly, sponsors have no idea of what esports really are nor of what risks they may face. Ergo, this research aimed to determine what issues are being caused by the infancy of the esports industry that is threatening sponsors. Hence, this exploratory research used a convergent-parallel mixed method with equal status. Empirical data was obtained through interviews with 22 experts in esports sponsoring and the application of a survey to 5,638 esports fans. Quantitative data was analysed with SPSS 25 and qualitative data with NVIVO 10. The results showed that the majority of experts considered that the problems associated with the infancy of the esports industry are a risk to esports sponsors and almost all esports fans reckon that the competitive gaming market has infancy-related issues to solve. Esports are not like general sports, so sponsors must holistically study this industry to mitigate the dangers of suffering from the problems of this new and unknown market

A influência da comunicação de eventos culturais na seleção da unidade hoteleira e o grau de concretização das expectativas geradas: um estudo de múltiplos casos na Ilha da Madeira

A presente investigação teve como objetivo fornecer dados teóricos e empíricos relativamente ao peso que os eventos culturais realizados por unidades hoteleiras apresentam na seleção do estabelecimento, bem como determinar a fonte mais influenciável para os assistir e a capacidade destes em atingir as expectativas dos clientes. Foi adotada uma metodologia exploratória qualitativa focada num horizonte temporal de estudos transversais e num cenário de estudo não artificial. A amostra foi constituída por 2229 clientes e seis diretores de oito unidades hoteleiras organizadoras de eventos culturais localizadas na ilha da Madeira (Portugal), tornando assim esta investigação num estudo de caso múltiplo. Os elementos da investigação foram o indivíduo e a organização, sendo que o método de amostragem foi o voluntário e não probabilístico. A colheita de dados teve a duração de 76 dias e foi realizada através de entrevistas face-a-face com questionários servindo de guiões. Os dados revelaram que, apesar dos eventos culturais realizados por unidades hoteleiras não se terem apresentado como um fator de seleção dos estabelecimentos, estes eventos tiveram a participação de uma percentagem considerável de clientes, que foram influenciados por comunicações de marketing realizadas no interior dos estabelecimentos, nos quais os clientes participaram de forma passiva, tiveram as suas expectativas atendidas, falaram sobre os eventos pessoalmente com outras pessoas e sentiram-se valorizados por opinarem em questionários relativos aos eventos. O valor desta investigação centra-se no facto da verificada elevada afluência, satisfação e partilha de informações pelos clientes sobre os eventos culturais ter demonstrado que estes eventos têm lugar nas unidades hoteleiras, sendo também que estes se diferenciam por serem mais influenciáveis através de comunicações de marketing do que por recomendações de outros clientes.This research aimed to provide theoretical and empirical data on the weight that cultural events conducted by hotel units have in the selection of the establishment, as well as to determine the most influential source to attend them and their ability to meet customer’s expectations. A qualitative exploratory methodology focused on a time horizon of cross-sectional studies and in a non-artificial study scenario was adopted. The sample consisted of 2229 clients and six directors of eight hotel units, that conducted cultural events, located on the island of Madeira (Portugal), thus making this research a multiple case study. The elements of the investigation were the individual and the organization and the sampling method was the voluntary and non-probabilistic. The data collection lasted 76 days and was performed through face-to-face interviews with questionnaires serving as guides. The data revealed that, although the cultural events conducted by hotel units did not appear as a selection factor of the establishments, these events were attended by a considerable percentage of clients, who were influenced by marketing communications carried out within the establishments, in which the clients participated in a passive manner, had their expectations met, talked about the events personally with other people and felt valued for opining in questionnaires related to the events. The value of this research is centred in the fact that the verified high attendance, satisfaction and information sharing by the clients about the cultural events have demonstrated that these events have a place in the hotel units, being also that they set themselves apart by being more influential through marketing communications than by recommendations from other customers

How the Negative Public View of Videogames Threatens Esports Sponsors

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How sponsors should bring relevant-added value to esports

This paper aimed to determine what types of relevant-added value esports fans most want sponsors to bring to them and to the competitive gaming industry. A review of the literature permitted the development of a conceptual model which was subsequently improved by analysing empirical data. A quantitative exploratory research was conducted on 1,359 esports fans who were sampled through a non-probability purposive heterogeneous method. Data was collected through a closed-ended online structured survey. The data showed that two of the three most wanted means for bringing relevant added value are by directly helping the esports industry rather than focusing on the fans. Specifically, supporting the tournaments and pro-players and promoting good practice and integrity were highly valued. Most brands are still unaware of how to conduct effective esports sponsorships. By being one of the first studies in this area, this research provides brands with useful guidelines for developing sustainable esports sponsorships.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Model of the Threats that Disreputable Behavior Present to Esports Sponsors

Both esports sponsors and academia are not aware of how disreputable behavior in the esports scene can negatively affect their brands. Hence, this research aimed at identifying which types of disreputable behavior in competitive gaming present the biggest threats to esports sponsors. In this quantitative and exploratory research, a non probability, purposive, and heterogeneous sampling method was employed to gather a sample of 1,592 esports fans who filled a closed-ended online survey. Results showed that illegal and unregulated gambling was a high-risk threat to esports sponsors; toxic behavior, match-fixing, and cheating were labeled as medium-risk threats; and sexism, cyberattacks, and doping were found to be low-risk threats. Besides being one of the first studies on esports sponsorships, which serves as a basis for future research in this market, the findings contribute to the sustainability of the esports industry and its sponsors. Managerial implications are also discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The benefits and risks of sponsoring eSports: brief literature review

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How Sponsors Should Bring Relevant-Added Value to Esports

This paper aimed to determine what types of relevant-added value esports fans most want sponsors to bring to them and to the competitive gaming industry. A review of the literature permitted the development of a conceptual model which was subsequently improved by analysing empirical data. A quantitative exploratory research was conducted on 1,359 esports fans who were sampled through a non-probability purposive heterogeneous method. Data was collected through a closed-ended online structured survey. The data showed that two of the three most wanted means for bringing relevant-added value are by directly helping the esports industry rather than focusing on the fans. Specifically, supporting the tournaments and pro-players and promoting good practice and integrity were highly valued. Most brands are still unaware of how to conduct effective esports sponsorships. By being one of the first studies in this area, this research provides brands with useful guidelines for developing sustainable esports sponsorships.JEL Codes - M31; M3

Esports Sponsorships: The Double-Edged Sword Effect of Having a Very Vocal Audience

Esports fans have been known for being heavy consumers of compet itive gaming content and for being digital natives who love to comment about esports on numerous social platforms. This has attracted various sponsors inter ested in capitalizing in this social buzz. However, there have been signs that this high vocality can in fact heavily damage several sponsors. Hence, this research aimed to determine if esports fans’ high vocality is a benefit and/or a risk to these sponsors. To achieve this, we adopted a qualitative exploratory design to interview, via digital platforms, 10 esports sponsorship experts. In total, we in terviewed two endemic and three non-endemic esports sponsors and five mar keting agencies with experience in esports sponsorships. They were sampled via a nonprobability purposive heterogeneous method and were reached via the companies’ website contact sections. Data were analyzed with the assistance of NVivo 10. The overall results showed that all experts agreed that this high vo cality can both benefit and damage esports sponsors. The uniformity in the an swers showed that this element is not a greater benefit or risk to a particular type of esports sponsor. Ergo we considered that the high vocality of esports fans is a double-edged sword. This study is necessary because, despite esports’ massive growth, this field has received scant scientific attention, with the spe cific areas of esports marketing and esports sponsorships being even more se verely overlooked. Besides, from a business standpoint, the findings are highly significant for every sponsor looking to better comprehend esports and its fan baseinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sponsoring Esports to Improve Brand Image

This research aimed to identify how esports sponsorships affect the sponsors’ brand image. An exploratory focus was adopted along with a convergent-parallel mixed method with equal status. Twenty-two experts in esports sponsorships were interviewed and 5,638 esports fans were surveyed. Quantitative data was processed on SPSS 25 and qualitative data on NVivo 10. The two data sets were analysed separately from one another, but the results were interpreted together and given the same level of importance. The results showed that all experts believe that sponsoring esports can positively affect the sponsors’ brand image and roughly one-third of fans perceive more positively a small number of brands as a result of them sponsoring esports. This image improvement is, however, dependent on multiple variables, including activation strategy, brand type, and target audience. The findings are relevant for academics and companies looking to better understand the brand image effects of sponsoring esports.JEL Codes - M31; M3

VII International Forum of Management – Madeira: book of proceedings

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