Esports fan identity with the event and the sponsoring brand: A case study of LG at the FPF Open Challenge.

Description

This study aims to explore the eSports fans’ identity on sponsor-sponsee relationship, as well as understand the effects on their behavioural intentions. Data were collected among Portuguese eSports fans (n = 356) who attended at the 2021 FPF Open Challenge, using an online questionnaire. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) analysed the psychometric properties of the constructs, and a subsequent structural equation model (SEM) examined the effects of fan identity on two behavioural intention and on sponsor-sponsee relationship. Results evidence that highly identified fans with eSports are more committed towards the event and tend to have a positive word-of-mouth intention, while those who have higher brand identification reported the highest connection to the event sponsor-brand and then tend to purchase its products. Moreover, our findings also provide evidence of the bidirectional interaction between fan’ identity with eSports event and its sponsor-brand, leading to greater reciprocity on their social identity formation. Managerial implications focus on strengthening the social identity of fans as a way to understand their future behaviours.

Authors

Keywords

Professor Advisor

Tiago Ribeiro