Essays on Live Streaming Media and Sponsorship Opportunities: Empirical Applications in the Video Game Industry Restricted; Files Only
Jo, Wooyong (Spring 2022)
Published
Abstract
Live streaming media is rapidly growing as a key segment of the entertainment industry, displacing significant portions of conventional media. This rapid shift in media consumption has created new marketing opportunities for practitioners. For instance, companies may work with popular streamers with significant social media audiences. Moreover, firms may use streaming media to develop and distribute video content that creates loyalty or preference for their brands or products. However, since live streaming is relatively new, the current literature provides little insight into the effectiveness of live-streamed media as a marketing tool. My dissertation seeks to fill this gap in the literature by investigating marketing and sponsorship opportunities in live streaming media.
In my first essay, I study the effects of live streaming video game influencers on video game consumption. I develop an empirical model that captures the exhaustive decision processes of individual customers across live streaming and video gaming platforms. The findings indicate that influencers' content acts as a substitute for subsequent game consumption. Moreover, I find that this negative effect is greater when users watch micro influencers (streamers with relatively small audiences) than mega-influencers (streamers with large audiences). The findings have implications for managers who consider sponsorship opportunities with live streamers for their future products.
In my second essay, I study the effect of a sponsored competition hosted by the video game publisher. Data on event viewership, event characteristics, and game consumption, are used to estimate the impact of competition viewing on subsequent in-game consumption. The findings suggest that firms can benefit from sponsoring a competitive event because event participants’ behavioral and monetary engagement increase substantially. In addition, I find esports viewers become more likely to choose frequently featured characters with demonstrated superior performance in the league (i.e., more wins). When esports viewers play the game with these characters, they subsequently have more in-game success. More generally, these results provide implications for firms considering hosting a sponsored competition based on the firm’s product(s).
Table of Contents
Essay 1
When Influencers Create Content: The (Possibly) Conflicting Roles of Live Streamers............... 1
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 2
Background ............................................................................................................................... 6
Data and Institutional Background.......................................................................................... 15
Empirical Analysis ................................................................................................................. 23
Results .................................................................................................................................... 33
Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 38
References .............................................................................................................................. 42
Tables and Figures .................................................................................................................. 47
Appendix ................................................................................................................................ 56
Essay 2
Sponsored Product-based Competition and Customer Engagement: A Study of an Esports Competition in the Video game Industry .................................................................................................................... 58
Introduction............................................................................................................................. 59
Conceptual Background and Related Literature..................................................................... 63
Method..................................................................................................................................... 70
Analyses.................................................................................................................................. 78
Supplementary Analyses......................................................................................................... 83
Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 88
References .............................................................................................................................. 93
Tables and Figures .................................................................................................................. 98
Appendix .............................................................................................................................. 108
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File download under embargo until 26 May 2028 | 2022-03-14 14:49:54 -0400 | File download under embargo until 26 May 2028 |
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