Abstract
Aim: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the demands of spectators who follow esports broadcasts on the online live broadcasting platform Twitch in terms of game type and gender variables. Its secondary aim was to examine the relationship between these demand levels and donation to the broadcasters.
Methods: A total of 430 online esports spectators, 314 men and 116 women, participated in the study. Data collection was carried out using the participant information form and the Scale for Esports Spectator Demands via Google Forms. Independent Samples t-Test, One-Way ANOVA and Pearson Correlation Test were used in the analysis of the data.
Results: It has been determined that female spectators have statistically significantly higher demand scores than male spectators in interaction and player characteristics, which are sub-dimensions of the scale for esports spectator demands (p<.05), on the other hand, there were no statistically significant difference in sub-dimension scores according to the game type (p>.05). In addition, it was determined that there was a statistically significant positive correlation between the level of donating of the spectators to the broadcasters and the chat room sub-dimension (p<.01), on the other hand, there were no statistically significant relationship with the other sub-dimensions (p>.05).
Conclusion: The demands of the esports spectators from the online broadcasts are affected by the gender variable in terms of interaction and player characteristics sub-dimension, and the spectators who have high demands from the chat room, donate more to the broadcasters.