Why do people watch others play video games? An empirical study on the motivations of Twitch users
Sjöblom and Hamari, Computers in Human Behavior 75, 2017, 985-996. Online questionnaire in early 2015, about 1,091 valid responses, 92 percent male, mean age about 23, mostly students, recruited via social media and games forums. Five motive types (cognitive, affective, personal integrative, social integrative, tension release) related to hours watched, streamers watched, streamers followed and subscriptions. Tension release was the largest predictor of hours watched; information, affective and social integrative motives also related; recognition (personal integrative) related to fewer hours. Social integrative motive was the main predictor of subscribing and following. The model explained about 26 percent of variance in hours and under 4 percent for subscribing. Limits: male, online-recruited sample; sample size reported inconsistently (1,097 and 1,091). Reading depth: full text.
Sjöblom and Hamari, Computers in Human Behavior 75, 2017, 985-996. Online questionnaire in early 2015, about 1,091 valid responses, 92 percent male, mean age about 23, mostly students, recruited via social media and games forums. Five motive types (cognitive, affective, personal integrative, social integrative, tension release) related to hours watched, streamers watched, streamers followed and subscriptions. Tension release was the largest predictor of hours watched; information, affective and social integrative motives also related; recognition (personal integrative) related to fewer hours. Social integrative motive was the main predictor of subscribing and following. The model explained about 26 percent of variance in hours and under 4 percent for subscribing. Limits: male, online-recruited sample; sample size reported inconsistently (1,097 and 1,091). Reading depth: full text.
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Sjöblom, M., & Hamari, J. (2017). Why do people watch others play video games? An empirical study on the motivations of Twitch users. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, 985-996. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.10.019 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.10.019