Open AccessModel of the Threats that Disreputable Behavior Present to Esports Sponsors
Author(s) -
Bruno Duarte Abreu Freitas,
Ruth Sofía Contreras Espinosa,
Pedro Álvaro Pereira Correia
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
contemporary management research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.192
H-Index - 2
ISSN - 1813-5498
DOI - 10.7903/cmr.20779
Subject(s) - cheating , business , sample (material) , exploratory research , nonprobability sampling , affect (linguistics) , marketing , internet privacy , advertising , computer science , psychology , social psychology , environmental health , sociology , anthropology , medicine , population , chemistry , communication , chromatography
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.