Exploring e-sports fans’ motivation for watching live streams based on self-determination theory – Scientific Reports

Self-determination theory

SDT is a theory of individual behavioural motivation proposed by American psychologists Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci in the 1980s based on psychological needs theory, integration theory, cognitive theory and attribution theory¹³. SDT emphasises the active role of the self in the motivational process. It is a potentiality concerning experiential choices, where individuals make free choices about their actions based on a thorough understanding of personal needs and environmental information¹². Meanwhile, SDT elucidates the process by which individuals engage in behaviours from a motivational perspective, recognising the interplay between internal and external motivations in shaping the behaviours¹⁴. It values individuals’ inherent desire to pursue psychological growth and well-being, explaining the essential elements necessary to achieve that pursuit¹². When people’s psychological needs are satisfied, the internal motivation of individuals will be significantly strengthened, leading to enhanced work efficiency, heightened motivation, and a greater sense of well-being¹⁵.

The ideas put forward by SDT are considered to be the basic psychological needs driving individuals’ participatory behaviour and have garnered significant scholarly attention across various disciplines including psychology, sociology, and sports studies. In the realm of psychology, for instance, SDT not only plays a pivotal role in facilitating personality development, enhancing psychological functioning, and fostering growth processes, but also holds substantial significance in guiding psychological interventions and treatments^16,17,18. Moreover, in the field of sociology, SDT offers insights into the dynamics of romantic relationships, elucidating the exchange of self-perspectives and the interdependence inherent in optimal romantic partnerships¹⁹. In addition, it also finds application in workplace relationships, aiding individuals in self-assessment of their leadership capabilities and future career development trajectories²⁰. Last but not least, within the sports studies, SDT contributes to the understanding of the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations underpinning sports behaviours such as participation and consumption, thereby guiding strategies to effectively motivate individuals to engage in sports activities^18,21.

In our case, SDT supports the argument that e-sports live streaming viewing is a behaviour voluntarily undertaken by individuals and influenced by various motivational factors. The decisions made by e-sports fans, following comprehensive consideration, resonate with the fundamental principles of SDT, which posits that behaviours are propelled by the fulfillment of personal needs. This theory provides a comprehensive framework encompassing intrinsic motivations, which involve satisfying inherent needs within the activity itself, and extrinsic motivations, which involve extrinsic factors influencing behaviour. This study thus constructs a theoretical framework for the motivations of e-sports fans to watch live streams based on SDT (see Fig. 1). The self-needs and environmental factors of e-sports fans give rise to intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, which subsequently drive the behaviour of watching e-sports events, ultimately fulfilling self-motivated needs. This theoretical framework, rooted in SDT, guides the entire process from the generation to the actual fulfilment of motivations in the live streaming viewing motivations of e-sports fans.

Theoretical framework of e-sports fans’ motivation to watch live streams.

Research hypotheses

Influence of intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivations are primarily explained as the pursuit of three needs: “value”, referring to self-benefits; “capability”, pertaining to task competence; and “pleasure”, related to enjoyable experiences¹⁴. Research has found that intrinsic motivations such as health, stress relief, emotional release, leisure entertainment, and sense of achievement among sports event audiences influence their enthusiasm for watching²². For example, the Sports Fan Motivation Scale (SFMS) developed by Wann⁵ explored the intrinsic motivations of sports event audiences from dimensions such as eustress, self-esteem, entertainment, aesthetics, escape from reality, and team belongingness. In the same vein, Trail and James²³ suggested that intrinsic motivations such as learning, aesthetics, sense of belonging, and sense of achievement directly influence fans’ motivations for watching. Peng and Guo²⁴ highlighted that the self-esteem motivation of e-sports fans directly affects their enthusiasm for watching. Liu et al.²⁵ further added the factors of patriotism, entertainment, and learning into the motivational framework.

Based on the existing literature, the research analyses four dimensions of intrinsic motivation of e-sports fans’ live streaming viewing behaviour, namely, idol worship^{23,26, 27}, leisure entertainment^{2,3, 5, 7}, belonging identification^{2,3, 6, 28}, and competitive stimulation^28,29,30. Idol worship motivation refers to the identification and admiration that e-sports fans show towards professional e-sports athletes, virtual characters, and other subjects, demonstrated through their attention and emotional projection. Leisure entertainment motivation pertains to the desire of e-sports fans to fulfill their own needs, relieve stress, and relax both mentally and physically through watching live streams. Belonging identification motivation is associated with the process where e-sports fans perceive themselves as part of a certain e-sports community. Competitive stimulation motivation regards to the exhilarating feeling e-sports fans experience during live streams through exciting visuals and the competitive process.

The aforementioned studies collectively indicate that the intrinsic motivations of e-sports fans can directly and positively influence their enthusiasm for watching matches. In other words, the higher the intrinsic motivation of e-sports fans, the stronger their desire to watch live streaming matches and the more frequently they watch. This study thus posits Hypothesis 1:

H1

The intrinsic motivation of e-sports fans has a significant positive impact on their behaviour of watching live streams.

Considering the complexity of e-sports fans’ motivations for live streaming viewing, this study aims to better explore the specific intrinsic motivations behind the viewing behaviour of e-sports fans. Based on the analytical framework of e-sports fans’ viewing motivations proposed earlier, this study separately investigates the influences of idol worship, belonging identification, leisure entertainment, competitive stimulation. To this end, this paper disaggregates Hypothesis 1 into the following sub-hypotheses:

H1a

The motivation of idol worship among e-sports fans has a significant positive impact on live streaming viewing behaviour.

H1b

The motivation of leisure entertainment among e-sports fans has a significant positive impact on live streaming viewing behaviour.

H1c

The motivation of belonging identification among e-sports fans has a significant positive impact on live streaming viewing behaviour.

H1d

The motivation of competitive stimulation among e-sports fans has a significant positive impact on live streaming viewing behaviour.

Influence of extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivations encompass the drives that fulfill individuals’ external needs, such as socialisation, rewards, peripheral activities, and consumption^29,30,31. Chen et al.²⁶ demonstrated that external environmental factors of peripheral activities and consumption jointly influence the frequency of sports event viewing among fans. Additionally, factors like socialisation, aesthetics, media advertising, and behaviour of athletes have been identified as enhancing fans’ enthusiasm for watching matches³². Moreover, the sports atmosphere, sports event marketing activities, and community support have been shown to stimulate interest in watching matches and enhance enthusiasm among spectators^27,33. Furthermore, Pu et al.⁴⁴ found that external motivators, such as the atmosphere of e-sports events and social interaction, directly influence the enthusiasm of e-sports fans for watching.

In the same vain, the research summarises two dimensions of extrinsic motivation from the literature review, namely, social engagement^4,5,23 and peripheral activities^6,29,30. Social engagement motivation refers to the social behaviour of e-sports fans, such as sharing and interacting with family and friends about e-sports events. Peripheral activity motivation pertains to the participation of e-sports fans in peripheral activities during e-sports live streams, such as giveaways, lucky draw, and advertisements.

Since that the aforementioned studies jointly indicate extrinsic factors, whether environmental, social, and cultural, can exert a positive impact on the viewing motivations of e-sports fans, the article hypothesises that:

H2

The extrinsic motivation of e-sports fans has a significant positive impact on their behaviour of watching live streams.

Similarly, the H2 is divided into two sub-hypotheses that:

H2a

The motivation of peripheral activities among e-sports fans has a significant positive impact on live streaming viewing behaviour.

H2b

The motivation of social engagement among e-sports fans has a significant positive impact on live streaming viewing behaviour.

Combined influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

The viewing motivations of e-sports fans can be multifaceted, often encompassing a combination of motivational factors. Previous studies have identified various complex motivational elements, such as socialisation, escapism, idolisation, and sense of achievement, as positive predictors of viewing behaviour among e-sports event audiences^{29,30, 34} analysed 13 “push and pull” factors among e-sports audience’ viewing behaviour, indicating a combination of both internal and external ones. Additionally, Koronios et al.³⁵ found that multifaceted motivations, including attachment to a team, achievement, social factors, drama, and role models, influence audience’s consumption behaviour when watching sports events. Furthermore, Lu³⁶ explored the relationship between viewing motivation and behavioural intention of spectators at e-sport events based on the SDT, arguing that both internal motivation and external perceived value of spectators had a significant positive effect on the behavioural intention to watch e-sport. Trail and James²³ found that intrinsic motivations such as aesthetics, knowledge acquisition, achievement, and extrinsic motivations such as family, escapism, positive pressure, and social interaction directly influence viewing behaviour among sports event audiences. Collectively, above studies indicate that the viewing behaviour of e-sports fans is influenced by diverse motivational factors, encompassing both intrinsic motivations such as leisure entertainment, belonging identification, idol worship, competitive stimulation, and extrinsic motivations such as social engagement and peripheral activities. Based on the above research, this study proposes Hypothesis 3:

H3

The combined influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation has a significant positive impact on the behaviour of watching live streams among e-sports fans.