Research on Factors Influencing Attitude towards Advertising in Esports

Over the past few years, Esports has emerged as one of the fastest growing and most progressive industries. Scientific interest in this industry is also growing, however, to date, Esports has been poorly studied, including from the point of view of marketing communications. The relevance of the work is determined by the rapid growth and constant variability of the Esports industry that attracts more and more brands every year. The purpose of the study is to identify and study factors influencing the attitude of Esports competitions spectators towards advertising through Esports. In order to achieve this goal, a conceptual and terminological analysis of the concepts «Esports», «Esports audience» and «Attitude towards Advertising» was carried out, the main models describing the process of forming attitude towards advertising were considered and an overview of the current state and development prospects of the Esports industry was conducted. An important part of the work is a search study, consisting of two focus groups with spectators of Esports competitions. Data for quantitative research was collected using an online survey. The main data analysis methods used in the work are pairwise linear regression and compare means by the paired-samples T test. The empirical part of the research found that attitude towards advertising in Esports are positively influenced by more favorable attitude towards Esports and presence of Esports celebrity in the commercial. Based on the results of the research, practical recommendations were given to brands planning to promote their products through the Esports industry.