Analysis of the Behavior of E-Sports and Streaming Consumers in Latin America

The e-sports and streaming industries have experienced explosive growth in recent years, reaching audiences of millions of people around the world. Latin America is a region that has been partly left aside by scientific research in this field, which is mostly because this region is small compared to Asia or North America in terms of e-sports streaming. Therefore, it is necessary to build a model of the final consumers of these industries in order to understand continuance intention in the context of online videogames in this region. This study used the uses and gratifications theory to model the behavior of consumers of e-sports and streaming in the case of Riot Games Latino America Sur, specifically players of League of Legends. A survey was applied to 484 actual players, obtaining a R-2 of continuance intention equal to 0.39, i.e., 39% of the error variance of this factor is explained by its exogenous latent variables. Furthermore, the model concluded that the variables that best predict continuance intention (CI) are social interaction (SI), social presence (SP) and enjoyment (E), while the variables achievement (A), self-presentation (S), fantasy (F) and escapism (RE) are not significant. Finally, a cluster analysis conducted did not identify clear segments among Latin American players.