| The e-sports is currently growing rapidly and live e-sports events are showing great commercial value and interest.Companies expect business,investment,and returns through sponsorship of e-sports events.Many sponsorship advertisements appear on the game screen of live events.There is a great need to analyze the effects of sponsorship advertising in the e-sports field,but there is a lack of relevant empirical validation and research is yet to be done on the mechanisms underlying the impact of sponsorship advertising on audiences of live e-sports events.This study uses a hybrid research design combining experimental research and structural equation modeling to explore the advertising effects of live e-sports events based on a review of the literature and previous research.Firstly,a controlled experiment was conducted with a sample of e-sports audiences(N=81)to explore the differences in the perception of sponsored brands among e-sports audience subjects in a context with or without sponsorship advertising.Secondly,a sample of e-sports audiences(N=440)was surveyed using Smart-PLS SEM to verify the causal pathways between brand perceptions,brand attitudes,and purchase intentions in advertising effectiveness and a ’two-step’ approach was used to evaluate the measurement and structural models.The results of the experimental study showed that there were significant differences in the subjects’ attention,memory,and recognition of the sponsor’s brand with or without the stimulus of sponsorship advertising.The results of the structural equation modeling showed that brand perception had a direct positive influence on brand attitude,the brand attitude had a direct positive influence on purchase intention,and brand fit played a moderating role in the relationship between brand attitude and purchase intention.The main conclusions: sponsorship advertising for live e-sports events has an impact on audiences’ brand perceptions;theoretical models of advertising effectiveness are applicable in live e-sports events;brand fit is an important variable influencing the effectiveness of sponsorship advertising.Management marketing suggestions: improve the level of advertising design,optimize the form of advertising implantation,and improve the attractiveness of sponsorship advertising;focus on consumer expectations of the brand,increase brand-consumer interaction,showcase the brand image,and improve consumer brand attitude and purchase intentions;focus on the intrinsic connection between the brand and the event and improve consumer perception of the fit between the brand and the event.Research limitations: the use of event clips may have an effect on the experimental results;the representation of the student-based sample;the variability of sponsorship advertising in different e-sports events.Prospects for followup research: simulate the real audience viewing environment;consider the impact of different e-sports,different audience viewing motives,and other factors on the advertising effect;explore the advertising effect of e-sports events in an offline viewing environment;consider the sponsorship advertising value of e-sports players and e-sports teams. |
