Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of alcohol sponsorship-linked advertising through esports upon young gaming audiences and how gaming behaviours affect advertising response.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional survey study was employed to examine the prevalence and nature of alcohol advertising in esports, and the impact of esports participation upon young audiences' consumption and preferences concerning alcohol. Survey data were collected from 976 young Australian gamers aged between 16 and 34 years (58.9% male) using online questionnaires.

Findings

Results revealed a vulnerability to alcohol sponsorship and advertising among 25 to 34-year-old and heavy gamer cohorts. As predicted, heavy gamers were more receptive to alcohol advertising in terms of awareness, preference and consumption while gaming than casual gamers.

Practical implications

This research advances theories of consumer behaviour and advertising exposure situated in a new landscape of converging virtual and real experiential marketing. It also provides much-needed evidence to guide marketing strategy to the next-generation audiences and regulation of new and burgeoning digital platforms. Our research also highlights a need for policy to address the burgeoning, largely unregulated nature of online gaming.

Originality/value

This research provides the first empirical evidence of the impacts of alcohol-linked sponsorship in esports upon young playing and streaming audiences. It informs marketing strategy and policy in relation to the rapidly growing, potentially vulnerable online competitive gaming audience.

中文翻译：

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一个新领域：通过电子竞技激活酒精赞助

目的

本文的目的是研究通过电子竞技对与酒精赞助商相关联的广告对年轻游戏受众的影响，以及游戏行为如何影响广告响应。

设计/方法/方法

进行了一项横断面调查研究，以研究电子广告中酒精饮料广告的普遍性和性质，以及电子竞技参与对年轻受众的酒精消费和偏好的影响。使用在线问卷调查从976名年龄在16至34岁之间的澳大利亚年轻玩家（男性占58.9％）中收集了调查数据。

发现

结果显示，在25至34岁的游戏玩家群体中，酒精赞助和广告存在漏洞。如预料的那样，沉重的游戏玩家比休闲游戏玩家更容易接受酒精广告的认知度，偏好和消费。

实际影响

这项研究提出了在虚拟和现实体验营销融合的新格局中的消费者行为和广告曝光理论。它还提供了急需的证据，可将营销策略引导给下一代受众以及对新兴的数字平台的监管。我们的研究还强调了需要制定政策来应对新兴的，很大程度上不受监管的在线游戏。

创意/价值

这项研究提供了有关酒精相关赞助在电子竞技中对年轻玩家和流媒体观众的影响的第一个经验证据。它为与快速增长的，潜在脆弱的在线竞争游戏受众相关的营销策略和政策提供了信息。