Understanding the Role of Sport Values on Social Capital and Word-of-Mouth on the Internet: A Case Study of Esports Games

Due to the social nature of esports (i.e., organized video game competitions), recognizing common values and norms can be leveraged as a positive driver in online gaming communities. Different game categories such as sports simulation (i.e., esports based on real-life sport events) are driving their expansion through social interactions that foster new relationships among players, known as social capital (i.e., value created from social connections, relationships, and networks within the gaming community). Despite recent studies showing the social role of esports (e.g., on satisfaction, loyalty, or well-being), little empirically derived insight exists regarding its sport values, social capital formation and positive word-of-mouth in different gamer communities on the Internet. This study aims to achieve two objectives: (a) to examine how sports values (excellence, friendship and respect) influence the in-game social capital formation (bridging and bonding) and word-of-mouth intention by the esports players; and (b) to determine whether differences occur according to sports simulation and non-simulation games. Data were collected among esports players (n = 509), and the results were analyzed using structural equation modeling to test hypothesized relationships between the constructs and multigroup analysis to verify if the path coefficients differ among both game groups. Friendship value was the strongest predictor of bonding and bridging capital formation in both groups. The excellence value showed a positive effect on strong social ties created towards non-simulation games, while playing well or reaching high in-game performance did not contribute to creating bonding capital in sports simulation games. Both bonding and bridging capital were strong predictors of behavioral intentions. Social implications focus on cultivating the sportive values and enhancing social ties on player community as a way to share good experiences or to talk positively about the game. Esports industry should consider the well-established and mediating construct of social capital, strengthening in-game bonding, and bridging relations as a broader theoretical basis.