Investigation of eSports Playing Intention Formation: The Moderating Impact of Gender

The purpose of this study was to examine the gender differences in the formation of esports gameplay intention. To this end, the determinants and esports gameplay intention were adopted from the Esports Consumption Model (ESC; Jang & Byon, 2020a). A total of 498 respondents (male = 54.2%; female = 45.8%) who were adults and had experienced esports gameplay responded to the online survey. We examined the measurement invariance to examine if the constructs were being measured equivalently across gender. Also, we tested for structural invariance to examine if causal relationships exist the same way across gender. Th e results indicated that gender differences exist in the paths between hedonic motivation, habit, social influence, and esports gameplay intention. The findings and implications were discussed theoretically and practically, and suggestions were made regarding future studies aimed at overcoming the limitations of the current study.