Motivations for Watching Esports on TikTok: A Case of Wuhu Gen z students
Wang, Bofan; Liu, Mingjie (2025)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025060621334
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025060621334
Tiivistelmä
The use of esports platforms among college students has increased remarkably recently. The most famous of these platforms is TikTok, which has gained popularity due to its immersive, interactive, and engaging short videos. This study investigated the motivations behind Chinese college students growing consumption of esports through TikTok, based on insights from uses and gratification theory.
The study emphasized four dimensions of college student gratifications: entertainment, information seeking, social interactions, and personal identity. It was hypothesized that college students use TikTok esports content for entertainment, social interaction, information seeking, and to develop their personal identities. To confirm this, online surveys were administered with 150 participants from four universities in Wuhu, China. Descriptive statistics and chi square analyses were conducted to investigate motivations and relationships across the dimensions of gratification.
The results showed positive relationships among the various dimensions of the four gratifications, suggesting that the consumption of TikTok is due to the interplay of entertainment, social, informational, and emotional needs of college students.
The study emphasized four dimensions of college student gratifications: entertainment, information seeking, social interactions, and personal identity. It was hypothesized that college students use TikTok esports content for entertainment, social interaction, information seeking, and to develop their personal identities. To confirm this, online surveys were administered with 150 participants from four universities in Wuhu, China. Descriptive statistics and chi square analyses were conducted to investigate motivations and relationships across the dimensions of gratification.
The results showed positive relationships among the various dimensions of the four gratifications, suggesting that the consumption of TikTok is due to the interplay of entertainment, social, informational, and emotional needs of college students.