World of Streaming. Motivation and Gratification on Twitch

摘要

Within the gaming industry, live-streaming is becoming very popular as a form of online entertainment. Especially the so called social live streaming services (SLSSs) as a new type of social media have established in the last few years. Subsequently a new web topic-specific live streaming service solely for streaming video games has emerged. One of the most prominent and current examples is Twitch.tv which provides the opportunity for streamers to broadcast a game and react to viewers' comments just-in-time. The viewers however watch the stream with the option to communicate either with the streamer or with other participants through a chat. The main goal of this study is to determine the motivation and behavior of Twitch users. Therefore, a research model including research questions has been developed. This model contains the dimensions 'Information', 'Entertainment' and 'Socialization' which were investigated in relation to the average time spent on Twitch as well as potential expenses. The data for the analysis originates from a developed questionnaire (n = 791) and provides interesting results. One of the key findings reveals a connection between the time and money users spend on Twitch. Of particular note is also the significance of the dimension 'Socialization'.