naa a22 4500 510759939 CHVBK 20180411083135.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180411e20131201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s12525-013-0127-5 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s12525-013-0127-5 Virtual worlds in competitive contexts: Analyzing eSports consumer needs [Elektronische Daten] [Thomas Weiss, Sabrina Schiele] More recently, 3D graphical environments on the Internet, that is virtual worlds, have moved to the center of scientific interest. Since virtual worlds are suggested to mold social computing, research has predominately focused on collaborative virtual worlds. Yet, virtual worlds increasingly move to competitive environments leaving operating businesses with the question as to what to offer in order to fulfill customers' needs. To close this knowledge gap, we examine competitive virtual worlds in terms of eSports services intrinsically tying cooperation and competition; we illuminate competitive and hedonic need gratifications of continuous eSports use. We apply Uses and Gratifications theory reporting on ten in-depth expert interviews as well as survey data collected from 360 eSports players. We reveal that both competitive (competition and challenge) and hedonic need gratifications (escapism) drive continuous eSports use. Institute of Information Management, University of St. Gallen, 2013 Virtual worlds nationallicence eSports nationallicence Uses and gratifications nationallicence Weiss Thomas Department of Business, Media and Technology Management, University of Cologne, Pohligstr. 1, 50969, Cologne, Germany aut Schiele Sabrina Department of Information Systems and Information Management, University of Cologne, Pohligstr. 1, 50969, Cologne, Germany aut Electronic Markets Springer Berlin Heidelberg 23/4(2013-12-01), 307-316 1019-6781 23:4<307 2013 23 12525 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-013-0127-5 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-013-0127-5 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Weiss Thomas Department of Business, Media and Technology Management, University of Cologne, Pohligstr. 1, 50969, Cologne, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Schiele Sabrina Department of Information Systems and Information Management, University of Cologne, Pohligstr. 1, 50969, Cologne, Germany aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Electronic Markets Springer Berlin Heidelberg 23/4(2013-12-01), 307-316 1019-6781 23:4<307 2013 23 12525 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer