What are the primary motivations for college aged individuals' consumption of esports?

How have streaming apps influenced college aged individuals' esports participation?

How did the COVID-19 Pandemic and its lockdowns alter college aged individuals' esports participation?

The final product I plan to create is a written thesis report that accurately highlights my primary and secondary research on the growth of esports. This report will focus on the growth of esports specific to college aged individuals, and what factors have had the biggest impact on the industry's rise. The primary research will be collected through college aged esports players and consumers, no matter the level of play or experience, through a survey. Guided by the research questions above, I will seek information about subjects' opinions on where, why and how esports is growing, specific to esports consumers aged 18-24. After data collection, I will draw conclusions on the reason for esports growth, relative to the population and the survey’s respondents. This will supply a direct look into esports growth specific to college aged participants. 

The method of primary research in my final product will be collected through a survey. This way, data can be collected quickly and efficiently, while optimizing on a wide range of opinions from a variety of esports consumers. My target population will be college students who participate in esports as players, viewers, or fans, in order to understand the motivations of an everyday esports consumer. I will look for these groups by marketing social media posts specifically to esports and video game enjoyers, as well as posting the survey through on Reddit esports message boards and Twitch chats of the most popular gamers. Upon data collection, I will combine the new research with knowledge gained from my secondary research to provide information that points to potential factors and consumer motivations that have caused this media source to grow. 

My intended audience for this project is esports players, fans, professors, directors, and scholars also studying the matter. I believe my research will be of interest to these groups, and help the esports community further understand the current landscape of collegiate esports. Once completed, I intend to share my project with the Endicott esports department, as well as any other collegiate esports department that can benefit from my findings. I believe that the project will not only intrigue the esports community, but also the general public, as esports continues to make its way into mainstream media.