A Mediation Model Explaining the Intention to Attend Game Events: Identity Centrality, Harmonious Passion, and Gaming Social Capital

Abstract

Game events, such as game conventions and esports tournaments, have gained tremendous appeal as thriving tourist attractions. Despite this, there has been limited investigation of this emerging phenomenon in the existing literature on event tourism and event management. This study proposes a structural model to explore the relationships between the identity and passion of video game players and their behavioral intention to participate in on-site game events. The model specifies identity centrality and harmonious passion as antecedents, with gaming social capital serving as a mediator. Our findings reveal that whereas the centrality of identity as a gamer did not directly and significantly influence players’ event attendance intention, its indirect effect through gaming social capital was significantly positive. Harmonious passion, on the other hand, both directly and indirectly affected players’ behavioral at the significance level. In the analysis, gaming social capital functioned as a reliable mediator for bridging these relationships.