This study examines the impact of esports fans’ innovativeness on licensed merchandise consumption, with fan knowledge as a mediating mechanism and psychological connection as a moderating factor. Grounded in innovation diffusion theory and the psychological continuum model, cross-sectional data from 466 active esports fans were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results show that fan innovativeness significantly predicts merchandise consumption, which is primarily mediated through knowledge about fans and knowledge for fans, whereas no significant mediation is found in knowledge from fans. Importantly, psychological connection negatively moderates these relationships such that higher emotional attachment dampens the effects of innovativeness on knowledge from fans, knowledge about fans, knowledge for fans, and purchase behavior. These findings highlight the complex interplay between emotional loyalty and cognitive openness, which suggests that strong psychological bonds may inhibit novelty-seeking behavior despite high levels of innovativeness. This study contributes to the esports marketing literature by extending sport fan behavior models to digital fandom contexts and offering strategic insights for managing emotionally engaged yet innovation-sensitive fan segments.
Wang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.