The role of nostalgia-evoking stimuli, consumption benefits and User Engagement in Perceived Value-in-Use in customers of LAN gaming centers

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Farshad Nosrati 1
Hossein Abdolmaleki 2
Seyyed Bahador Zakizadeh 1
1 Department of Sport Management, Karaj branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran
2 Associate Professor of Sport Management, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran
10.22034/ntsmj.2026.2051373.1164
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of nostalgia-evoking stimuli, consumption benefits and user engagement on the perceived value of customers of electronic sports centers. The current research was applied and correlational. The statistical population of this research was all the customers of electronic sports centers in Tehran. 378 questionnaires were used for statistical data analysis. In this research, a questionnaire was used to collect data. Data analysis at the level of inferential statistics, first the data distribution was checked using the Shapiro-Wilk test and due to the normality of the data distribution, structural equation model tests were used. The results of statistical tests showed that nostalgic stimuli play a role in the benefits of electronic sports consumption (β=0.311, p=0.000), the benefits of nostalgic electronic sports consumption play a role in customer interaction (β=0.408, p =0.000), the benefits of nostalgic consumption of electronic sports play a role in the customer's perceived value (β=0.312, p=0.000) and customer interaction plays a role in the perceived value (β=0.333, p= 0.000). Also, the benefits of nostalgia consumption in e-sports (cognitive benefit, emotional benefit and nostalgia benefit) as factors that both directly and indirectly affect the perceived value of gamers (such as cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions). Our findings confirm the centrality of consumers' (gamers') perceptions of nostalgia, which influence gamers' consumption behavior. We also adopted the PLS approach to quantify/estimate/validate consumer nostalgia as a reflexive model, thereby contributing to methodological development in the field of eSports.
Keywords
Cognitive Benefit
Customer Engagement
Longing Benefit
Nostalgia
Perceived Value
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