CONSUMERS' ATTITUDES TOWARDS PERSONAL BRANDING ON TWITCH.TV AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT PURCHASE INTENTION - TOBIAS NILSSON - DIVA
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Consumers' attitudes towards personal
branding on Twitch.tv and their subsequent
purchase intention
Tobias Nilsson
Economics, bachelor's level
2020
Luleå University of Technology
Department of Business Administration, Technology and Social SciencesConsumers’ attitudes towards personal branding on
Twitch.tv and their subsequent purchase intention
Tobias Nilsson
Luleå, 2020
Bachelor of Science in Business and Economics
Luleå University of TechnologyAcknowledgements
This bachelor thesis began in early April 2020 and was finalized at the start of June 2020 for
the bachelor marketing degree. It marks the end of my finished studies at Luleå University of
Technology (LTU).
At the time of this report the covid-19 pandemic occurred which complicated matters, so I
would like to sincerely thank my supervisor Joseph Vella who did his absolute best to help me
carry this project out even if we had to deal with technical issues!
I would also want to thank my family and friends who kept me sane at times, and all the
respondents who took their time to help me out.
Luleå, June 2020
______________________
Tobias NilssonAbstract Through the past decade live streaming has grown to be a greater sensation, creating a competitive scene among those involved. Live streamers are able to broadcast their daily life or their gameplay sessions while also interacting with viewers. As this is a relatively new phenomenon it has not yet been fully explored, and it is missing critical research in how attitudes and purchase intention among viewers change with different factors. Previous research has shown that elements such as demographics, content consumption and behavioral aspects might increase viewers’ purchase intention. Furthermore, in accordance with attitudinal theory, attitudes have been shown to correlate with the general purchase intention, when it comes to Internet users. This study was therefore conducted to fill the gap in knowledge regarding personal branding on Twitch.tv, or Twitch in short, and how it affects attitudes with its subsequent purchase intention. This research adopted an exploratory approach as it aimed to “explore the unknown” and to provide pertinent data for future studies. This was realized via a qualitative method of semi- structured one-to-one interviews involving both streamers and viewers. Findings show that two aspects of personal branding on Twitch have a greater potential of affecting attitudes; namely personalities of a streamer and the type of content they provide. If these two are managed well there are implications of positive attitudes among the viewers and subsequently an intention to purchase. Keywords: Personal Branding, Live Streaming, Purchase Intention, Attitudes, Twitch.tv
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1
1.1. Background ...................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Problem Discussion .......................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Research Purpose .............................................................................................................. 3
1.4 Research Questions........................................................................................................... 4
1.5 Delimitations .................................................................................................................... 5
2. Literature Review ................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 Personal Branding............................................................................................................. 6
2.2 Attitudes............................................................................................................................ 7
2.3 Brand Personality ............................................................................................................. 9
2.4 Purchase Intention .......................................................................................................... 10
2.5 Brand Awareness ............................................................................................................ 11
2.6 Frame of Reference ........................................................................................................ 11
3. Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 13
3.1 Research Purpose ............................................................................................................ 13
3.2 Research Approach ......................................................................................................... 13
3.3 Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 14
3.3.1 Interviews ................................................................................................................. 14
3.3.2 Literature Search ...................................................................................................... 15
3.4 Sample Selection ............................................................................................................ 15
3.5 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................. 16
3.6 Credibility ....................................................................................................................... 16
3.7 Ethics .............................................................................................................................. 17
4. Empirical Data...................................................................................................................... 18
4.1 Personal Branding on Twitch ......................................................................................... 18
4.1.1 Various Types of Streamers ..................................................................................... 184.1.2 Importance of Personality ........................................................................................ 18
4.1.3 Other factors of Personal Branding .......................................................................... 19
4.2 Discovery and Attitudes ................................................................................................. 19
4.3 Attitudes and Purchase Intention .................................................................................... 20
4.4 Personal Branding’s effect on Viewers .......................................................................... 22
5. Data Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 25
5.1 Personal Branding on Twitch ......................................................................................... 25
5.2 Personal Branding, Attitudes and Purchase Intention .................................................... 26
6. Findings and Conclusions .................................................................................................... 29
6.1 Conclusions of Research Questions ............................................................................... 29
6.1.1 RQ1: What are the main characteristics of personal branding on Twitch according to
the streamers themselves? ................................................................................................. 30
6.1.2 RQ2: How do viewers normally perceive their own attitudes on Twitch and how do
these, in turn, affect their purchase intention? .................................................................. 30
6.1.3 RQ3: What are the main factors that affect the viewers’ attitudes towards a streamer?
........................................................................................................................................... 31
6.2 General Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 31
6.3 Limitations ...................................................................................................................... 32
6.4 Implications for Streamers.............................................................................................. 33
6.5 Theoretical Implications ................................................................................................. 33
6.6 Directions for future research ......................................................................................... 34
Reference List .......................................................................................................................... 35
Appendices ............................................................................................................................... 41
Appendix A: Streamer Interview Guide ............................................................................... 41
Appendix B: Viewer Interview Guide .................................................................................. 42Table of Figures Figure 2.1: Theory of Reasoned Action…………………………………………….…………8 Figure 2.1: Frame of Reference………………………………………………………………. 12 Figure 5.1: Frame of reference adjusted for analyzed data…………………………………… 27 Table of Tables Table 1.1: Research Questions……………………………………………………………….. 4 Table 4.1: Empirical Data……………………………………………………………………. 23 Table 6.1: Research Questions Explained……………………………………………..…….. 29
1. Introduction
In this chapter the background of live streaming on Twitch including the problems involved will
be described. The research purpose along with the research questions will be clarified and
delimitations will be made clear.
Live streaming, also simply called streaming, is a newer phenomenon which has taken the world
by storm, and with this, created a greater competitive scene among those involved. The main
goal of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of consumers’, also referred to as the
“viewers”, attitudes towards personal branding and their subsequent purchase intention.
1.1. Background
With the rise of live streaming platforms established throughout the past decade, there has been
a new market created for both broadcasters and consumers to explore. A broadcaster, or
streamer as they will be referred to, is able to broadcast their content to a website which provides
a place for viewers to watch, chat, subscribe, donate and more. This content could for instance
be video games, cooking, drawing, vlogging, singing, playing instruments and chatting with
viewers (Deets, 2018). To maintain a stable flow of viewers there is a need to brand oneself and
to continuously strive to improve and grow. If a streamer desires success they must create an
incentive strong enough for the viewer to take action and support the streamer in the ways
possible (Twitch, 2017).
One of the major live streaming platforms, Twitch.tv, has been around since 2011 when it
derived from another former live streaming website, Justiv.tv. Justin.tv was created back in
2007 and was one of the earlier stages of live streaming introduced on the internet. The founder
Justin Kan used to walk around with a camera to parks, events and bars while streaming it to
an audience all night and day (Rice, 2012). This was only the start of their business which came
to develop Twitch.tv. Once Twitch launched, DiPietro (2011) described it as “Competitive
video gaming community, coming together to broadcast competition live online, leveraging all-
new features designed specifically for gamers.”. The focus was mainly on gaming but has since
taken a wide variety of approaches to better suit the audience and is no longer mainly focusing
on gaming. As a comparison for its growth; during February 2020 there were 3.8 million
1streamers broadcasting, compared to 2012 when it stood at 300.000 broadcasts per month (Iqbal,
2020).
When people start streaming there will be no revenue to instantly obtain. If they maintain a
view count of three or more concurrent viewers among other requirements they do qualify to
be a Twitch affiliate. At this stage there will be an option for viewers to subscribe at $4.99,
$9.99 and $24.99 per month (Twitch, 2020). Each different tier will give the viewer emotes to
use on the website as a whole as well as ad-free content, but the main reason is typically to
support the streamer and their content. These emotes are mostly created to express emotions in
an easier way and are created individually by each streamer. There are also different types of
actions which a viewer may take such as giving microtransactional donations, or so called ‘bits’.
One ‘bit’ correlates to one cent, so 100 bits would be $1. If a streamer holds 75 concurrent
viewers or more among other requirements they may qualify to be a Twitch partner. When
being in the partner program the streamer can play ads to receive revenue, have better features
benefitting both the streamer and viewer along with the previously mentioned methods of
revenue (Twitch, 2020).
With a major platform like Twitch there will be fierce competition between the streamers to
maintain the viewers they have. To create incentives for the viewer to stay the streamer must
create an enjoyable channel environment, find a niche that works for them, utilize events,
giveaways or similar. Personal branding allows them to get out of the crowd which could benefit
them in both an increase of viewers, as well as the viewers’ attitudes and subsequent purchase
intention (as in subscribing and such). Foster (2016) argues that streamers who succeed in
getting themselves “out there” tend to earn a substantial income from advertising revenue,
sponsorships, subscriptions and donations (or tips as many call it).
The correlation between attitudes and purchase intentions has been studied for a long time, but
not so much in the current area of streaming. Literature and research is sparse which shows a
need for further exploration as this is a major market which should not be overlooked. Vrountas
(2020) does however mention that several elements such as how content is consumed,
demographics and behavioral information may also affect consumers’ purchase intention.
Attitudes have been shown to increase consumers’ purchase intentions for general internet users,
2and this may play a role here as well (George, 2002). With this in mind there will now be a
clarification of the topic at hand and the main purpose of the study.
1.2 Problem Discussion
During 2005 YouTube was born and created a new platform for people to explore, ultimately
becoming a competitor to television and its media (Darcey, 2016). They opened up a new giant
market of video streaming which made more and more people interested in the concept. As
soon as websites such as Justin.tv, Ustream and Livestream were created for live streaming
content back in 2007, it fascinated people and made them realize that it might have a great
potential (Rice, 2012). Going from 300 000 monthly broadcasters in 2012 to around 3.8 million
during February 2020, Twitch has shown a massive increase in popularity (Iqbal, 2020). With
a great increase of new broadcasters comes greater competition which makes it more difficult
to be successful in this line of business. Live streaming is an area which has not been around
for a long time and competition was not as intense when it started out around 2007 (Rice, 2012).
It is easy to miss out on new potential market areas such as live streaming, but with its increase
in popularity over the past decade it shows a great capability for the people’s careers. If
streamers seek popularity and success they will most likely be required to figure out a strategy
that works for them and then be consistent with it. A long-term goal for a streamer could be that
they have created brand awareness for their own channel on the website as a whole, and with
that attract more people to check one out. Twitch (2017) themselves explained that to achieve
success, a streamer must create a reputation for yourself, be consistent, and find out what your
viewers want. If you forget to develop your personal brand in a way which properly fits the
community it may cause the viewers to form a negative attitude towards you as a streamer,
resulting in a lower level of purchase intention. It is with this in mind that it has become crucial
to explore and highlight the importance of personal branding and how attitudes are created from
such. This leads us to the purpose of this study.
1.3 Research Purpose
Considering the previously mentioned statements, the proposed research purpose of this study
will be as following:
3“Understand how personal branding on Twitch affect viewers’ attitudes and their subsequent
purchase intention”
This exploratory research aims to provide a better understanding of the importance of personal
branding for live streamers, on Twitch, and to which extent it affects the viewers’ attitudes and
subsequent purchase intention.
1.4 Research Questions
Leading the research problem with research questions is critical to properly grasp the topic and
find the right information needed. Three research questions have been created and stand as
following:
Table 1.1: Research Questions
Research Question Explanation
RQ1: “What are the main characteristics of The streamers will be asked what they
personal branding on Twitch according to themselves consider as important when
the streamers themselves?” maintaining their personal brand. This is to
understand the most significant aspects of
personal branding on Twitch and to not
concentrate on less important elements.
RQ2: “How do viewers normally perceive Understanding what drives the viewers to
their own attitudes on Twitch and how do take action is of main focus in this study.
these, in turn, affect their purchase Attitudes and how they affect the purchase
intention?” intention will be explored. Here it is crucial
to notice the importance of personal branding
and how it affects the purchase intention.
RQ3: “What are the main factors that affect Even if a viewer did not previously have an
the viewers’ attitudes towards a streamer?” intention to act it does not mean that they
would not in the future. This helps to
acknowledge what factors a streamer could
concentrate on to create the best intentions
from a viewer.
4These research questions are mainly focusing on personal branding and its implications on
attitudes and the subsequent purchase intentions. If these can be understood the research
purpose may be achieved. It is also important to consider what the main properties of a personal
brand on Twitch might be to understand all aspects that a streamer deals with. Research question
1 is from the streamers’ perspective, while research question 2 and 3 are from the viewers’.
1.5 Delimitations
This study is delimited to Twitch.tv and how the viewers’ attitudes and purchase intention
becomes affected by personal branding there. If more streaming websites would be considered
it could make the topic too broad. While this research takes both viewers’ and streamers’ point
of view in consideration, it is mainly concentrating on the viewers. Because of the time given
to do the research it would also be difficult to properly handle the area. Characteristics such as
age, sex and location of the viewer is not tracked as this is not relevant for this study. The
purchase intention is delimited to only involve subscriptions, donating in any form and similar
means to support the streamer. Other purchase intentions for products such as Twitch’s own
service products would not be relevant to this study and will therefore not be considered.
52. Literature Review
The literature review chapter aims to present the theories and terms and how they connect to
the research purpose of this thesis. In this study these correspond to the marketing area,
branding, attitudes and purchase intentions in particular. The terms and theories concluded in
this chapter will be Personal Branding, Attitudes, Brand Personality, Purchase Intention and
Brand Awareness.
2.1 Personal Branding
Personal branding is a long-standing marketing term which focuses on the image of a person
rather than a company’s product for instance. Personal branding may be defined as a marketing
effort which a person adopts to promote oneself towards the market instead of a product in
particular (Khedher, 2015). McNally (2002) further describes it as identifying the competencies,
standards and style for a person. Maintaining a personal brand may have three steps; (1)
establishing a brand identity and standing out of the crowd, (2) positioning the brand with the
use of behavior management, communication and symbolism, and (3) evaluating the image of
said brand (Khedher, 2014). They added that these practices tended to improve the
competitiveness among people on a crowded job market. Chen (2013) mentions that a brand
can be considered as a product, organization, person or symbol. They claim that a personal
brand can have its own personality to be strategically implemented for the impression of
consumers. Both Chen (2013) and Naresh (2012) argue that uniqueness and key identifying
attributes of said personality would act as their identity and should carefully be maintained.
Brand personality has also shown to significantly affect brand attitudes, and brand attitudes, in
turn, have shown to increase purchase intention (Pradhan, Duraipandian and Sethi, 2016).
There are several types of segments where a person can brand themselves. To achieve the
desired success one must find their fitting segment (Wedel, 2000). Ip and Jacobs (2005) mention
that there are two segments which stands out in the video-game market, casual- and hardcore
gamer. They argue that these two include significant attitudinal differences which should be
considered by the market. Smith, Obrist and Wright (2013) adds that gamer-streamers can brand
themselves by choosing between three identified communities; e-sports, “Let’s Play” and
speedrunning. They describe e-sports as a competitive scene where players compete with each
other in tournaments and alike. This is similar to how speedrunning is a challenge whereas
6people try to beat a game as fast as possible, creating a competitive scene among those involved
(Smith et. al 2013). They also define a “Let’s Player” as a casual gamer who mainly strives to
entertain their viewers. Smith et. al. (2013) adds that the distinction between the three is that
both e-sports and speedrunning tends to have a competitive scene, while a “Let’s Play” is more
casual.
If personal branding is managed well there will be implications for the success of sales
(Labrecque, Markos, Milne, 2011). Labrecque et. al. (2011) further argue that a personal brand
must capture and promote the individual’s unique assets along with their strengths. This is
parallel to how companies brand their products. If they do not maintain their branding strategies
well enough, there is a risk of them losing their customer base, and with that revenue. Brems
et. al. (2017) describe the personal brand of a journalist on Twitter as an important aspect to
increase their so called “market value”. Similar to this statement there are strong implications
towards success and a higher value whenever the personal brand is standing out compared to
others and creating positive attitudes (Twitch, 2020). This brings us to the next concept,
attitudes.
2.2 Attitudes
Attitudes have been a subject of research for a long time with many definitions. Albarracin
(2018) defines attitudes as a part of social psychology which can be divided into beliefs,
intentions, behaviors and goals. Each part affects the attitude in some way and are ultimately
put forth to an evaluation. This evaluation determines the end result of an attitude towards an
object or a person, which goes hand in hand with what Parment (2015) defines it as. Parment
continues with relating attitudes to feelings and experiences with a certain product or service
and mentions that they will determine if the consumer will establish a purchase intention from
it. Furthermore, both Wu (2009) and Pradhan et. al. (2016) add that an attitude towards a brand
forms the connection between the consumers’ behavior and behavioral intention. Wu (2009)’s
study showed a significant correlation between brand awareness and how attitudes are affected,
and thereafter purchase intentions. According to Keller (1993) attitudes also form a basis for
consumer behavior which in itself derive from consumers’ intentions. They also bring up the
functional theory of attitudes which argues that attitudes can serve as a “value-expressive”
function. This model makes use of consumers expressing their self-concept, or beliefs, of a
product or service’s attributes and / or benefits to get a general perception of it. Brands can use
7this to avoid unwanted situations where their brand is perceived as negative or acknowledge
when it is desirable.
The theory of reasoned action (TRA) is a concept which links attitudes and intentions together.
According to this model, as seen in figure 2.1 below, beliefs and salient information affect the
behavioral intentions through attitudes and subjective norms. Other external variables are also
assumed to affect the behavioral intention, but through attitudes or subjective norms. (Madden,
Ellen, Ajzen, 1992) Ajzen (1991) also claimed that intentions can be accessed with the help of
understanding attitudes, and attitudes with the help from beliefs. A general rule which Ajzen
mentions is that the stronger a consumer’s intention is, the more likely it is for them to act.
Figure 2.1: Theory of Reasoned Action
Source: Madden et. al. (1992)
It is important to note that this model aims to explain volitional behaviors. Behaviors such as
impulsive, habitual or cravings are excluded as they might not be seen as a conscious decision.
(Hale, Householder and Greene, 2002) Hale et. al. (2002) further argues that a person can form
either positive or negative attitudes depending on beliefs of whatever is evaluated. These
attitudes will then affect the subsequent behavioral intention which is parallel with how Han
(2020) perceived the connection. Ajzen (2001) also identified that strong attitudes tend to be
more resistant to change while also having beliefs which are more accessible.
8Pradhan et. al. (2016) mentions a component of attitudes which has demonstrated to evoke
positive emotions among consumers, brand personality. This concept will now be explored and
linked together with attitudes.
2.3 Brand Personality
Mischel (1996) mentions that personality is a characteristic which is often associated with the
term behavior and is built on constructs such as complexes, needs and motivations, anxieties,
habits, ego and so on. Parment (2015) further argues that personality consists of the
psychological attributes that an individual carries and which may affect their behavior and
attitudes. He also explains that a brand can express different types of personalities and emotions
to properly fit the targeted segment of consumers. Furthermore, Toldos-Romero and Orozco-
Gómez (2015) claimed that there is a significant correlation between strong brand personalities
and purchase intention. Pradhan et. al. (2016) adds that brand personalities which are desirable
among consumers tend to result in favorable brand evaluations. They claim that brands which
match the consumers’ personalities will encourage positive attitudes, and with that a higher
purchase intention.
A 5-factor model of personality, also named “Big Five”, structured personality under 5 different
categories; neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and
conscientiousness (Judge, Higgins, Thoresen, Barrik, 1999). The personality category of
neuroticism handles anxiety and stress as well as insecurity and depression. One could say that
it examines the emotional stability and problems which a person deals with. Extraversion
involves how social a person might be. People who typically score high on this personality trait
tend to be more active and impulsive while also taking the role of a leader. Conscientiousness
can be divided into three different aspects; achievement orientation, dependability and
orderliness. It could be seen as the amount of self-control the individual has. Someone who
scores high on openness to experience is usually characterized by flexibility and creativity while
someone with a high degree of agreeableness tends to be cooperative, good-natured, cheerful
and gentle. All of the personality traits have different implications on career success, either
good or bad. (Judge et. al., 1999)
92.4 Purchase Intention
Purchase intention is the phenomena whereas a consumer has the desire to acquire a product,
but not if the purchase necessarily happens (Chang and Wildt, 1994). This is parallel to Morwitz
(2014) and Jayesh (2015) who imply that the purchase intention itself does not correspond to a
purchase behavior itself, but solely the intention of doing the said purchase. Societal, emotional,
logical, moral, psychological and economic factors may make a difference for purchase
intentions and will be crucial to consider (Renu, 2020). Several studies such as Pradhan et. al.
(2016), Wu (2009), Ilicic (2011), Keller (1993) links purchase intention as a consequence of
attitudes. There are also theory frameworks such as TRA which define the relationship between
them as significant (Madden et. al, 1992). Ajzen (1991) mentions that the volitional control
which a person possesses is linked to their behavioral intention. The beliefs which attitudes are
grounded on can be either positive, leading to increased purchase intention, or negative, leading
to a decreased purchase intention. This relation between attitudes and intentions was also
identified in other studies and areas such as Ratcliff et. al. (2006) who investigated how direct
thinking might affect beliefs and the subsequent intention of participating in activities not
usually seen as appealing. Such accessible beliefs may be influenced to create an attitude which
benefits the following intention as well (Ajzen, 2001).
Another aspect which can affect the purchase intention is brand personality. Wang (2009)
mentions that there is a significant correlation between brand personality, which is perceived to
be strong and positive, and the purchase intention that follows. They also highlight that
consumers with a positive attitude towards the specific brand personality tend to remember the
brand and recommend it to others. The perceived value among consumers of a brand may also
increase when the brand is synonymous with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) according
to Servera-Francés and Piqueras-Tomás (2019). This value would thereafter affect their
attitudinal loyalty and satisfaction received, and as the authors add, consumer satisfaction itself
influences their purchase intention.
Whenever a brand is perceived in a positive way, it is more likely that it will make more
consumers aware of the brand, and with that the subsequent purchase intention (Han, 2020). He
claims that while negative buzz does increase the brand awareness, it also leads to a negative
purchase intention. With the rise of the Internet it has also been increasingly easier for
consumers to find information to evaluate before forming purchase intentions (Lu, Chang and
10Chang, 2014). They mention that reviews sharing attitudes may influence how other consumers
perceive the brand and if they want to associate with it.
2.5 Brand Awareness
Percy (1992) treats brand awareness as a dichotomy that involves both recall and recognition
objectives. Whenever a brand is created for either a person or company there is a strong need
for creating awareness among potential consumers. Both Percy (1992) and Hutt (2013)
emphasizes the importance of brand awareness as opposed to brand recognition. When a
product is mentioned a consumer might recall that they have heard of the brand, but they would
otherwise not be able to name the brand on the top of their head. Han (2020) relates branding
to both negative and positive buzz and that they respectively affect the brand awareness. Even
if the buzz around a brand is negative it still puts traces in the consumers’ minds. As Han (2020)
mentions, the effect will greatly depend on the situation. The brand may still benefit from the
negative buzz in the end as more consumers on the market became aware of it. Han also implies
that people tend to forget about the negative buzz while they still keep their recognition of the
brand.
Wu (2009) did as previously mentioned find that brand awareness strongly influences the brand
image, and with that brand attitudes. They indicate that if a brand is seen as a “brand leader”
there is a high chance that they are perceived as high-value, good quality and other capabilities.
Positive consciousness among consumers thereafter tend to create a beneficial attitude, leading
to purchase intention.
2.6 Frame of Reference
The study set a research purpose of understanding how personal branding on Twitch affect
viewers’ attitudes and their subsequent purchase intention which then would be answered with
the three research questions seen below.
RQ1: “What are the main characteristics of personal branding on Twitch according to the
streamers themselves??”
RQ2: “How do viewers normally perceive their own attitudes on Twitch and how do these, in
turn, affect their purchase intention?”
RQ3: “What are the main factors that affect the viewers’ attitudes towards a streamer?”
11These research questions may be answered with the guidance from concepts such as personal
branding, attitudes and purchase intention. A frame of reference has been constructed and can
be seen in the figure below.
Personal Attitudes Purchase
Branding Intention
RQ1 RQ2 & RQ3 RP
Figure 2.2: Frame of Reference
This study aims to examine the effects on attitudes by personal branding and how attitudes, in
turn, affect the subsequent purchase intent. Among the attitudes it is also important to recognize
brand awareness and brand personality of a streamer as these may be interconnected. Brand
personality is seen as a part of attitudes in this instance and will not be included in the model
as a stand-alone component. An important distinction is that a purchase intention does not
necessarily result in an actual purchase (Chang and Wildt, 1994). Whenever a consumer has a
positive attitude they might have a desire to buy a product which classifies as the purchase
intention according to Renu (2020). This study will therefore not consider the behavior created
by the consumers’ purchase intention.
123. Methodology
The methodology chapter presents the method of choice to be able to explore the research
purpose and answer the research questions. Furthermore the chapter presents how data was
collected and from whom. The chapter will also explain the platform of choice for data
collecting and how it was done.
3.1 Research Purpose
The research purpose which this thesis followed was to understand how personal branding on
Twitch affects viewers’ attitudes and with that their purchase intention. While attitudes and
purchase intention have been studied for a long time, they have not been fully explored within
a live streaming platform context such as Twitch. An exploratory research purpose is therefore
suitable for this type of study because of its new area of research. Moreover, the research may
be useful for further studies as a basis which also creates an incentive for it to be exploratory.
3.2 Research Approach
To properly answer the research purpose and question there is a need to determine if a
quantitative or qualitative approach is the most appropriate. Depending on the needed data the
options will differ. A qualitative approach tends to have an interview or similar methods to
gather more personal data while quantitative research will have more respondents with less
personal opinions (David & Sutton, 2017).
For this study a qualitative approach was taken to answer how viewers’ attitudes towards
personal branding on Twitch affects their purchase intention. The qualitative research was made
with two different branches in mind; from a streamer, and viewer perspective. A total of three
interviews were conducted with partnered Twitch streamers to understand their view on
personal branding and what it involves. The reason for this was that they have been involved in
it and are more likely to be aware of what aspects are prominent on Twitch. A total of 8 viewers
were interviewed to further answer research question 2 and 3. As these research questions
mainly concentrated on the viewers’ perception and attitudes it is of importance to mainly
consider these. Once the interviews did not give new information they were determined to be
sufficient.
13During a study it is possible to take either a deductive or inductive approach. An inductive
method is explorative and attempts to analyze the data without setting up hypotheses and later
test them. It is also often connected to qualitative research (David & Sutton, 2017). Considering
this, an inductive approach was taken as the research aims to explore the data without setting
any hypotheses.
3.3 Data Collection
Data can be collected through both secondary and primary sources. Secondary data can be
characterized as data which the users themselves did not collect, and primary is data which they
themselves did collect (David & Sutton, 2017). In this study the use of both were utilized in the
form of interviews and search through literature databases.
3.3.1 Interviews
Interviews are as David & Sutton (2017) mention a method to collect qualitative data. These
are mostly performed on a one-to-one basis, but can also be conducted through phone or
computer. Three types of interviews exist; structured, semi-structured and unstructured. David
& Sutton (2017) explain that a semi-structured interview gives certain freedom in what the
respondent may answer, including any follow-up questions, if so needed. This semi-structured
type of interview was applied in this study as the interviewees’ thoughts and ideas were of main
importance. It was possible to structure the interview questions while still letting the
respondents say what they thought about the topic.
As a form of interview guidance, the interview questions were based on a scale named
“Attitudes toward the spokesperson” created by Martin, Lee and Yang (2004). This scale makes
use of five, five-point bi-polar adjectives which are used to measure an attitude towards the
individual features. For example, a scale may range from “not believable” to “very believable”
or “not persuasive” to “very persuasive”. The reason to use this scale was to use a reliable scale
which has been utilized in the past with a known past of being applicable. However, this scale
is normally used under quantitative circumstances. A qualitative approach could nevertheless
make use of it by for example questioning the respondents how likely they are to take action
for distinctive situations. Questions formed around this scale kept the semi-structured
interviews in mind to still allow freedom for the respondents’ answers.
14Primary data was collected in two batches; the first one from streamers and later from the
viewers. It was mainly collected through written one-to-one interviews, but also through voice
chat as the target market is primarily online and across several countries. The oral interviews
were later transcribed, with each participant’s approval, for easier access during analysis.
3.3.2 Literature Search
The secondary data which has been used throughout the research has been found through Luleå
Tekniska Universitets database, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar as these were
fitting for the research area. As this is an area which has scarce amount of data, some was also
collected from various websites with reliable yet relevant data such as Twitch’s official website.
When searching for literature the following keywords have been used: Personal Branding,
Marketing, Branding, Twitch.tv, Live Streaming, Streaming, Purchase Intention, Brand
Awareness, Brand Personality and Attitudes. Most keywords have been used together as well
as different variations of them such as Intention and Intent to get a better result.
3.4 Sample Selection
Defining the correct population is important to not accidentally include other non-relevant
sources. Depending on how big this population is, different methods to research them can be
taken. If it consists of a large number of people one can simply make use of samples instead.
(David & Sutton, 2017)
As the population of Twitch users is of great numbers it is easier to investigate a population
sample instead. The represented population of this study has two branches once again; the
streamers and the viewers on Twitch. Interviewed viewers were chosen from different
communities to get variation. They were first asked about their activity on the website to make
sure that they could answer the interview questions and give meaningful information.
Considerations for age or sex were not taken as they were deemed to be irrelevant for the study.
Streamers who have actively been working with personal branding and marketing themselves
were chosen to have a proper representation. If they did not work actively on these aspects they
would likely not be able to answer as thoroughly. The streamers selected had a viewer base of
around 500-2000 concurrent viewers and were considered small- to medium sized streamers.
153.5 Data Analysis
An inductive method of analysis was taken in this study, this means that the data was analyzed
without the use of coding, formulas or other mathematical tendencies. Once all data had been
collected it was put in one place to easily access it. The answers from all respondents weighed
as much as any other, so none of their opinions were trivialized. By comparing the different
answers it was also possible to group general thoughts which most respondents agreed upon.
The general thoughts were then chosen to answer the research questions. A few respondents
had additional answers which act as an exception in the collected data, but it was still considered.
Even if they gave comments which other did not, it was still valuable information.
3.6 Credibility
Credibility can be seen as a sense of believability. Castillo, Mendoza and Poblete (2011)
mention that you must offer a reasonable ground to stand on for your research. David and Sutton
(2017) add that the validity of a study can be divided into two parts; internal and external. The
internal aspect measures if the collected data really represents the sample group, while the
external part measures if the data is representative for the population as a whole. The data was
collected from different communities to create a diversity of opinions among the respondents.
However with the limited time it was not possible to interview a larger sample group. With this
selection it is likely that the internal validity is greater than the external as there is close contact
with the individuals during a qualitative interview. The issue at hand was nevertheless studied
in an objective way to not let subjective opinions or bias from the writer influence the results.
With the reason for the research approach a semi-structured interview was created to achieve
most relevant information possible while still keeping it within the frames of the study. As
David & Sutton (2017) mentioned, it is likely that a greater amount of irrelevant information is
captured if the interview is unstructured, while a structured one could be too restricted. With
this in mind the respondents were given the freedom to give an answer that was relevant and
not out of topic which makes the data more reliable.
163.7 Ethics
While conducting a research the aim is to consider the integrity of the involved parties.
Vetenskapsrådet (2017) put eight rules to follow when conducting a study which have been
considered in the creation of this research.
• You shall tell the truth about your research.
• You shall consciously review and report the basic premises of your studies.
• You shall openly account for your methods and results.
• You shall openly account for your commercial interests and associations.
• You shall not make unauthorized use of research results of others.
• You shall keep your research organized, for example through documentation and filling.
• You shall strive to conduct your research without doing harm to people, animals or the
environment.
• You shall be fair in your judgement of others’ research.
Any sources of information used in this have been used objectively without adding or removing
any type of information from it. Respondents were told that they will remain anonymous and
that they also could cancel the interview at any time. A time was set up which best fit them to
not force them to participate during an inconvenient time.
174. Empirical Data
In this chapter all the data proposed by interviewees will be presented. Data collected for
personal branding is collected from streamers while the viewers were questioned regarding the
rest. The section will first explore the collected data and then a summary will show the main
points at the end of the chapter.
4.1 Personal Branding on Twitch
Understanding the most significant elements of personal branding on Twitch is of importance
to not lay considerable attention to its smaller details. Three streamers were interviewed to
understand how they themselves perceive personal branding on Twitch. These respondents will
be labeled Respondent S-A, S-B and S-C. All the respondents have been streaming on Twitch
for almost 8 years, but not all of them have been in the partnered program for this long.
Respondent S-C partnered up with Twitch back in 2013 while S-A and S-B did so back in 2012.
4.1.1 Various Types of Streamers
When questioned about the first thing that came to mind when hearing the term personal
branding on Twitch, there seemed to be a general understanding. Respondent S-C mentioned
that Twitch has different types of streamers one can label themselves as. These could include
“pro-gamer” in which the player concentrates on one game, gets very good at it, attends
tournaments and similar venues. These people are mostly known for their skill and they end up
gaining views as a result. There are also other streamers who work more on their community
and tend to do a variety of streams. As respondent S-A mentioned; these streamers might play
a newly released game one day, while cooking in front of their audience on another day. All
respondents agreed upon the importance of streamers identifying their own niche, based on
their respective competencies..
4.1.2 Importance of Personality
A term which often came up during the interviews was personality, and how this may enable
streamers to brand themselves. The interviewees meant that while it is possibly to achieve
success without investing much of your personality, it is not very likely. Respondent S-C
described how some streamers who reached their peak with their respective skills, may even
stream without the use of microphone and webcam, while others convey a lot of their emotions
18using the same means. Respondent S-B who saw himself as a laid-back and “chill” streamer
tried to communicate an environment where viewers could sit and relax. He claimed that some
people do not look for an intense gameplay session with a lot going on at the same time, and
instead would prefer to have background noise while doing other tasks or similar. Respondent
S-A however preferred to hype moments up and make others join in to chat. Something that all
respondents seemed to agree upon was that particular personalities help attract individuals with
similar personalities, and that this would enable streamers to brand themselves and their
respective streams with their own personality.
4.1.3 Other factors of Personal Branding
While all respondents seemed to agree that one of the major determinants of personal branding
on Twitch is finding the right niche that matched the streamer’s personalities, other factors were
identified. For example, respondent S-C claimed that the channel emotes provided on a
streamer’s channel could be considered as a form of branding as well. The idea is to create a
mascot for one’s channel which people might recognize all over Twitch. As quoted by the
respondent; “When I see certain emotes of mascots I know instantly where they come from”.
Colors and themes are also different ways used by streamers for self-branding purposes and
letting the viewer know what kind of streamer they are, according to respondent B. He also
mentioned that he maintains a blue theme throughout his stream, to associate a relaxing feeling.
4.2 Discovery and Attitudes
With a fast-growing market such as Twitch it is important to understand what viewers look for
when searching for a streamer and how their attitudes might affect the purchase intention. There
were 8 respondents which were labeled V-A to V-H. Most of the interviewees had been
watching Twitch since 2011-2014, with an exception of one respondent who joined in during
2017.
Most respondents show a common theme of browsing Twitch’s category directory when
searching for new channels. For example, respondent V-D said that he had done it the same
way ever since he signed up to the website. He basically goes into the directory which groups
all the streamers being live at the current moment and then chooses from there. These categories
which respondent V- D ends up choosing depends on his current mood, personal favorites or
new trends. Another popular method to find new channels among the respondents was
19raids/hosts from other streamers. In this case, streamers might send their viewers over to another
channel once they finish their broadcast. This is done with a chat command and most of the
viewership transfers over to the chosen streamer. Respondent V-H claimed that this could be a
good way of finding channels as you are transferred without having to click on anything.
Satisfied viewers would then tend to follow that particular streamer.
The interviewees did however have a few standards they follow when deciding whether they
want to follow or not. Respondent V- E mentioned that every stream has its own feel to it and
if their produced content happens to meet her tastes, it is likely that she would follow.
Respondent V- D highlighted the importance of becoming emotionally involved in what they
do, as otherwise he would feel like their only goal is to turn it into a comedy show. Respondent
V-C recalled the previously mentioned phenomenon of “pro-gamers” as well. If someone
happened to be excelling at a favorite game of his, is it likely that he would follow. However,
something which most of the interviewees did agree upon was that the chat interaction and the
streamer’s way of handling emotions is important. For example, viewers may be put-off if the
streamer decides not to respond to chat messages at all. Interaction is one of the key factors
known to attract people, according to respondent V-H. This claim was also backed up by 75%
of the respondents. Another common factor was that if the streamer chose to argue with viewers
and display an overall negative attitude, it could deter them from joining in.
This segment has been an attempt to explain how the viewer actually finds a channel and what
attitudes affect their perception of the streamer. The next segment will cover how the
respondents perceive their purchase intention.
4.3 Attitudes and Purchase Intention
Even if a viewer happens to like a channel there is not a guarantee that they will feel a need to
support the streamer. When asked directly, most respondents however answered that they would
be likely to support the streamer if they happened to be enjoying their streamed content.
Respondent V-A explained that if she happened to tune in often, and the streamers
communicated in a very positive way, she would be willing to support them. The different forms
of support that were mentioned included subscribing, donating through external means and
donating bits. Subscribing was the common practice for intended support among the
interviewees as donating did not seem to strike them as satisfying. As previously mentioned,
20once a person subscribes they would receive emotes from the streamer, resulting in a system
that adds value, according to numerous respondents.
Respondent V-F also mentioned that if she happened to develop a good relationship with a
particular viewer in a different stream, and that viewer decided to start streaming, it is very
likely for her to support them. Seven out of eight respondents did however comment that they
would need to watch streams for a longer while to form clear attitudes before considering
subscribing or donating in any other manner.
A common belief among the participants was that personality played a major role. According
to respondent V-H, if the personality trait he seeks in a streamer happens to be missing, he
might still watch, but not support. He also argued that if viewers who did not currently support
the channel were valued lower by the streamer it would affect him negatively as it felt like the
streamer only cared about money. Respondent V-C claimed that certain streamers helped him
through tougher times and he experienced an emotional attachment to them because of this.
Emotional affections and personality traits seemed to be the main components which the
interviewees believed could affect their respective attitudes in a positive sense, leading towards
supporting their respective content creator.
When asked if a change in elements such as the streamers’ content, streaming schedule or
personality would affect their attitudes, six respondents said that it most likely would.
Respondent V-B claimed that if a streamer would only stream during times when he would be
unable to watch, he would have no desire to support them. Personality also seemed to be another
strong factor for the respondents, so if it changed from being desirable to undesirable it is likely
to affect their decision in the end. Respondent V-C does however mention that if he is watching
a streamer with high-level gameplay there is a possibility that he still desires to support them,
even if the personality does not appeal to him. The reason for this is that they still entertain by
giving good gameplay. Most respondents did also answer that if they happened to like the
streamer’s personality, they would accept a change in content. In other words, if the viewer
happened to be “close” to the streamer or generally enjoy their personality, it would be likely
for their attitude to remain positive even if other factors happened to change.
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