Mega Influencers versus Niche Creators: An Empirical Study of Streamer Influence on Endorsed Product Usage

Abstract

Social media has given rise to online consumption communities, or fandoms, which are complex networks of ancillary creators and consumers organized around a core product or intellectual property. Video game communities, for example, link players with content creators centered on a specific game. These networks are strategically complex: publishers often sponsor creators, yet the two can have divergent incentives, as creators may benefit from content that grows their own following at the core game's expense. We investigate the causal effect of consuming live-streamed content on subsequent gameplay for a specific game, exploiting an unexpected service interruption of the livestreaming platform together with time zone differences among users. Live-streamed content significantly increases gameplay: a 10% increase in live-streamed content viewing minutes yields a 3.43% increase in gameplay minutes. We further examine how this effect varies with how users distribute their viewing across streamer types, namely mega streamers with massive audiences, micro streamers offering easier interactivity, and publisher channels emphasizing official content. The positive effects are strongest when viewing skews toward micro streamers and weakest when it skews toward mega streamers. These patterns replicate across a broad set of other video games, supporting external validity. The findings inform how firms allocate sponsorship resources across creator tiers.