ArticlePloS one2025
Beyond the game: How social interaction and emotional gratification drive Chinese sports podcast engagement.
Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- From "viewing" to "participation": a study on the mechanisms underlying consumption behavior among sports streaming audiences.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Emotional resonance in the digital society: narrative mediation, platform hierarchy, and virtual consumption in cross-cultural sports communication.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
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Abstract
The rapid growth of podcasting platforms has transformed digital media consumption, offering diverse content tailored to user preferences. The present research aims to identify the needs associated with engaging with sports podcasts on the Himalaya platform while exploring cognitive, emotional, and social satisfactions. Quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques used the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) in the present research, including semantic network analysis, co-word clustering, and high-frequency words, to analyze the data collected from 13,692 comments of five popular sports podcast channels. The study shows that information seeking is the primary reason listeners tune in: they want game breakdowns and insiders' opinions. This is further reinforced by self-efficacy and media convenience, which are important factors in the platform mandate of enabling users and assimilating content into their daily lives. First, the paper adds to scholarship by employing the UGT in the context of sports podcasts in China. Secondly, it provides valuable recommendations for practical use by content creators and platform developers. Overall, the results show the versatility of podcast consumption, although restrictions concerning demographic categorization and comparison with other media forms signal to undertake future studies. Such insights are relevant to improving and encouraging user interactions and how the platform delivers podcasts.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.