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An Analysis of Operational Strategies for the Honour of Kings KPL from the Perspective of the Fan Economy

Tongrui Pang
Vol.10, No.9, pp.42-50, 2026 DOI: 10.62051/ijsspa.v10n9.05 September 28, 2026
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Abstract: With the rapid development of the mobile esports industry, the fan economy has become a core driver of esports IP value growth. As a flagship mobile esports tournament in China, the Honour of Kings KPL, despite possessing a vast fan base, faces operational challenges including insufficient fan stickiness, shallow commercial monetisation, and community engagement fatigue. Based on 100 valid questionnaires collected from actual respondents, this study adopts the fan economy as its core theoretical perspective. Employing descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, correlation, and regression analyses, it systematically examines the KPL's current operations across the dimensions of content production, community management, and commercial monetisation, while validating the theoretical model of "emotional connection → behavioural transformation → value co-creation". The findings reveal that KPL fans are predominantly female and students, with strong emotional identification but relatively low commercial satisfaction, reflecting a "high emotion, low conversion" dilemma. Emotional identification showed significant positive correlations with both consumption and dissemination behaviours. Fan seniority and viewing frequency positively influenced emotional identification and consumption. Female fans outperformed male fans on emotional connection, consumption, and co-creation intention. Based on these results, the study proposes actionable optimisation strategies, offering practical guidance for the KPL and similar mobile esports tournaments.
Keywords: Fan Economy, KPL, Esports Operations, Emotional Connection, Behavioural Transformation, Value Co-creation
APA Citation: Tongrui Pang (2026). An Analysis of Operational Strategies for the Honour of Kings KPL from the Perspective of the Fan Economy. International Journal of Social Sciences and Public Administration, 10(9), 42-50. https://doi.org/10.62051/ijsspa.v10n9.05

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