Sidney Irwin

The growth of competitive video gaming has formed an innovative media culture called Esports. As a professional environment, governed rules have been implemented across esports tournaments to prevent unfair advantages among professional players. However, esportingmative rules also guide esporting communities — unwritten guidelines that express what kind of behaviour is and is not acceptable among consumers. Though evident in conventional sports and casual video gaming, understanding the practice of trash-talking has been problematic to understand — with issues concerning the various, non-consensual definitions and morality of its use. This research will explore the forms and normative rules of trash-talking among various esports communities.

It is expected that the study will formulate additional applications to the current theoretical frameworks to understand how, why and to what end normative rules are shared, expressed and implemented within specific communities. This study will also coincide and extend further understanding of consumer behaviour and how it can negatively or positively affect an individual's (and communities) social and emotional well-being.