Don’t Troll Me Bro: A Study of Griefing in Video Games

Intended Contribution to Knowledge: The purpose of this study is to examine consumer griefing and toxicity in the context of video games, and seeks to uncover the antecedent, define the process, and discuss the outcomes of the phenomenon. Literature Foundations: This videography contributes to research in consumer culture theory by exploring an underexplored but timely topic, consumer griefing and toxicity, in the context of video games. Research Method: A combination of videographic, netnographic, and experimental methods were used in this study. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with gamers and approximately 50 hours of griefing footage was collected via YouTube and Twitch. Additionally, a field experiment was conducted through 46 matches of a popular MOBA game over approximately 20 hours. This research was filmed in accordance with the videography practices set forth by Belk & Kozinets (2005). Findings and implications: This research uncovers the antecedents, process, and outcomes of consumer griefing and toxicity in video games, and demonstrates that toxicity has a tangible effect only players win rate in competitive games.