Effects of Game Outcomes and Status Instability on Spectators' Status Consumption: The Moderating Role of Implicit Team Identification.

Yonghwan Chang,Daniel L Wann

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.819644

Abstract

This study explores the interaction effects of game outcomes and status instability and the moderating role of implicit team identification on spectators’ status-seeking behavior (the pursuit and preservation of social status). The current study seeks to contribute to the existing consumer behavior and spectatorship literature by examining the counterintuitive outcomes of winner–loser effects through the application of the biosocial theory of status. In an online experiment, NFL fans’ retrospective spectating experiences were captured and manipulated. This experiment used a 2 (game outcome: victory vs. loss) × 2 (status instability: decisive vs. close) × 2 (iTeam ID: high vs. low) between-subjects design. The findings indicated that decisive victories and close losses positively influenced spectators’ future attendance as well as their intention to purchase luxury suites and merchandise featuring images of the team mascot. Conversely, decisive losses and close victories had a negative influence. Additionally, the more spectators implicitly identified with a particular team, the more they exhibited status-seeking behavior; even close victories positively influenced the outcomes. By applying a nascent theoretical approach in the field of consumer behavior (the hormonal account), our results provide fresh insight into explaining spectators’ status-seeking behavior. Also, the findings identify specific conditions in which spectators’ status-seeking behavior is enhanced, thus suggesting ways for managers to strategically allocate their resources.

Highlights

Consumer psychologists (e.g., Griskevicius and Kenrick, 2013; Saad, 2013) generally suggest that two distinctive motives work in tandem to form consumption behavior: proximate and ultimate motives
The purpose of the current experiment was to examine whether the interaction between game outcome and status instability in conjunction with iTeam ID leads to a greater likelihood of status-seeking behavior
We explored the interactions of game outcome and status instability effects on spectators’ statusseeking behavior in conjunction with iTeam ID

Summary

Introduction

Consumer psychologists (e.g., Griskevicius and Kenrick, 2013; Saad, 2013) generally suggest that two distinctive motives work in tandem to form consumption behavior: proximate and ultimate motives. Scholars have increasingly suggested that fundamental motives, as the evolutionary roots of human decision-making, have the potential to guide consumption behavior (Durante et al, 2011; Stanton, 2017). In the field of consumer behavior research, contemporary studies have paid attention to the fundamental motive of desire for both status and its stability (Griskevicius and Kenrick, 2013). Research suggests that individuals have a fundamental desire to be associated with others, and at the same time, they seek to obtain higher social ranks against others (Baumeister and Leary, 1995; Ligneul et al, 2016). Because humans are a social species, individuals who belong to a higher social status are likely to have easier access to material resources and/or greater societal influence in addition to exhibiting better psychophysiological health outcomes, compared to those who belong to a lower social status (Mazur, 1985; Mazur and Booth, 1998)

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Conclusion