Effects of professional baseball home fans’ perceptions of community on their perceptions of stadium spaces

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine effects of professional baseball home fans' perception of the community on their recognition of stadium spaces. Methods The subjects of the survey were home fans of baseball. A total of 600 questionnaire(100 fans each team: DOOSAN, LG, SK, LOTTE, HANHWA and KIA) were collected and 510 copies were used as the final analysis data. Collected data was processed by using SPSS 21.0 program. T-test, one-way ANOVA, correction analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted to test hypothesis. Results There were significant differences of perceptions on community such as perceptions on sense of belonging; favored teams, perceptions on active involvement; gender and favored teams, perceptions on pride of the home town; gender, favored teams and glasses for viewing, and perceptions on classification; educational level and favored teams. There were significant differences of perceptions on stadium spaces such as perceptions on historicity; favored teams and viewing experience, perceptions on authenticity; favored teams and viewing experience, and perceptions on symbolism; age, favored teams and glasses for viewing. Among home fans' perceptions of their community, sense of belonging and pride of the home town had positive effects on their perceptions on historicity among perceptions of stadium spaces, while perceptions of classification had negative effects on them; sense of belonging and pride of the home town had positive effects on both perceptions of authenticity and symbolism. Conclusions The findings indicate that there is a close relationship between the community and professional baseball stadiums, and it is necessary to commonly enhance sense of belonging and pride of the home town for the community in order to promote positive perceptions on stadiums.