The effect of sensory experience on sport development: baseball simulation in Korea

Abstract

ABSTRACT Rationale A baseball simulation provides its participants a sporting environment in which programmed game mechanics mediate sensory stimuli. The current study aims to discover how simulation users’ interests in baseball, athletic identity, and intentions to participate in baseball differ by degree of stimuli. The results would reveal the dynamics of how baseball simulation users’ sensory experiences relate to their baseball development. Design Data collection, taken at two Korean baseball simulation franchises, involved 136 simulation participants. On a self-administered survey, participants answered questions about their degree of perceiving visual, aural, and tactile stimuli as well as their baseball interest, athletic identity, and intentions to participate in baseball. The collected data were analyzed in MANOVA. Findings The simulation users’ interests in baseball differed according to the degree of visual and aural stimuli. Regarding the degree of tactile stimuli, the simulation users differed in the degree to which they identified as an athlete and intended to participate in baseball. Playing a crucial role in their baseball development was their tactile sense. Practical implications The study suggests managerial implications that sport practitioners implement toward developing a new participatory market. Research contribution The study reveals how sport simulation users interact with the simulation's multi-dimensional environments.