Sport Consumer Behavior Research Articles

“No” Is Not “Low”: Improving the Assessment of Sport Team Identification

Abstract: Scholars have studied sport team identification for decades, advancing our understanding of the influence of a psychological connection to a sport team on attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Despite the contribution of the study of team identification to the sport fan psychology and sport consumer behavior literatures, a critical issue is apparent. A review of the methods used by scholars to assess and study team identification uncovered a misinterpretation of participant responses to team identification scale items. In previous research, not-identified individuals have been examined as individuals with low team identification. We illustrate the problem with scales used to measure team identification, then propose one approach to resolving the problem with the most frequently used scale, the Sport Spectator Identification Scale. We report on the testing of a modified scale, the Sport Spectator Identification Scale–Revised (SSIS-R), to detect not-identified individuals. We conclude with suggestions moving forward the study of team identification in general.

From BIRFing to BIRGing: A 10-Year Study of the Psychology of Cubs Fans

In the years since basking in spite of reflected failure (BIRFing) was hypothesized, no empirical evidence has confirmed its existence, nor have the various hypothesized antecedents been investigated. This multiphase study makes a much-needed contribution to the sport consumer behavior literature in its investigation of BIRFing behaviors, utilizing a sample of long-suffering fans of the Chicago Cubs. Results confirmed that diehard fans do BIRF, the behavior is predicted by team identification, and that loyalty and camaraderie are antecedents. Data collection for the study’s second phase was completed immediately following the natural experiment of a World Series title and confirmed a statistically significant difference in Cubs fans’ propensity to bask in reflected glory (BIRG) following an improvement in performance, in the form of a long-awaited World Series title. No difference was found in BIRFing, given that it is rooted in one’s loyalty towards one’s team, rather than on-field performance.

생활스포츠 야구동호인의 매니아수준이 스포츠 소비행동에 미치는 영향 : 관여도의 조절효과

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of level of mania on sport consumption behaviors and moderating effects of involvement in the relation between level of mania and sport consumption behaviors. In order to accomplish the purpose of the study, a total of 251 samples including the members of a baseball league in Yongin-si, users of amateur baseball team

Exploring the Relative Effectiveness of Emotional, Rational, and Combination Advertising Appeals on Sport Consumer Behavior

This article examines the relative effectiveness of emotional advertising over rational advertising and combination advertising on sport consumer behavior.

Leverage and Activation of Sport Sponsorship Through Music Festivals

Research on leverage and activation of sponsorship is an underexplored area in academia, one that is still in its infancy in the event management and sport marketing literature. Much of the existing analyses of sponsorship leverage do not clearly differentiate between activational and nonactivational leverage. It is now common practice for mega-event organizers to create and manage ancillary events for sponsors to leverage and activate sponsorships among attendees. One example is the Austin Fan Fest held each year during the week of the Formula 1 US Grand Prix. However, it remains unclear how leverage differs between main and ancillary events, and what the subsequent impact is on sport consumer behavior. The purpose of the study was to examine whether sponsorship activation by Austin Fan Fest sponsors would have greater results for these sponsors than for Formula 1 sponsors that were limited to using nonactivational sponsorship (i. e., signage, promotions, and public address) during the main event. Results show that activational leverage off site at Austin Fan Fest outperformed on-site nonactivational at the Formula 1 US Grand Prix, as surveyed respondents reported higher ratings on attitudes toward the sponsor, word of mouth, and purchase intentions.

Is it worth the price? The role of perceived financial risk, identification, and perceived value in purchasing pay-per-view broadcasts of combat sports

Perceived risk, identification, and perceived value play a critical role in consumer behavior. Although previous researchers have examined identification and perceived value, examination of mediated sport consumption is lacking. Additionally, risk has received limited attention within this context. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationships between identification, perceived value, and purchase intentions, and to assess the moderating role of perceived financial risk within the context of combat sports pay-per-view purchases. Combat sport consumers (N = 364) participated in an online survey. Findings showed that identification had a positive association with perceived value and purchase intentions. Perceived value was directly associated with purchase intentions and partially mediated the relationship between identification and purchase intentions. However, perceived financial risk did not moderate the value-intentions relationship. These findings contribute to the sport consumer behavior by (a) extending the understanding of identification, value, and purchase intentions in a mediated consumption environment, and (b) advancing knowledge on the role of financial risk in this setting. As advances in technology continue, it is important to understand the role of attitudes and behavior, and the potential impact of perceived risk on purchases of mediated sport programming.

How participation motivation affects the psychological and subjective Well-Being of korean golfers

Participation motivation and well-being play important roles in sport consumption behavior. This study aims to examine the relationships between participation motivation and well-being among golfers in Korea. A questionnaire survey was conducted amongst 485 golf participants at various places such as golf practice range, private sport club, and golf courses in South Korea. The questionnaire consists of the four sections asking demographics and golf-related experience, participation motivation, subjective well-being (SWB), and psychological well-being (PWB), respectively. The data were examined by using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and linear regression analysis with SPSS 20.0. The results indicate that the majority of the respondents show a positive and favorable motivation, and also show fairly high levels of the PWB and the SWB. Golf participation motivation has a significant influence on both PWB and SWB. The Self-Determination Theory was employed for a theoretical framework and the Sport Motivation Scale to measure intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and amotivation. The results are as follows; firstly, among the three intrinsic motivation factors, ‘intrinsic motivation to know’ is significantly related to well-being. The PWB and the SWB are significantly positively affected by ‘intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation’ and ‘intrinsic motivation toward accomplishments’. Secondly, as for extrinsic motivation composed of three sub-dimensions of extrinsic, ‘external regulation’ has a significant positive effect on the SWB, while ‘introjected regulation’ does not significantly influence the SWB. Amotivation was expected to negatively affect the SWB. However, the results show that there is no significant relation between amotivation and SWB. Over all, both the PWB and the SWB of golf participants are significantly influenced by participation motivation. The findings are expected to help sport marketers understanding how to motivate individuals to actively participate in golf and develop effective strategies to attract potential individuals interested in playing golf.

GX프로그램 참여자의 서비스 품질 인식, 참여극복 및 소비자 행동의 관계

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among service quality, participant countermeasure, and customer behavior of GX program participants. Data for this study were collected from 349 people who participated in GX program for more than six months. Frequent analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling was used to analyze the collected data using SPSS 22.0 and Amos 18.0. The major findings of this study were as follows. First, the value, convenience, amenity that are sub-factors of service quality had influence on time constrains that are sub-factors of participant countermeasure. In addition, value, trust, and amenity had influence on interpersonal relationships that are sub-factors of participant countermeasure. Second, value, kindness, and trust have directly influence on sport consumption behavior related to GX program. Lastly, kindness, value, trust, and convenience influenced sport consumption behavior either directly and indirectly.

Sport fans in a “smart sport” (SS) age: drivers of smartphone use for sport consumption

PurposeWith the ever-increasing popularity of smartphones, it has become one of the most important medium to increase sport fan engagement. However, very little attention has been paid to understand how fans use smartphones to follow sport. With that in mind, the purpose of this paper is to investigate specific factors that influence the use of smartphones in the sport consumption context.Design/methodology/approachThis research empirically examined theoretical relationships between three categories of variables (perceptions toward smartphones, sport-specific factors, and smartphone-specific factors) and intention to use the smartphone in following sports.FindingsOf the 11 proposed hypotheses, eight hypotheses were supported. Approximately 79.4 percent of variance in the usage intention was explained by the three categories of the variables.Originality/valueAs one of the first to take a holistic approach toward understanding sport consumption behaviors using smartphones, results of the current research can be employed as a base for studies examining other multi-functional technology medium in various sport settings.

English

Insufficient attention has been given to the relationship between sport video games and sport consumer behaviors even though sports and sport video games are popular, multi-billion dollar industries. The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, examine the effects of sport video gamer identification on sport consumption behaviors. Second, investigate the extent which sport fan identification moderates the relationship between identifying as a sport video gamer and sport consumption behaviors. A structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The results indicated that sport video gamer identification had a positive impact on sport consumption behaviors, but sport fan identification did not moderate the relationship between sport video gamer identification and sport consumption behaviors. Though the results were mixed, connecting sport organizations with sport video gamers does appear worthwhile because playing sport video games and identifying as a sport video gamer may lead to sport consumption behaviors. Key words: Sport video gaming, sport consumption behaviors, sport fan identification.

Show Me the Money: On Predicting Actual Purchases in Cross-National Sponsorship

The improvements in new media technologies in conjunction with the expansion of innovative opportunities for marketing and consuming sport have played direct roles in the globalization of sport. However, those in the Sport Management academic field are still trying to understand the effect of culture on sport consumer behavior. Guided by Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, the purpose of this study was to examine the sponsorship and cross-national relationships among the short-term/long-term orientation and individualism/collectivism cultural dimensions, attitude toward a sponsor, gratitude, purchase intentions, and actual purchases. Data were collected via longitudinal web surveys conducted with soccer fans from the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. The results from a structural equation model provided evidence that the individualism/collectivism cultural dimension had a significant effect on gratitude but not on actual purchases, and that the purchase intentions variable was a predictor of actual purchases.

Effects of mood states and team identification on pricing in the secondary ticket market

PurposeAlthough current literature offers support for understanding sport consumer behavior from psychological and sociological perspectives, there is a lack of research that examines the effect of one’s emotional response to team outcomes on subsequent economic decisions. The purpose of this paper is to bridge this gap by studying how emotional responses to sport events moderate a typical endowment bias in the secondary ticket market.Design/methodology/approachThis research comprised a 3×2×2 between-participants design with emotional state (positive, negative, and neutral), role (seller, buyer), and fan identification (high, low) as the three factors. Prospect theory and social identity theory guided hypothesis development whereby it was proposed that, depending on the affective response of study participants to positive, negative, or neutral publicity concerning the team, team identification would impact the transaction function (buyers vs sellers) on price values for tickets to a future event.FindingsFindings revealed an interaction effect of emotions and team identification on the endowment effect to the extent that bargaining gaps between sellers and buyers increased or decreased depending on mood states and levels of identification with the team.Originality/valueThis study adds to the literature on emotions and the key role they play in effecting pricing decisions and consumer behavior, especially given fan identification is such a significant area of study with numerous implications for sport business and management.

Existence of Mixed Emotions During Consumption of a Sporting Event: A Real-Time Measure Approach

Investigating the existence of mixed emotions within a sport consumer behavior context is the purpose of this study. Two experimental studies with a 4 (game outcome) × 2 (response format) mixed model analysis of covariance were implemented. The authors tested concurrence of two opposite emotions in Study 1 by asking subjects to complete an online continuous measure of happiness/sadness. Subjects reported more mixed emotions while watching a conflicting game outcome, such as a disappointing win and relieving loss, than during a straight game outcome. In Study 2, real-time-based measures of sport consumer emotions appear to have greater validity than recall-based measures of sport consumer emotions. Subjects with real-time-based measures were less likely to report a straight loss as positive and a straight win as negative than those with the retrospective measure. This study provides evidence of mixed emotions; specifically, happiness and sadness can co-occur during sports consumption.

A Hierarchical Approach for Predicting Sport Consumption Behavior: A Personality and Needs Perspective

The present study was conducted to explore the influence of personality and needs of sport consumers on their sport consumption behavior. The proposed hierarchical model of sport consumption hypothesizes that individuals’ personality, need traits, and involvement interact through hierarchical stages and ultimately influence sport participation and spectatorship. The results of the structural model test using 471 sport consumers indicate that conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion were positively related to achievement need, whereas extraversion and neuroticism were significantly related to affiliation need. Conscientiousness was found to be positively related to arousal need. Needs for arousal and affiliation were significantly related to sport spectatorship involvement, whereas need for affiliation was related to sport participation involvement. Interestingly, sport spectating and participation are significantly related to each other in both involvement and behavioral intention levels. The results can offer valuable insights in understanding sport consumption behavior and developing effective segmentation strategies.

Attendance of Brazilian soccer games: the role of constraints and team identification

ABSTRACTResearch questionThe purpose of this study was to explore and describe the structural relationships between constraints and intentions to attend soccer games in Brazil. Considering the well-established importance of team identification for sport consumer behaviors, we tested the role of this construct on those structural relationships. This investigation started with the following research question: Can constraints explain some variance in attendance intentions above and beyond that explained by team identification?Research methodsTo answer this question, we proposed a model with team identification as the exogenous construct, constraints as the mediator, and attendance intentions as the endogenous construct. We first conducted a pilot test (n = 675) via confirmatory factor analysis to investigate the psychometric properties of the constraint scale. Then, we applied structural equation modeling to test the measurement model and the proposed structural model using a second sample of fans (n = 583).Results and findingsResults showed that the indirect effect of team identification on attendance through perceptions of barriers was small, mainly because of the small relationship between team identification and constraints. A direct effects model was deemed to be a better structural representation of the relationships between constraints and intentions to attend, controlling for team identification.ImplicationsManaging and removing barriers might increase attendance intentions above and beyond the parcel associated with team identification. Not highly identified fans can be attracted to stadiums not only by becoming more identified (the traditional view), but also by perceiving less barriers (the alternative view).

Using cultural factors to explore sport consumption behaviors of ethnic minority groups

Purpose – Despite the remarkable economic power and rapid growth of the Asian population in the USA, relatively little attention has been paid to this group in the sport management literature compared to African-Americans and Hispanics. In addition, sport management scholars have paid limited attention to two important cultural factors: ethnic identity and acculturation. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – This study attempted to examine a comprehensive sport consumption model for Asians by testing theoretical relationships between these two cultural factors (ethnic identity and acculturation), fan identification, and sport consumption behavior. Findings – The structural equation modeling results indicated that ethnic identity indirectly affected consumption of sport products reflecting attributes of a native country, e.g. ethnic player popular sports in a native country through identification with the sport products. In contrast acculturation indirectly affected consumption of sport products reflecting attributes of a host country, e.g. popular sports in a host country. Originality/value – The results of this study provide implications on how sport marketers should effectively design sport products based on the Asians’ levels of acculturation and ethnic identity.

Sport Consumer Behavior Research: Improving Our Game

Sport consumer behavior (SCB) research continues to grow in both popularity and sophistication. A guiding principle in much of this research has focused on the nature of sport-related experiences and the benefits sport consumers derive from these experiences. This emphasis has generated new knowledge and insights into the needs and wants of sport consumers. Although these efforts have contributed to the field’s understanding of SCB, the vast majority of this research has centered on psychological phenomena and the evaluative and affective components of these sport experiences. Approaches to this work have also narrowed, with SCB research predominately relying on cross-sectional studies and attitudinal surveys to collect information. This has resulted in limited findings that seldom account for how various situational or environmental factors might influence attitudinal data patterns at the individual and group level. This special issues seeks to deepen our understanding of SCB by providing seven papers that demonstrate or validate findings using multiple studies or data collections.

Forty Years of BIRGing: New Perspectives on Cialdini’s Seminal Studies

Published 4 decades ago, “Basking in Reflected Glory: Three (Football) Field Studies” (Cialdini et al., 1976) is the most influential study of sport consumer behavior. This article features re-creations of Studies 1 and 2, exactly 40 years after the original publication. The results of Study 1 were reproduced, with participants more than twice as likely to wear school-affiliated apparel after wins and 55% less likely after losses. The study also extends the BIRGing literature in its investigation of the influence of gender and the effect’s salience over time. Study 2’s results were not reproduced. However, study participants were significantly more likely to use first-person plural pronouns, providing further empirical evidence of BIRGing behaviors. This article makes a novel contribution to the sport consumer behavior literature by advancing the study of one of the field’s most foundational theories and serving as an impetus for future investigations of BIRGing motivations.

Coping With Athlete Endorsers’ Immoral Behavior: Roles of Athlete Identification and Moral Emotions on Moral Reasoning Strategies

Athlete endorsers’ transgressions pose a dilemma for loyal fans who have established emotional attachments toward the individual. However, little is known regarding how fans maintain their support for the wrongdoer. Drawing on moral psychology and social identity theory, the current study proposes and examines a conceptual model incorporating athlete identification, moral emotions, moral reasoning strategies, and consumer evaluations. By using an actual scandal involving an NFL player (i.e., Ray Rice), the results show that fan identification suppresses the experience of negative moral emotions but facilitates fans’ moral disengagement processes, which enables fans to support the wrongdoer. Moreover, negative moral emotions motivate the moral coupling process. Findings contribute to the sport consumer behavior literature that highly identified fans seem to regulate negative emotions but deliberately select moral disengagement reasoning strategies to maintain their positive stance toward the wrongdoer and associated brands.

Involvement and Image Transfer in Sports Sponsorship

Due to the amount of money invested, sponsorships have become one of the most important marketing tools. It is essential to know the effectiveness of the invested money. This work proposes a model for image transfer between the sponsored entity and the sponsor. The goal is to measure the effect of the attitude toward the event on the purchase intention. In addition, it proposes segmenting and modelling sport consumer behaviour by their level of involvement with the event. Using Finite Mix Partial Least Square methods, two sample segments are achieved. The data were obtained with a web banner in an international tennis event. In conclusion, the least involved individuals do not process the image transfer effect as opposed to the individuals who are more involved. In the theoretical field, this paper includes segmentation by Finite Mix ever made in sponsorship research. Finally, attraction and involvement strategies are proposed in function of the characteristics for each of the variables in this model. For example, regular meetings for fans, autograph sittings and weekly chat sessions on the web site. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.27.1.8536