Understanding Korean Immigrants and Major League Baseball Fandom

Abstract

Currently, there are more than 40 million immigrants in the United States, and immigrant sports consumers have been considered a significant niche market in the sport industry. In particular, Major League Baseball (MLB) teams have realized that Korean immigrants, along with Japanese immigrants, are among the most attractive Asian immigrant MLB markets in the U.S., because of their large populations in the U.S. and the popularity of baseball in their native countries (Kim & Jeon, 2008). However, there has been limited research regarding Asian immigrants’ team identification with MLB teams. The theoretical framework of this study is drawn from acculturation theory (Berry, 1997) and social identity theory (Tajfel, 1982). Berry defines acculturation as “the general processes and outcomes (both cultural and psychological) of intercultural contact” (Berry, p. 8). Acculturation theory has been widely used to explain the adaptation patterns of immigrants to a new society. This theory further explains not only how immigrants evolve in new cultural contexts resulting from migration, but also how they retain their original cultural contexts and beliefs while in their new society (Berry, 1997). According to Berry (1980), there are four types of acculturation strategies: integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization. These four acculturation strategies differ according to immigrants’ efforts to adapt to new cultural contexts as well as the extent of their relationships with their new as well as with their old societies. Social identity theory (Tajfel, 1982) is a useful theoretical framework for team identification. Social identity is defined as “the part of the individual’s self-concept which derives from their knowledge of their membership in a social group together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership (p.2)”. Team identification research has been developed based on social identity theory and identity theory (Kwon, Trail, & James, 2007). Team identification is an extension of self-identity that results from a sports fan’s psychological connection to a team (Fink, Trail, & Anderson, 2002). The purpose of this study is to understand the Major League Baseball fandom of Korean immigrants by exploring factors associated with recent Korean immigrants’ team identification with MLB teams in the U.S.