The gender gap on women’s sports spectatorship

Abstract

This study was to examine how different media images of female athletes’ impact women’s sports ticket sales for women’s sports spectatorship. This study interested in exploring the mechanism of buying a ticket for women’s sports event. The authors further analyzed what mechanism of women’s spectators’ intrigue to purchase the ticket for women’s sports event. As a theoretical framework, this study based on match-up hypothesis and associated learning theory to investigate spectators’ perceptions about female athletes’ presented media images on promoting their sport event ticket; this study explored (a) Fit: perceived appropriateness of the endorser (female athlete) with image type (athletic or sexy), and (b) Attitudes: how to fit impact on spectators’ attitude toward athlete and attitude toward sport separately, and (c) purchase intention to sport event. By adopting a 2×2 experiment design study, participants’ gender and image types manipulated. The participants (n = 113) were randomly assigned one of four conditions. The results indicated that the interaction between participants’ gender and image types was significant. Also, there was gender gap on women’s sports spectatorship in fit and attitude toward female athlete and women’s sport, and purchase intention to the sport event. The finding showed that male participants’ attitudes toward the athlete decreased more in response to the athletic image than the sexy image. Males preferred to see the sexy image while women do not want to see this type of image. Sports marketers need to know this perspective to sell their products and sporting event tickets. Thus, this study conclude that sex sells marketing does not promote women’s sports for either gender.