{"title":"Case study: What’s the best (kept) secret about FIFA’s 2022 World Cup™? The case of Qatar’s Generation Amazing program","authors":"Deniz Ekren, C. Anagnostopoulos","doi":"10.1108/ijsms-08-2023-245","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsms-08-2023-245","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":289192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128650826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Examining valuation of corporate naming rights partnerships in collegiate sports and their impact on consumer behavior","authors":"Brett Centracchio, N. Popp, J. Jensen","doi":"10.1108/ijsms-02-2023-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsms-02-2023-0015","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeMost college athletics department have not sold corporate naming rights to their athletics facilities. Popp et al. (2016) suggests two primary reasons: (1) difficulty in determining proper valuation and (2) fear of stakeholder backlash. The purpose of the current study is to address both concerns by utilizing a hedonic pricing model predicting collegiate naming rights values and utilizing fixed-effects models to determine if consumer behavior (event attendance and donations) is impacted by a corporate name change.Design/methodology/approachData from 110 naming rights agreements among NCAA Division I programs were examined, alongside market-related variables, institution-related variables and venue-related variables. Utilizing hierarchical model building to reduce independent variables and OLS regression modeling, significant relationships with annual value of naming rights agreements were uncovered. Fixed effects models were utilized to determine if naming rights impacted attendance and donations.FindingsA final model explained more than 53% of the variance in average annual value of naming rights agreements, with three significant factors: (1) attendance, (2) all-time winning percentage and (3) venue construction cost. Fixed-effects models revealed no significant differences in attendance or donations after a naming rights deal was signed.Originality/valueCorporate naming rights agreements for college athletics facilities are a recent phenomenon. While a similar study examining drivers of collegiate sport naming rights was previously conducted, the current study revealed a shifting marketplace. In addition, no prior study has examined the impact of a corporate naming rights agreement on future attendance and donations.","PeriodicalId":289192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship","volume":"50 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122676119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Woulan Hattingh, Liandi van den Berg, A. Bevan-Dye
{"title":"The “why” behind generation Y amateur gamers' ongoing eSports gameplay intentions","authors":"Woulan Hattingh, Liandi van den Berg, A. Bevan-Dye","doi":"10.1108/ijsms-04-2023-0064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsms-04-2023-0064","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeTechnological advancements in games increased the popularity of online gaming. The rapid expansion of the eSports market may largely be attributed to the ever-increasing popularity amongst Generation Y amateur gamers. The primary objective of this study is to determine the factors influencing Generation Y amateur gamers' ongoing eSports gameplay intentions.Design/methodology/approachThis study used the extended unified theory of acceptance as the theoretical framework. Data analysis included exploratory principal component analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis.FindingsThe results of the confirmatory factor analysis suggest that Generation Y amateur gamers' ongoing eSports gameplay intentions is an eight-factor model that is reliable, valid and has acceptable model fit. The results of the path analysis indicate that habit, price-value, flow, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions have a statistically significant positive influence on amateur gamers' ongoing eSports gameplay intentions, whilst social influence and hedonic motivation have a negative but non-significant influence on those intentions.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was formed using only amateur eSports gamers. In this regard, the opportunity exists to research professional eSports gamers. This study only focussed on Generation Y members between 18 and 36 years old. As a result, there is an opportunity for researchers to research the different generations of South African eSports gamers to determine whether there are any differences or similarities between generational segments.Practical implicationsThe results of this study clearly indicate that flow, together with habit are salient contributors to ongoing gameplay intentions amongst amateur eSports gamers in South Africa. A reasonable assumption that can be made here is that flow is also instrumental in encouraging habitual gaming, which increases the importance of flow in overall ongoing gameplay intentions. This suggests that R&D expenditure should be directed at enhancing user engagement by building increased levels of flow into eSports games.Social implicationseSports game developers can also achieve a desired state of flow by creating daily challenges that reward players when the players achieve specific objectives, which will encourage gamers to enter a state of flow when provided with challenges to complete. However, these in-game challenges should have a variety of levels regarding difficulty, ranging from beginner, intermediate and advanced levels so as not to exceed the effort expectancy of different groups of players. Game developers should provide regularly updated challenges to gamers to ensure that eSports games remain enjoyable and does not become predictable.Originality/valueGiven the nascence of research on eSports behaviour, the results of this study provide a novel addition to the knowledge pool, particularly in terms of amateur eSports behavioural intentions. Interestin","PeriodicalId":289192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116951349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sport consumers: perceiving and enjoying danger in American football","authors":"T. Cornwell, R. Pappu, Eric Setten","doi":"10.1108/ijsms-11-2022-0195","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsms-11-2022-0195","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to better understand how consumers perceive and process danger in American football and why they continue to enjoy watching the sport given society’s increased understanding of the danger to the athletes.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies, one lab study with eye-tracking (N = 152) and one survey study (N = 444), were conducted. Study 1 examines how the perception of danger associated with football mediates the relationship between exposure to violent or nonviolent video clips and enjoyment of watching video clips. Study 2 examines how device type and screen resolution influence perceptions of danger associated with football.FindingsFindings support the role that perceived danger plays in sport viewing enjoyment. The results are in keeping with reversal theory where individuals have a protective frame that allows them to experience negative emotions (e.g. anxiety) as positive (e.g. excitement). The research also shows that for larger devices, the perception of danger associated with football is significantly influenced by high resolution.Social implicationsThe work, through considering the way consumers experience sport, questions societal tolerance for entertainment that is dangerous to sport participants.Originality/valueThe findings of this work corroborate past research that has found that consumers of sport do enjoy danger for athletes in their viewing experience. Reversal theory is utilized to explain how negative emotions are experienced as positive. The work extends past findings by showing that the characteristics of the device used (large size and high resolution) during sport viewing influence perceptions of danger.","PeriodicalId":289192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114345379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Drivers of the perceived social impact of the Super Bowl: mediation and moderation analyses","authors":"Ji Wu, Madeleine Orr, Yuhei Inoue, Yonghwan Chang","doi":"10.1108/ijsms-12-2022-0208","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsms-12-2022-0208","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeBuilding on the social leverage model (SLM), this study aims to examine the influence of event-related attributes on residents' perceived social impact of a major sport event, as mediated by event involvement. It also investigates the moderating effect of event rights holders' credibility on the relationship between event involvement and perceived social impact.Design/methodology/approachUsing a two-wave, time-lagged survey, data were collected from 220 residents of a Super Bowl host city. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsHigh celebratory atmosphere, social camaraderie and social responsibility as perceived before the event were associated with residents' perceptions of the social impact of the Super Bowl. Moreover, the association between social camaraderie and perceived social impact was mediated by event involvement. When appraising the rights holder as credible, involved residents reported an increased level of perceived social impact.Originality/valueThis study contributes to research on the SLM by demonstrating its application among indirect participants of major sport events. Additionally, it suggests the imperative role of rights holders' credibility in promoting the perceived social impact among involved residents.","PeriodicalId":289192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship","volume":"135 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134364935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Liz Sattler, Megan Shreffler, N. Popp, David A. Pierce
{"title":"A “toxic culture”: the experiences of underrepresented ticket sales employees across professional sport","authors":"Liz Sattler, Megan Shreffler, N. Popp, David A. Pierce","doi":"10.1108/ijsms-01-2022-0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsms-01-2022-0004","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the workplace experiences of current and former underrepresented ticket sales employees.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilized survey methodology to answer the research questions. Purposive sampling was used to identify potential respondents: individuals who were either currently employed as sport ticket sales employees or had been previously. The researchers examined online media guides from North American major league sports teams and identified ticket sales representatives who were compiled into a database and then cross-referenced through social media platform LinkedIn. Individuals were located via LinkedIn profiles and sent an anonymous, electronic survey which included a combination of Likert scale and open-ended questions regarding respondent experiences working in ticket sales departments.FindingsSurvey responses from 511 ticket salespeople revealed negative experiences related to management and career advancement opportunities, as well as significant differences in negative experiences for underrepresented populations regarding mentorship and culture.Originality/valueSport sales managers desire to expand employee diversity (Wells et al., 2019) and improve overall retention rates, but if a clear understanding of organizational vision toward diversification is not established within sports teams, managers are less likely to embrace diversity initiatives. Thus, it is imperative to understand the lived experiences of underrepresented ticket salespeople in order to improve workplace culture and effectiveness.","PeriodicalId":289192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship","volume":"37 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133000499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"When celebrity endorsements collide with social activism: exploring athlete celebrity endorsements, social issues and brand perception","authors":"Stephanie Schartel Dunn, Gwendelyn Nisbett","doi":"10.1108/ijsms-01-2023-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsms-01-2023-0010","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeCelebrity endorsements are common, especially sports celebrities. Understanding the impact such celebrities' social activism statements have on the brands the celebrities are affiliated with is particularly important. This study aims to examine how consumers respond to social statements made by both companies and sports celebrities and how those reactions influence consumer perceptions of associated brands.Design/methodology/approachA pre-test/post-test experimental design was utilized to gather responses to pro-social messages from both athletes associated with a brand and messages directly from the brands.FindingsMessages from celebrities were evaluated as being more important than similar messages directly from the company. Parasocial relationships between the consumer and the celebrity endorser were found to increase brand support and favorable message evaluation. While parasocial relationships did not directly influence feelings of reactance, the effects on message evaluation did lead to a decrease in reactance to pro-social messages.Originality/valueFindings in this paper provide guidance for brands as the brands navigate pro-social messaging and determine the brands' response to endorsers making such statements. Similarly, those advocating for social causes can benefit from the authors' findings by understanding how social messages directly from celebrities are received more favorably than messages directly from the brands.","PeriodicalId":289192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship","volume":"36 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125363966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Quality and satisfaction in female fitness centers and the moderating roles of age and income: empirical evidence from Saudi Arabia","authors":"S. Abourokbah, Mohammad Asif Salam","doi":"10.1108/ijsms-10-2022-0186","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsms-10-2022-0186","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeFitness centers have become quotidian fundamentals. Consequently, center managers face escalating competitiveness to sustain their businesses. Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 emphasizes quality of life and the gravitation toward healthy lifestyles. The service quality of fitness centers is an essential factor influencing customer satisfaction. Owing to the dearth of research on this topic, especially on female-only fitness centers, this study aims to investigate the factors affecting the service quality of female fitness centers in Saudi Arabia regarding satisfaction. Additionally, this study examines the moderating roles of age and income on the relationship between service quality and satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThe Service Quality Assessment Scale (SQAS) was adopted with five of the original dimensions (staff, workout facilities, physical facilities, exercise program and locker room) and two newly added dimensions (parking and social environment). This study also investigates the moderating roles of age and income on the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction.FindingsAll SQAS dimensions positively affected the quality of fitness centers. Furthermore, the service quality of fitness centers increased women's satisfaction, and age and income moderated the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction.Originality/valueFitness centers are highly competitive, and this study offers insights for managers of such facilities to improve customer satisfaction.","PeriodicalId":289192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship","volume":"40 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129128156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The effects of pre-scandal associations of athlete endorsers and scandal types on consumer blame and eWOM","authors":"Shintaro Sato, Y. Ko, Daehwan Kim, J. Lee","doi":"10.1108/ijsms-07-2022-0139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsms-07-2022-0139","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine how pre-scandal associations and scandal types interactively influence consumer judgment and negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM).Design/methodology/approachDrawing from cognitive dissonance theory and associative memory network model, the online experiments (Amazon Mechanical Turk; Nexperiment 1 = 146 and Nexperiment 2 = 189) were conducted to examine the effects of positive pre-scandal associations (performance vs pro-social) and scandal types (performance-related vs -unrelated) on consumer blame and eWOM toward scandalized athletes. Data were analyzed by employing t-test (experiment 1), Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) and PROCESS Model 8 (experiment 2) to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings highlight that positive pre-scandal association demonstrated both protecting and backfiring effects depending on the types of scandals. Specifically, when performance-related scandals emerged, consumers made more negative blame judgment of athletes with salient performance association, relative to pro-social association. Inversely, when performance-unrelated scandals occurred, athletes with salient pro-social association were more likely to be blamed. Regarding eWOM, consumers generate more negative eWOM when athletes with pre-performance associations are involved with performance-related scandals. This pattern of the result was not observed when athletes' pro-social association and performance-unrelated scandals were prominent.Originality/valueThe current work adds consumers' negative eWOM toward scandalized athletes to the literature as a predictor of how athletes' pre-scandal association with consumers and scandal types are related. The findings indicate that consumers feel greater dissonance and generate more negative eWOM when athletes' pre-scandal associations and scandal types are closely related.","PeriodicalId":289192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129000693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The knowledge structure of corporate social responsibility in sport management: a retrospective bibliometric analysis","authors":"Weisheng Chiu, Heetae Cho, Doyeon Won","doi":"10.1108/ijsms-09-2022-0178","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijsms-09-2022-0178","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeCorporate social responsibility (CSR) has become increasingly significant in the sport industry, and athletes, leagues, teams and sport organizations are actively engaging in socially responsible activities. The popularity of CSR has attracted the attention of scholars in the field of sport management. However, little research has investigated the overview and evolution of the extant literature on CSR research in sport management. Therefore, this study aims to explore the knowledge structure of CSR in sport management and provide implications for future research.Design/methodology/approachThis work investigated and examined bibliographic data of scientific documents (N = 234) indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) database from 2008 to 2021. The Bibliometrix R package and VOSviewer software were used to analyze and visualize the knowledge map of CSR research in sport management.FindingsThe bibliometric analysis found that CSR has become a critical topic in the field of sport management. Most studies focus on the implementation of CSR activities by sport organizations and their impact on consumers' reactions and behaviors.Originality/valueThe findings of the current paper provide an efficient overview of the evolution of CSR in sport management and offer avenues for future scientific endeavors.","PeriodicalId":289192,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship","volume":"66 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123600508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}