In an attempt to maximize organizational profits, sport scholars focus on why people consume sport services. The study of consumption patterns, behaviors, and characteristics of sport consumers has clarified target markets. However, sport marketers must recognize the complex dynamics operating across a large and varied population of consumers and understand that the cultural uniqueness of a market segment might be important to a successful marketing strategy. Most athletic departments realize that American college students are a specific target market. However, it is not evident that international students are being accessed as a target market, and if they are, whether they should be segmented from the general student population. The purpose of this study was to determine whether international students should be a segmented target market by analyzing the differences between American and international students’ attendance of intercollegiate sport events, levels of identification, and motives for sport spectating.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ArmstrongK. L. (1998). Ten strategies to employ when marketing sport to black consumers. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 7(3), 11–18.
2.
BoyanD. R. (1981). Profiles: The foreign student in the United States.New York: Institute of International Education.
3.
DuncanM. C. (1983). The symbolic dimensions of spectator sport. Quest, 35, 29–36.
4.
FulksD. L. (1998). Revenues and expenses of Divisions I and II intercollegiate athletic programs: Financial trends and relation-ships—1997.Overland Park, KS: National Collegiate Athletic Association.
5.
KahleL. R., KambaraK. M., & RoseG. M. (1996). A functional model of fan attendance motivations for college football. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 4(4), 51–60.
6.
KelmerS. (1996, Fall). Foreign enrollment: Beating a path. Connection, 27–29.
7.
LeeM. J. (1985). Self-esteem and social identity in basketball fans: A closer look at basking in reflected glory. Journal of Sport Behavior, 8, 210–223.
8.
ManeseJ. E., SedlacekW. E., & LeongF. T. L. (1988). Needs and perceptions of female and male international undergraduate students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 16, 24–29.
9.
MannL. (1989). Sports crowds and the collective behavior perspective. In GoldsteinJ. H. (Ed.), Sports, games, and play: Social & psychological viewpoints (2nd ed., pp. 299–331). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
10.
MarkM. M., BryantF. B., & LehmanD. R. (1983). Perceived injustice and sports violence. In GoldsteinJ. H. (Ed.), Sports violence (pp. 83–109). New York: Springer-Verlag.
11.
McCarthyL. M. (1998). Marketing sport to Hispanic consumers. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 7(4), 19–24.
12.
MullinB. J., HardyS., & SuttonW. A. (1993). Sport marketing.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
13.
MurrellA. J., & DietzB. (1992). Fan support of sports teams: The effect of a common group identity. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 14, 28–39.
14.
NunnallyJ. C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
15.
SchurrK. T., RubleV. E., & EllenA. S. (1985). Myers-Briggs Type Inventory and demographic characteristics of students attending and not attending a college basketball game. Journal of Sport Behavior, 8, 181–194.
16.
SchurrK. T., WittingA. F., RubleV. E., & EllenA. S. (1987). Demographic and personality characteristics associated with persistent, occasional, and non-attendance of university male basketball games by college students. Journal of Sport Behavior, 11, 3–17.
17.
SloanL. R. (1989). The motives of sports fans. In GoldsteinJ. H. (Ed.), Sports, games, and play: Social & psychological viewpoints (2nd ed., pp. 175–240). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
18.
SuttonW. A., McDonaldM. A., MilneG. R., & CimpermanJ. (1997). Creating and fostering fan identification in professional sports. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 6(1), 15–22.
19.
Taylor Research & Consulting Group, Inc. (1998, May). The National Collegiate Athletic Association College Basketball Research Study: Final report.Greenwich, CT: Author.
20.
TrailG. T., AndersonD. F., & FinkJ. S. (in press). Examination of gender differences in importance and satisfaction with venue factors at intercollegiate basketball games: Effects on future spectator attendance. International Sports Journal.
21.
TrailG. T., FinkJ. S., & AndersonD. F. (2000). A theoretical model of sport spectator consumption behavior. International Journal of Sport Management, 1, 154–180.
22.
TrailG. T., & JamesJ. D. (in press). The Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption: Assessment of the Scale's psychometric properties. Journal of Sport Behavior.
23.
WannD. L. (1995). Preliminary validation of the Sport Fan Motivation Scale. The Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 20, 377–396.
24.
WannD. L. (1996). Seasonal change in spectators’ identification and involvement with and evaluations of college basketball and football teams. The Psychological Record, 46, 201–215.
25.
WannD. L., & BranscombeN. R. (1990). Die-hard and fair-weather fans: Effects of identification on BIRGing and CORFing tendencies. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 14, 103–117.
26.
WannD. L., & BranscombeN. R. (1993). Sports fans: Measuring degree of identifica-tion with their team. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 24, 1–17.
27.
WannD. L., & BranscombeN. R. (1995). Influence of identification with a sports team on objective knowledge and subjective beliefs. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 26, 551–567.
28.
WannD. L., BrewerK. R., & RoyaltyJ. L. (1999, Summer). Sport fan motivation: Relationships with team identification and emotional reactions to sporting events. International Sports Journal, 3, 8–18.
29.
WannD. L., & DolanT. J. (1994). Attributions of highly identified sports spectators. The Journal of Social Psychology, 134, 783–792.
30.
WannD. L., DolanT. J., McGeorgeK. K., & AllisonJ. A. (1994). Relationship between spectator identification and spectators’ perceptions of influence, spectators’ emotions, and competition outcome. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 16, 347–364.
31.
WannD. L., InmanS., EnsorC. L., GatesR. D., & CaldwellD. S. (1999, Winter). Assessing the psychological well-being of sport fans using the profile of mood states: The importance of team identification. International Sports Journal, 3, 81–90.
32.
WannD. L., & SchraderM. P. (1997). Team identification and the enjoyment of watching a sporting event. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 84, 954.
33.
WannD. L., SchraderM. P., & WilsonA. M. (1999). Sport fan motivation: Questionnaire validation, comparisons by sport, and relationship to athletic motivation. Journal of Sport Behavior, 22, 114–139.
34.
ZhangJ. J., PeaseD. G., SmithD. W., LeeJ. T., LamE. T. C., & JamborE. A. (1997, Summer). Factors affecting the decision making of spectators to attend minor league hockey games. International Sports Journal, 1, 39–53.
