This study assessed the direct and interaction effects of team identification and satisfaction with facets of a game on intentions to attend future games. A sample of 1,256 spectators in seven J-League (Japan professional football/soccer league) soccer games responded to a questionnaire eliciting their team identification; satisfaction with the final score, with the performance of the favorite team, and the excellence of the contest; and intention to attend future games. Correlational and regression analyses showed that both team identification and facets of satisfaction were significantly correlated with intention to attend future games with team identification correlating at a higher level. Identification explained the greatest amount of variance in the intention to attend future games followed by satisfaction with the performance of the favorite team and excellence of the contest. The significance of the interaction of identification and satisfaction indicated that the intentions of highly identified fans relative to low-identified fans were less influenced by any of the facets of satisfaction.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndersonE. W., FornellC., & LehmannD. R. (1994). Customer satisfaction, market share, and profitability: Findings from Sweden. Journal of Marketing, 58(1), 53–66.
2.
AndersonE. W., & SullivanM. W. (1993). The antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction for firms. Marketing Science, 12(2), 125–143.
3.
AjzenI., & FishbeinM. (1980). Understanding attitude and predicting social behavior.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
4.
BackmanS. J., & CromptonJ. L. (1991). Differentiating between high, spurious, latent, and low loyalty participants in two leisure activities. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 9(2), 1–17.
5.
BoltonR. N. (1998). A dynamic model of the duration of the customer's relationship with a continuous service provider: The role of satisfaction. Marketing Science, 17(1), 45–65.
6.
BoltonR. N., KannanP. K., & BramlettM. D. (2000). Implications of loyalty program membership and service experiences for customer retention and value. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 28(1), 95–108.
7.
CialdiniR. B., BordenR. J., ThorneA., WalkerM.R., FreemanS., & SloanL. R. (1976). Basking in reflected glory: Three (football) field studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34(3), 366–375
8.
CroninJ. J.Jr., & TaylorS. A. (1992). Measuring service quality: A reexamination and extension. Journal of Marketing, 56, 55–68.
9.
DayG. S. (1969). A two-dimensional concept of brand loyalty. Journal of Advertising Research, 9(3), 29–35.
10.
DickA. S., & BasuK. (1994). Customer loyalty: Toward an integrated conceptual framework. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 22(2), 99–113.
11.
EngelJ. F., BlackwellR. D., & MiniardP W. (1995). Consumer behavior (8th ed.). Forth Worth, TX: The Dryden Press.
12.
FisherR. J., & WakefieldK. (1998). Factors leading to group identification: A field study of winners and losers. Psychology & Marketing.15(1), 23–40.
13.
FujimotoJ., & HaradaM. (1996). A study on sports spectator market: A potential market of football spectators in Japan. [Paper presented at the 4th European Congress on Sport Management, Mont-pellier, France.]
14.
FujimotoJ., & HaradaM. (2000). Spectator's intention and actual behavior: In the case of the existing market of Japanese professional baseball. [Paper presented at the 15th annual conference of North American Society for Sport Management, Colorado Springs, CO.]
15.
FunkD. C., & PastoreD. L. (2000). Equating attitudes to allegiance: The usefulness of selected attitudinal information in segmenting loyalty to professional sports teams. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 9(4), 175–184.
16.
GarbarinoE., & JohnsonM. S. (1999). The different roles of satisfaction, trust, and commitment in customer relationships. Journal of Marketing, 63, 70–87.
17.
GladdenJ. M., & MilneG. R. (1999). Examining the importance of brand equity in professional sport. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 8(1), 21–29.
18.
GreensteinT. N., & MarcumJ. P. (1981). Factors affecting attendance of Major League Baseball: I. Team performance. Review of Sport and Leisure, 6(2), 21–34.
19.
HansenH., & GauthierR. (1989). Factor affecting attendance at professional sport events. Journal of Sport Management, 3, 15–32.
20.
HaradaM., & MatsuokaH. (1999). The influence of new team entry upon brand switching in the J-League. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 8(3), 21–30.
21.
Institute of Free Time Design. (2001). [Leisure White Paper 2001. Tokyo, Japan.]
22.
IwasakiY., & HavitzM. E. (1998). A path analytic model of the relationships between involvement, psychological commitment, and loyalty. Journal of Leisure Research, 30, 256–280.
23.
JacobyJ. (1971). A model of multi-brand loyalty. Journal of Advertising Research, 11(3), 25–30.
24.
JamesJ. D. (2001). The role of cognitive development and socialization in the initial development of team loyalty. Leisure Sciences, 23, 233–261.
25.
KingB. (2002). Passion that can't be counted puts billions of dollars in play. Street & Smith's Sportbusiness Journal, 4(47), 25–39.
26.
KoY., & MatsuokaH. (2001). Service quality in the spectating sport industry: A conceptual model. [Paper presented at the 16th annual North American Society for Sport Management Conference, Virginia Beech, VA.]
27.
KotlerP. (2000). Marketing management (The millennium edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
28.
LovelockC.H. (1996). Service marketing (3rd Edition). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
29.
MadrigalR. (1995). Cognitive and affective determinants of fan satisfaction with sporting event attendance. Journal of Leisure Research, 27(3), 205–227.
30.
MaelF., & AshforthB. E. (1992). Alumni and their alma mater: A partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identification. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13, 103–123.
31.
MahonyD. F., MadrigalR., & HowardD. (2000). Developing the psychological commitment to team (PCT) scale to segment sport consumers based on loyalty. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 9(1), 15–25.
32.
MatsuokaH. (2001). Multidimensionality of fans’ psychological commitment to sport teams: Development of a Scale. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University.
33.
MatsuokaH. (2002). Foci of fans’ psychological commitment. [Paper presented at the 17th annual North American Society for Sport Management Conference, Can-more, Alberta, Canada.
34.
MeyerJ. P., & AllenN. J. (1991). A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human Resource Management Review, 1, 61–89.
35.
MeyerJ. P., & AllenN. J. (1997). Commitment in the work place: Theory, research, and application.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
36.
MittalV., KumarP., TsirosM. (1999). Attribute-level performance, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions over time: A consumption-system approach. Journal of Marketing, 63, 88–101.
37.
MittalV., RossW. T.Jr., & BaldasareP. M. (1998). The asymmetric impact of negative and positive attribute-level performance on overall satisfaction and repurchase intentions. Journal of Marketing, 62, 33–47.
38.
MooradianT. A., & OlverJ. M. (1997). “I can't get no satisfaction”: The impact of personality and emotion on postpurchase processes. Psychology & Marketing, 14(4), 379–393.
39.
MullinB. J., HardyS., & SuttonW. A. (2000). Sport marketing (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
40.
MurrellA. J., & DietzB. (1992). Fan support of sport teams: The effect of a common group identity. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 14, 28–39.
41.
OliverR. L. (1980). A cognitive model of the antecedents and consequence of satisfaction decisions. Journal of Marketing Research, 17, 460–469.
42.
OliverR. L., & BeardenW. O. (1983). The role of involvement in satisfaction processes. In BagozziR. P. & Ty-boutA. M. (Eds.), Advances in Consumer Research, 10, (pp. 250–255). Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Consumer Research.
43.
O'ReillyC. A., & ChatmanJ. A. (1986). Organizational commitment and psychological attachment: The effects of compliance, identification, and internalization on prosocial behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 492–499.
44.
ParkS. H. (1996). Relationship between involvement and attitudinal loyalty constructs in adult fitness programs. Journal of Leisure Research, 28(4), 233–250.
45.
ParkS. H., & KimY. M. (2000). Conceptualizing and measuring the attitudinal loyalty construct in recreational sport contexts. Journal of Sport Management, 14, 197–207.
46.
PrideW. M., & FerrellO. C. (1997). Marketing (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
47.
RustR. T., & ZahorikA. J. (1993). Customer satisfaction, customer retention, and market share. Journal of Retailing, 69(2), 193–215.
48.
ScanlanT. K., CarpenterP. J., SchmidtG. W., SimonsJ. P., & KeelerB. (1993). An introduction to the sport commitment model. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 15, 1–15.
49.
SchmennerR. W. (1995). Service operations management. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. New
50.
SnyderC. R., LassegardM., & FordC. E. (1986). Distancing after group success and failure: Basking in reflected glory and cutting off reflected failure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(2), 382–388.
51.
Street & Smith's Sportbusiness Journal. (2001). By the number 2002: The authoritative annual research guide and fact book. Charlotte, NC: Street and Smith.
52.
SuttonW. A., McDonaldM. A., MilneG. R., & CimpermanJ. (1997). Creating and fostering fan identification in professional sports. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 6(1), 15–22.
53.
TaylorS. A., & BakerT. L. (1994). An assessment of the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in the formation of consumers’ purchase intentions. Journal of Retailing, 70(2), 163–178.
54.
ThwaitesD. (1999). Closing the gaps: Service quality in sport tourism. Journal of Services Marketing, 13(6), 500–516.
55.
WakefieldK.L. (1995). The pervasive effects of social influence on sporting event attendance. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 19, 335–351.
56.
WakefieldK. L., & BarnesJ. H. (1996). Retailing hedonic consumption: A model of sales promotion of a leisure service. Journal of Retailing, 72(4), 409–427.
57.
WakefieldK. L., & BlodgettJ. G. (1994). The importance of servicescapes in leisure service settings. Journal of Services Marketing, 8(3), 66–76.
58.
WakefieldK. L., & BlodgettJ. G. (1996). The effect of the servicescapes on customers’ behavioral intentions in leisure service settings. Journal of Services Marketing, 10(6), 45–61.
59.
WakefieldK. L., BlodgettJ. G., & SloanH. J. (1995). Measurement and management of the sportscape. Journal of Sport Management, 10, 15–31.
60.
WakefieldK. L., & SloanH. J. (1995). The effects of team loyalty and selected stadium factors on spectator attendance. Journal of Sport Management, 9, 153–172.
61.
WannD. L., & BranscombeN. R. (1990). Die-hard and fair-weather fans: Effects of identification on BIRGing and CORFing tendencies. Journal of Sport and Social Issue, 14(2), 103–117.
62.
WannD. L., & BranscombeN. R. (1993). Sports fan: Measuring degree of identifi-cation with their team. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 24, 1–17.
63.
WanousJ. P., ReichersA. E., & HudyM. J. (1997). Overall job satisfaction: How good are single-item measures?Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 247–252.
