Sport Marketing Quarterly

The purpose of the study was to empirically demonstrate that sensory impressions, emblematic of rituals, have an ability to impact perceptions of atmospherics to a degree that may facilitate place attachment. In this paper, sensory rituals reflecting aesthetics, sound, taste, touch, and socialization are operationalized as multi-dimensional perspectives based upon three fundamental characteristics: frequency, meaningfulness, and novelty. Data were acquired by surveying individuals attending live sport events. In total, 444 useable surveys were collected from patrons representing three countries and six unique sport contexts. Results reveal that fans’ perception of atmosphere was shown to mediate the relationship between sensory rituals and individuals’ place identity and place dependency. Attendees’ perceived level of team identification moderated the relationship between various forms of sensory rituals and atmospherics. This study provides further proof that ritualistic behavior exists to perpetuate various forms of attachment including religion, sport, teams, and in this case, places.

Social Live Streaming Services (SLSSs) have emerged as a novel distribution channel for mediated sports, necessitating an exploration of their impacts on viewers’ flow experiences. This study integrates flow theory and the limited capacity model to assess the extent to which interactive elements, specifically live chat and streamer presence, contribute to viewers’ flow experiences under different suspense levels. The findings revealed that the live chat positively affected viewers’ flow, while streamer presence had a negative impact. Moreover, under low suspense conditions, both informational and emotional messages were positively correlated with flow, whereas only emotional messages exhibited a positive impact on flow under high suspense conditions. Notably, the negative impact of streamer presence on flow remained consistent regardless of suspense conditions. This study expands existing knowledge on flow within the context of SLSS and provides insights for practitioners seeking to strategically leverage SLSSs as an effective distribution channel for mediated sports.

Undoubtedly, bad calls during sport matches have been known to disrupt the spectators’ viewing experiences. However, do the bad calls always damage the enjoyment of the game? Drawing on the excitation transfer theory and the attributional model, we attempted to examine the impacts of unavoidable negative situations on fans’ experiences. To achieve the research objective, we experimented (n = 145) with a 2 (Bad calls: with vs. without) x 2 (Game result: win vs. loss) between-subjects designs by using actual NCAA Division 1 men's basketball videos as experimental stimuli. The results showed that emotions of suspense (e.g., emotional intensity) from witnessing bad calls can be transferred to favorable emotions (e.g., subjective vitality), depending on the outcome of the subsequent events (winning vs. losing). The findings propose that bad calls could not only serve as a catalyst for increasing fans’ emotions of suspense but also enhance their overall viewing experience.

The growth of fantasy soccer has been rapid over the last decade. Yet, surprisingly, very little is understood about the emotional experiences associated with playing the game. The present study utilized the Multidimensional Emotion Questionnaire to measure the emotions of 1,932 fantasy soccer players categorized as having either low, low-to-moderate, moderate-to-high, or high engagement with the game. Kruskal-Wallis tests followed by Dunn's post-hoc tests found a very consistent pattern of emotional response characteristics (frequency, intensity, duration, and regulation) increasing in line with level of engagement (i.e., from fewest in low engagement players to most in high engagement players). Across the sample as a whole, paired-samples f-tests found positive emotions to be greater than negative emotions for frequency, intensity, and duration, but not regulation. These results can be used by stakeholders to optimize the playing experience and tailor the marketing of fantasy sports games.

The current study examines the impact of a professional sport team's philanthropic initiative on its fans’ CSR participation intention. Turthermore, the study explores how building consumer trust would enhance CSR participation intention among fans with varying psychological connection levels to the team. A scenario-based experimental design was used to test the study hypotheses. The results indicate that CSR participation intention significantly differed based on sport fans’ perception toward their supporting teams’ CSR program. Additionally fans’ trust mediates perceived CSR and CSR participation intention association, and the effect is stronger among lower psychologically connected fans. The study provides theoretical contributions, as it examined the impact of perceived CSR on consumers’ behavioral intention while considering the potential differences in the result based on consumers’ levels of psychological connection to an organization. The study also provides practical implications for sport professionals who aim to build consumer relationships through strategic CSR practices.

Virtual running events (VREs) have emerged as participatory events and are projected to be a legitimate future segment in the sport event industry. This paper considers the most suitable market segment(s) with future intentions to partake in VREs. A Chi-Squared Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) algorithm, scarcely used to segment sport consumer markets, was applied based on various motivational factors that may drive VRE participation. Data were collected from 1,017 individuals who had participated in a VRE. Ten distinct market segments with varying intentions to partake in VREs were identified, uncovering at least six viable future VRE segments. Hedonia, perceived psycho-social risk, perceived price and VRE benefits were the strongest predictors of VRE participation intentions. The CHAID analysis allowed a detailed description of the relative importance of the characteristics within each segment, confirming the benefit of using this sophisticated technique to develop targeted marketing strategies.