Jeremy S. Jordan

Brand Community Development Through Associated Communities: Grounding Community Measurement Within Social Identity Theory

The purpose of this study was to measure consumer identification with several (brand) communities using a multidimensional psychometric community identity instrument grounded in social identity theory. Use of such instrumentation allowed the authors to examine how consumer identification with associated communities affected identification with the brand community. Data were collected on four different community identities (college football team, university, city, state) among students at the three major Florida universities. Results indicated that identification with the respective teams was affected by identification with other communities surrounding the team. This interplay among community identities had a strong subsequent effect on consumer behavior.

Capacity of Mass Participant Sport Events for the Development of Activity Commitment and Future Exercise Intention

Mass participation sport events are often cited as increasing population-level physical activity, but empirical evidence is scarce as to their effectiveness. The current research examined the developmental role of these events in increasing positive attitudes toward physically active leisure by a) determining its motivational capacity and b) investigating how sport event participation contributes to activity commitment and future exercise intentions. A multiattribute survey was distributed on-line to participants of a running event held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, (N = 2,791) three months after the event. Inferential statistics revealed that 10 motives directed participation across 75% of the population. Multivariate multiple linear regression analyses revealed event participation motives combined with event satisfaction and physical activity involvement explained 30% of running commitment and 31% of future exercise intentions. Most notably, the event promoted stronger attitudes toward regular exercise among participants who were more satisfied with their event experience, least active before the event, and had completed fewer prior organized events. This evidence demonstrates that mass participant sporting events can serve as important social and environmental correlates of physical activity.

The Feasibility of Single-Item Measures for Organizational Justice

Researchers in a number of disciplines have examined the utility of single-item measures for both affective and cognitive constructs. While these authors have indicated that, under certain circumstances, the use of single-item measures is appropriate, there remains concern regarding the reliability and validity of single-item measures. This study attempts to address these concerns by comparing the reliability and validity of single-item and full-scale measures for three dimensions of organizational justice. There are an increasing number of studies in organizational behavior, as well as sport management, that have explored the importance of justice and its influence on various attitudes and behaviors. However, to date there have been no attempts to develop single-item measures for each of the dimensions of organizational justice. The development of single-item measures for organizational justice could provide researchers with practical and psychometric advantages compared with full-scale measures. Two separate methods were used to test the reliability of single-item measures while concurrent validity was measured with a global measure of job satisfaction. Single-item measures demonstrated comparable concurrent validity, and, with one exception, the reliability estimates were all above .70.

Marathons for the Masses: Exploring the Role of Negotiation-Efficacy and Involvement on Running Commitment

Abstract Marathon running is a leisure behavior that has seen tremendous growth during the past decade. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of factors associated with commitment to running for marathon participants. This study was designed to investigate the relationships among negotiation-efficacy, leisure involvement, and psychological commitment for individuals who had participated in a marathon event. A three-facet involvement measure was confirmed and then combined with negotiation-efficacy to predict commitment to running. The results revealed that two involvement dimensions and negotiation-efficacy explained 72% of the variance in commitment. A discussion of findings from the study as well as practical implications and suggestions for future research are presented.

The Role of Physically Active Leisure for Enhancing Quality of Life

Drawing upon bottom-up theory of life satisfaction, this study develops and tests a model that links physically active leisure to peoples quality of life. Results from a sample of 827 running event participants revealed that satisfaction with event participation and psychological involvement in running were significant predictors of participants’ life domain satisfaction and overall life satisfaction, both of which are common subjective indicators of quality of life. Conversely, behavioral involvement in running was a non-significant predictor of life domain satisfaction and overall life satisfaction. These findings suggest that physically active leisure may enhance participants’ quality of life by providing positive experiences through event participation and contributing to psychological involvement in physical activity.

Relationships Between Self-Determined Motivation and Developmental Outcomes in Sport-Based Positive Youth Development

Building on self-determination theory, this study examined the relationships between self-determined motivation toward sport participation and developmental outcomes in sport-based positive youth development. One hundred twenty participants in a sport-based positive youth development program designed to engage youth through running completed a postprogram survey measuring their self-determined motivation toward running and achievement of developmental outcomes. The results of regression analyses indicated that participants with higher self-determined motivation toward running reported higher general self-efficacy, more positive attitudes toward a healthy lifestyle, and lower engagement in threatening behavior. On the other hand, self-determined motivation was unrelated to self-reported academic performance.

The influence of organisational justice on Perceived Organisational Support in a university recreational sports setting

Using a sample of 152 student employees, the authors examined the relationship between organisational justice and Perceived Organisational Support (POS). Specifically this study examined the degree that distributive, procedural, and interactional justice influenced student employee POS. Additionally, the authors explored whether perceptions of justice differed based on sex, tenure of employment, and type of supervision. All three dimensions of organisational justice were significantly related to POS, with distributive justice demonstrating the greatest effect. Based on findings from this study, it appears that employee perceptions of workplace fairness serve as an important determinant of POS.

Managing Mass Sport Participation: Adding a Personal Performance Perspective to Remodel Antecedents and Consequences of Participant Sport Event Satisfaction

The current study was an investigation of the role of personal performance, an internal assessment of time-goal achievement, on participants’ event satisfaction that would contribute to positive outcomes. Multi-attribute online surveys were distributed to participants at two distance participant sport events held in the Southeast and Northeast United States (N = 3,476 and 4,828). A multidimensional Participant Sport Event Attribute and Service Delivery (PSEASD) scale was developed to capture a spectrum of service touch points encountered during the event experience. Empirical results using covariance-based structural equation modeling was used to test and support a proposed model revealing that personal performance was a stronger positive determinant of event satisfaction than traditional service quality and perceived value. A significant negative interaction effect between service quality and personal performance was also revealed. Collectively, the model explained 41% of variance in event satisfaction, and 26% of behavioral intentions. Based on the findings, we suggest managing personal performance expectations is important to holistically manage and promote overall event satisfaction in a participant sport event setting

Get Serious: Gender and Constraints to Long-Distance Running

Abstract While there has been tremendous growth in participation rates of women in distance running, the percentage of women participating in full marathons has plateaued. This study investigated this phenomenon by exploring whether differences in constraints and constraint negotiation across gender within this serious leisure activity can explain this difference. Survey research was used to collect data from 3,453 marathon and half-marathon finishers. Comparisons found different barriers across both gender and distance. Additional findings suggest, however, that constraints associated with women in leisure in general do not adequately explain the participation differences, and that women may merely define the parameters of serious leisure within distance running differently than men.

Collaboration in Sport Research: A Case from the Field

Faculty members mindful of the ticking tenure and promotion clock seek ways to balance the competing and sometimes overwhelming demands of research, teaching, and service. One way to balance these demands is to fi nd opportunities for collaboration with colleagues, especially in the area of research. There are several compelling reasons to pursue joint research projects with colleagues; however, there are also diffi culties inherent in the collaboration process. This article will discuss the benefi ts and challenges of working on collaborative research projects with colleagues from the same discipline as well as across disciplines. As members of a team actively involved in several research projects and presentations, we use our own experiences to discuss effective strategies of collaboration.