Joon-Ho Kang

Designing ticket price strategies for professional sports teams using conjoint analysis

This study emphasises the need for professional teams to have sophisticated methods for devising ticket pricing strategies. The research was designed to supply team managers with meaningful information from which to construct ticket prices that fit the needs of their fans. Three different fan segments were identified (general adults, college students and middle and high school students) and four attributes for determining ticket prices in a given circumstance were selected (Player, Coupon, Point and Price). Conjoint analysis technique was used to conduct the research and analyse findings.

Ex Ante and Ex Post Expectations of Outcome Uncertainty and Baseball Television Viewership

Sporting event attendance is determined by ex ante expectations about the quality of the game, but because changing television channels costs nothing, sporting event viewership is influenced by actual game progression. This implies that demand determinants for televised baseball may change as games progress. This study examined the dynamic relationship between demand for televised baseball games and the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis (UOH). In particular, we analyzed inning-varying coefficients in a television rating regression equation. According to our empirical study, there are large dynamics in TV viewership demand for sports events and the marginal effects of factors on viewership changes significantly as innings progress. The estimation results can be summarized as (1) the UOH was shown to be significant not only statistically but also economically; (2) although ex ante variables were more effective in earlier innings and ex post variables were more effective in later innings, we found that ex ante expectations of outcome uncertainty remain significantly influential in later innings; and (3) after the matchup, the ex ante game quality is the second most significant factor among the examined effects on ratings.

Psychometric comparability of brand personality scale: assessing brand personality matching between sports and corporate sponsors by using the congenerity test

This empirical study examines the psychometric comparability of Aakers Brand Personality Scale (Aaker, 1997) in sponsorship matching. It employs a structural validation protocol - the congenerity test (Ohanion, 1990) - to investigate the extent to which sports events and sponsors can be psychometrically matched. The results show that sports events and sponsors are comparable only in terms of limited numbers of the dimensions of the a priori scale. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The effects of perceived CSR, pride, team identification, and regional attachment: the moderating effect of gender

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper was to investigate specific mechanisms of how sport fans’ perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) of teams could enhance their sense of pride, team identification, and regional attachment. The mediating effect of gender was also examined. A theoretical research model was investigated via multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) using 317 survey responses. The results indicate that pride is an important mediator of the relationship between perceived CSR and team identification, and team identification was found an important predictor of regional attachment. Additionally, the results suggest that these relationships were much stronger amongst males. In both genders, perceived CSR was an important indicator for enhancing pride.

Development and Validity Testing of the Worksite Health Index: An Assessment Tool to Help and Improve Korean Employees' Health-Related Outcome.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to develop the Worksite Health Index (WHI) and validate its psychometric properties. Methods: The development of the WHI questionnaire included item generation, item construction, and field testing. To assess the instruments reliability and validity, we recruited 30 different Korean worksites. Results: We developed the WHI questionnaire of 136 items categorized into five domains, namely Governance and Infrastructure, Need Assessment and Planning, Health Prevention and Promotion Program, Occupational Safety, and Monitoring and Feedback. All WHI domains demonstrated a high reliability with good internal consistency. The total WHI scores differentiated worksite groups effectively according to firm size. Each domain was associated significantly with employees’ health status, absence, and financial outcome. Conclusions: The WHI can assess comprehensive worksite health programs. This tool is publicly available for addressing the growing need for worksite health programs.

KBO and International Sports League Comparisons

We provide an overview of the economic and business evolution of professional baseball in Korea. We map out the state of Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) revenues, costs, profits, team values, and regulations in the player market, and the state of competitive balance compared to Major League Baseball (MLB). After that, we go ahead and speculate on the major issues facing KBO if it were to choose to move Korean baseball toward a different business model, profits rather than advertising subsidiaries.