Michael Naylor

A societal perspective of sport: scale development in two settings

Sport scholars have been challenged to critically examine what constitutes distinctive areas of focus for the management of sport. Among these areas, the role of sport in society has been identified as a critical area of inquiry to derive this distinctiveness (Coalter, 2007; Zeigler, 2007). Due to the importance and pervasiveness of sport participation and sport spectating in society, an examination of these settings from a societal perspective is warranted. The purpose of the research was to construct and empirically test scales designed to explore sport participation and sport spectating contexts from a societal perspective. Sport participants (n = 720) and sport spectators (n = 451) completed adapted instruments based on the initial scale development work of Kang (2004). For both contexts, an examination of the psychometric properties revealed evidence of reliability and validity of the modified instruments. Perceptions of the dimensions differed between the sport participation and sport spectating setting. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Memorisation of Rugby World Cup sponsors: The Home Team Sponsor's Advantage

ABSTRACT A challenge for mega sporting events such as the Rugby World Cup is to ensure that team sponsors are not confused with event sponsors. The purpose of this research is to (1) measure consumer identification rates of mega-event sponsors and misidentification rates of product-category competitors, and (2) investigate the impact of different retrieval cues on identification rates of mega-event sponsors. Data about Rugby World Cup 2011 sponsors were collected from 608 students at a large New Zealand university using quasi-experimental design. The percentage of the full sample that correctly identified event sponsors across the recognition and recall mechanisms varied considerably. Different retrieval cues had no effect on the recognition rates. The key finding is that Adidas, Air New Zealand and Hyundai/Ford—all prominent, longstanding sponsors of the All Blacks—were consistently misidentified as official RWC sponsors.

Conceptualising and measuring fan identity using stakeholder theory

ABSTRACT Research question: Building on identity theory and stakeholder theory, this study explores the concept of fan identity based on self-perceived levels of power, urgency, internal and external legitimacy, and examines their effects on behavioural intentions. Research methods: Data were collected from professional football fans (n = 532). A confirmatory factor analysis analysed the psychometric properties of the constructs, and a subsequent structural equation model examined the effects of fan identity on three behavioural intention measures. Results and findings: The results indicate acceptable psychometric properties of the multidimensional construct of fan identity composed of power, urgency, internal legitimacy and external legitimacy. Power and internal legitimacy were significantly related to the intentions to attend more games and to purchase merchandise, with internal legitimacy also influencing intentions to recommend games to others. Implications: This study provides the first exploration of fan identity as a multidimensional construct. The findings provide sport managers with useful insights on how to measure fan identity. This study serves as a catalyst for future research to understand the linkages between professional sport teams and their fans.

Promoting sport and physical activity participation: the impact of endorser expertise and recognisability

ABSTRACT The match-up hypothesis suggests that a fit between endorser and a brand/product can lead to more favourable campaign results. This study explores the effect of endorser expertise and recognition on young adults’ attitudes, and intentions and perceived endorser-campaign fit related to social marketing campaign. A mixed methods sequential explanatory design was applied. The quantitative phase revealed that celebrity athlete endorsers had a more positive effect on participants’ attitudes in comparison with the celebrity non-athlete, unknown expert and unknown non-expert. The intention to participate was also highest for the celebrity athlete group. The perceived fit between the campaign and the celebrity athlete endorser was significantly higher than that for the other endorser types. Participation intention and attitude were not significantly different between sport versus physical activity campaign contexts. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data supported the quantitative findings that sport-based social marketing campaign can benefit from endorsement by a celebrity athlete.

Enduring and situational involvement among hockey enthusiasts

ABSTRACT Sports participants’ attitudes, usually measured based on enduring characteristics, are increasingly being examined in terms of situational nuances that affect their experience. This study is an examination of situational (SI) and enduring (EI) involvement among 195 adult male ice hockey enthusiasts. Existing EI instrumentation is utilised, as well as an SI scale developed specifically for this research. Results build on existing research from other exploratory studies that SI has an additive effect alongside EI. Further, significant differences in sport behaviour patterns were shown among groups created using EI profiles. Innovative data collection methods are discussed given the inherently intrusive nature of collecting SI data at the site of activity engagement.