Ryan K. Zapalac

Understanding women's collegiate volleyball spectators from the perspectives of sociodemographics, market demand and consumption level

There are few studies examining the marketing characteristics of intercollegiate womens volleyball spectators. The purpose of this paper is to examine intercollegiate womens volleyball spectators from the perspectives of sociodemographics, market demand and consumption. Spectators (N=265) from seven intercollegiate womens volleyball games at three National Collegiate Athlete Association Division-I universities participated in the study. The findings indicate that there is a need to emphasise the market demand factors when marketing intercollegiate womens volleyball games.

The Puck Stops here: a brief report on National Hockey League fans' reactions to the 2004-2005 lockout

A great loss for sport fans was the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) 2004-2005 season because of a lockout. We examined the coping strategies of 62 NHL fans who completed the Sport Spectator Identification Scale (SSIS), identified coping strategies and responded to items assessing positive and negative effects of the lockout. Highly identified fans in the sample, more so than low identified fans, experienced greater emotional reactions to the lockout and required more coping strategies to successfully deal with the lockout. Both high and low identified fans in the sample reported their coping strategies were successful. Highly identified fans in the sample reported coping by using other hockey-related activities more than low identified fans. There were no differences in the reported success of the hockey-related versus the non-hockey related coping strategies. If the results are applicable, sport marketers can utilise these concepts in their promotional campaigns, especially when league interruptions are a possibility in todays professional sport landscape.

Sport fan maximizing: following the best team or being the best fan?

Purpose – The purpose of these studies is to determine how maximizing sport fans seek optimal outcomes through team identification. Maximizers seek optimal outcomes but do not always obtain them. This may be particularly true of sport fans, who often identify with teams for reasons that run deeper than team success. Maximizing fans may be more concerned with being the best fans than following the best teams. Design/methodology/approach – In Study 1, the authors measured maximizing tendency and identification with participants’ favorite National Football League (NFL) teams. The authors then used moderated regression to predict identification levels from the interaction of maximizing and the historical win–loss records of these teams. In Study 2, the authors manipulated team success by providing participants either an optimistic or pessimistic preview of their college basketball team’s upcoming season. The authors measured maximizing tendency as a moderator of this relationship and identification with the c...

Sport Fan Evaluations of a Major League Baseball Season: Key Predictors and Influence on Future Evaluations and Consumption Behaviors

ABSTRACT The current study examined fan evaluations of Major League Baseball team performance for a previous season as well as predictions of, and consumption expectations for, an upcoming season. With respect to evaluations of the recently completed season, appraisals were positively predicted by team identification, actual wins, and the number of playoff series played; evaluations were negatively predicted by simply making the playoffs. As for expectations for the next season, evaluations of the previous season, team identification, and actual wins were key predictors as those with more positive evaluations, higher levels of identification, and rooting for teams with fewer wins expected better performances from their team. Regarding consumption, team identification and expectations for the upcoming year were frequent predictors of a variety of consumption forms (e.g. attendance at home games, television viewing).

Sport fans' responses to the end of the season

While the benefits of identification with a sport team have been described (Wann, 2006a), the conditions under which fans will change or switch identification have not been investigated. The present study was designed to address this gap. Participants (154 college students) indicated how likely they were to engage in various acts following a basketball loss in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship tournament by the University of Kentucky (UK) mens basketball team. Half of the vignettes described a loss early in the tournament, while half of the vignettes described a loss in the Final Four. Results indicated that the timing of the loss, level of team identification, level of basketball fandom and level of maladaptive fan beliefs all influenced the likelihood that participants partook in certain activities. The results are discussed in terms of the influences that affect such decisions.