Points of attachment on social media: exploring similarities and differences between Chinese and Western National Basketball Association fans

PurposeThis paper tests and validates a conceptual model linking the attachment points, team identification, attitude towards the team sponsors and the behavioural intentions in the context of Indian Premier League (IPL), while testing for the moderating effects of age and gender.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 1,053 participants through both online and offline survey and then analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM).FindingsAttachment points influence the formation of team identification, which, in turn, affect the attitude towards the team sponsors. Attitude towards the team sponsors influence the behavioural intentions. Player attachment influences team identification the most. Age and gender have a moderating effect on the constructs of the study. Team identification in females is stronger because of attachment to sports, whereas males have stronger team identification based on player attachment. Males have a stronger intention to spread positive word of mouth (WOM) about sponsor products as compared to the female respondents. The younger age group of less than 21 years has more intention to spread positive WOM compared to the other age groups considered in the study.Practical implicationsThis study contributes towards sports sponsorship research and the paradigms of social identity and attachment theories. Moreover, it will also help the marketers (sponsors) in IPL to strategically market their brands.Originality/valueThis is the first study to investigate the impact of attachment points on sponsorship outcomes in the context of IPL. Further, it is also the first to investigate the purchase intentions and WOM for the team sponsors in IPL. The multi-group analysis results will provide insights into marketers to better understand IPL viewers' segments and their behaviour.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attachment points, team identification and sponsorship outcomes: evidence from the Indian Premier League

Kamath

Ganguli

George

2020

“…Simmons et al (2013) indicated different levels of team identification may be formed based on different POAs, and consumers low in team identification tend to identify with the sport itself and/or the level of competition. Similarly, Pu and James (2017) reported high levels of attachment to the sport of basketball among Chinese fans of the NBA, and Li et al (2017) found higher levels of attachment to basketball, the NBA and its players among Chinese fans, while American fans reported higher levels of attachment to the NBA teams. In other words, distant fans may report stronger attachment to the particular sport under examination, a league and its players rather than identifying strongly with a team.…”

Section: Points Of Attachment In Sportmentioning

confidence: 95%

Pro softball fan segments: a two-step cluster analysis

Mumcu

Lough

2021

PurposeNiche sports such as women's professional sport leagues face many challenges to developing and expanding their fan base. Understanding sport fans, segmenting consumer bases and targeting them effectively can assist in both developing the fan base and competing for investments like sponsorships and media rights. The purpose of this study was to explore consumer segments of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), a niche softball league, by identifying demographic and psychographic characteristics of the segments and developing a persona for each segment.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 3,463 NPF consumers with the assistance of NPF league officials using their social media outlets. A two-step cluster analysis was performed employing both categorical and continuous variables to inform the segmentation, which was followed with chi-squared statistics and two MANOVAs to compare the segments' demographic characteristics, points of attachment (POAs) levels and attendance and viewership of NPF games.FindingsThree distinct consumer segments with unique demographic, POA and softball participation characteristics were identified. Differences among these segments' consumption of NPF games validated the existence of three distinct consumer segments.Originality/valueThis research is the first to examine consumer behavior in women's softball, and it expands the sport marketing literature through the identification of consumer segments of a niche sport league with a novel cluster analysis. Blending theory and practice by incorporating both demographic and psychographic variables into market segmentation, the research uniquely serves this niche sport and thereby informs improved marketing practice.

“…Among all social interactive platforms, Twitter has been largely used by individual and institutional users because of its unique "following" nature, which empowers users to actively decide who to follow and what information they seek (Perez, 2013). Twitter users are not just interested in using this tool to obtain more followers and increase their brand awareness, but they are also concerned with whether other users are interested in or satisfied with the information they provide (Perez, 2013;Li, Dittmore and Scott, 2017).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A large number of studies were conducted among professional sports fans (i.e. Clavio and Kian, 2010;Gibbs et al, 2014;Li, 2016;Li, Dittmore and Scott, 2017;Li, Stokowski, Dittmore, Malmo and Rolfe, 2017;Li, Dittmore, Scott, Lo, Stokowski, in press) and college sports fans (i.e. Clavio, 2011;Clavio and Walsh, 2014).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Twitter and Olympics

Scott

Dittmore

2018

Self Cite

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how Olympic audiences utilized Twitter to follow American National Governing Bodies (NGBs) during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Design/methodology/approach Guided by economic demand theory, the researchers sought to explore whether factors such as the content of social media messages, athlete’s performance, event presentation, scheduling, and TV broadcasting contribute to enhancing fans’ interests in following NGBs on Twitter during the Olympic Games. In total, 33 American NGB Twitter accounts formed the data set for this study. Each of NGBs’ Twitter data was collected every night at midnight from August 7 to 23, 2016. Data collected from each NGB account included number of followers, number of accounts followed, number of tweets, and number of “likes.” Findings Results of this study revealed that team’s performance and the number of tweets had direct and positive relationships with increasing the number of NGB’s Twitter followers on each competition day. The number of “likes,” however, had a significant negative relationship with fans’ interests in following NGBs’ Twitter. Originality/value The results of the study are expected to help Governing Bodies in the Olympic sports have a better understanding of fans’ social media usage.