The Dark Side of Spectator Behavior: Effects of Spectator Dysfunctional Behavior on Anger, Rumination, and Revisit Intention

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the negative effects of spectator dysfunctional behavior (SDB) on other spectators' anger, rumination, and revisit intention. More specifically, in Study 1, we show that SDB (vs. spectator normal behavior [SNB]) elicited other spectators' anger and reduced revisit intention. Anger significantly mediated the relationship between SDB (vs. SNB) and revisit intention. The negative effects of SDB and anger on revisit intention became positive as team identification increased. In Study 2, we demonstrate that rumination regarding SDB incidents evoked focal spectators' anger and decreased revisit intention. Anger significantly mediated the relationship between rumination and revisit intention. Furthermore, the negative effects of rumination and anger on revisit intention were more significantly reduced in a high-level team identification group than in a low-level of team identification counterpart. Overall, the current work makes contributions to the sport management literature by shedding light on the dark side of sport spectatorship.

The relative influence of spectator dysfunctional behavior on spectator enjoyment in Major League Baseball

“…For example, Kim et al (2020a) found a high severity SDB (vs. a low severity SDB) reduced witnesses' revisit intention. Similarly, Kim and Byon (2020) found that SDB increased other spectators' anger and evoked rumination after the event, which negatively affected revisit intention.…”

“…The more spectators feel connected to their favorite team, the more likely they are to act in a way categorized as SDB (Larkin and Fink, 2019). Research of SDB in consumer behavior has been extended to account for spectators' emotional, psychological and behavioral responses to SDB (Kim and Byon, 2020; Kim et al , 2020a).…”

“…That includes inattentive parents with naughty kids, oral abusers, outlandish requesters, hysterical shouters, poor hygiene manners, service rule breakers and ignorant customers. In the context of SDB, Kim and Byon (2020) found that spectators experienced many types of SDB during a sporting event, such as physical fighting, cursing at players, yelling obscenities and throwing food. Given the accumulated knowledge on SDB's negative effects, to fully grasp the phenomena of SDB, there should be grounds for testing potential positivity coming out of SDB, which is addressed in the present study.…”

“…Previous researchers have created an intriguing collection of studies that have created a strong line of inquiry in this area. Some of these studies cover personal predictors such as trait aggression/hostility and age (Hennessy and Schwartz, 2007; Hilliard and Johnson, 2018; Toder-Alon et al , 2019), perceptions on superstitions war terminology (Rocca and Vogl-Bauer, 1999; Wann and Goeke, 2017) and impacts like rumination and coping (Kim and Byon, 2020; Kim et al , 2020a) of SDB. A constant aim throughout the body of the prior literature is the embedded negative connotation and the adverse outcomes of SDB or actions within SDB.…”

“…Many studies (e.g. Kim and Byon, 2020) in the field take more of a singular or dichotomous approach when looking at the concept of SDB.…”