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A growing number of sport consumer behavior scholars have been employing experimental methods, especially because experiments allow researchers to gain a better understanding of causal inferences by examining controlled conditions. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to offer the current state of the adoption of experimental methods in sport consumer behavior research and (2) to discuss and highlight best practices that scholars can use when considering experimental designs. More specifically, we discuss methodological gaps existing in sport consumer behavior research by reviewing published sport consumer behavior articles in a content analysis. We also provide considerations to improve validity of empirical findings and outline the characteristics of well-designed experiments and how they can help advance theory development in the field. Ultimately, we offer practical recommendations and guidance to researchers wishing to use experiments in a wide array of research topics within sport consumer behavior.

An increasing number of athletes are speaking out on different social issues. There is also a growing acceptance and expectations of athletes utilizing their influence to push for social change. In recent years, some athletes have started disclosing their mental illness and raising awareness of mental health. This study investigates Twitter user data on Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open due to her mental health concerns, as well as examines how different Twitter sources or handles (e.g., athlete vs. news media) further shape public responses. Both thematic analysis and sentiment analysis were conducted on Twitter data to identify emergent themes and audience sentiment towards the case. Findings reveal growing positive reception of athletes’ mental health disclosures, athletes’ behavior as a form of advocacy, and utilization of social media to amplify activism efforts. The results also extend the athlete activism literature by showing how message sources shape public reactions differently. Findings provide implications for athletes and relevant stakeholders to effectively navigate through the situation by creating and delivering messages to their target audiences.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been highly politicized in the US. Th is study explored the effect of individuals’ political orientation on the relationship between their risk assessments of COVID-19 and intentions to revisit the golf course. A first-stage moderated mediation model consisting of general risk awareness of COVID-19, perceived risk of playing golf, and revisit intention was introduced to specify when and how political orientation influences an individual’s decision to play golf again. Recreational golfers (N = 199) from a survey panel took part in the study, and results showed that risk awareness of COVID-19 increases the perceived risk of playing golf while suppressing one’s intention to revisit the golf course during the pandemic. However, political orientation moderated the suppressant effect of risk awareness on revisit intent in that only Democrats showed negative effect on revisit intent while Republicans did not show any significant relationship. Findings are discussed in the context of a dual process model of political identity, and the implications for practice as well as future research are presented.

Robust evidence suggests that cultural variation affects consumer information processing. However, how different cultural orientations lead consumers to different moral judgments toward celebrity endorsers’ unethical behaviors is less appreciated. Drawing on the dual agency model, we show through two experiments that consumers’ information processing mode (holistic vs. analytic) leads to different moral judgment outcomes. This study contributes to the literature by (1) identifying the substantial roles of consumers’ cultural background and cognitive processing style on their response to negative publicity about celebrity athletes, (2) demonstrating the influence of cultural cognition on moral reasoning for both chronic (study 1) and working self-concepts (study 2), and (3) empirically testing the mediating role of the information processing mode on the effect of cultural cognition on moral judgment processes and its subsequent outcomes for celebrity athlete evaluation. The findings shed important managerial insights for managers dealing with athlete’s unethical behaviors in different cultural contexts.

One general conclusion from existing studies is that if a team spends more resources and efforts on socially responsible initiatives, fan responses are more likely to be favorable. In the current s...

PurposeThe current study aims to provide a systematic approach to detecting and identifying social desirability bias (SDB) in survey data using controversial sponsorship as a research context.Design/methodology/approachWe used an experimental approach to manipulate sponsorship situations (e.g. Beer sponsor vs Sports drink sponsor) that could potentially motivate respondents to under-report their perceptions toward the sponsor. By employing both procedural and statistical approaches, our evidence shows that responses toward the controversial sponsor were in fact contaminated by SDB.FindingsThe findings of the study provide methodological and practical implications for how sport marketing scholars and practitioners can identify, detect and control SDB in self-report data.Originality/valueWe argue that some survey research in sport marketing may be prone to SDB, but SDB has not received sufficient attention in sport marketing research. We emphasize the importance of detecting (and avoiding/controlling) SDB in sport management research.

PurposeThe global outbreak of the COVID-19 forced most sport leagues to cancel games in March–April 2020, leaving no sport games to watch for sport fans. The present study examined how sport consumers appraise stress and engage in coping behaviors resulted from sport lockout due to the global pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThis study examined the relationship between sport fans’ psychological dispositions, threat appraisal and coping strategies among professional sport fans in the USA. A panel of sport fans (N = 446) representative of the US adult population participated in an online survey in the fourth week of April, 2020 when no major sport leagues made a return from the lockout due to the COVID-19 outbreak.FindingsResults of this present study showed that anger, aggressiveness and need for affiliation increased threat perceptions toward the COVID-19 lockout, which subsequently had significant effect on emotion-focused and disengagement coping behaviors.Research limitations/implicationsThis is the first empirical study that examined stress and coping behavior among sport fans in the global public health crisis context. Our findings show what triggers stress appraisals and how fans cope with them.Practical implicationsFindings suggest that segmenting sport fans based on psychological dispositions could be useful in predicting fans that will engage in coping behaviors.Social implicationsWhile the hope is to return to normal postpandemic, COVID-19 might not be the last. We are uncertain whether there might be another potential pandemic-related sport lockdown. Understanding how lack of sport events can create distress in sport fans and have important public health implications.Originality/valueThe findings provide empirical evidence on how sport consumers respond to the pandemic-related sport lockdown and cope with the unprecedented situation. The findings of this study contribute to the sport management literature as we are unsure whether the sport industry might face this challenging situation in the future again.

This study explored the challenges facing sport leagues in the U.S. and Korea due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their strategies in dealing with the crisis, and what post-pandemic spectator sport indus...

Three experiments explore how sport consumers respond to sponsor advertisements featuring a team that lost a pivotal game. Drawing from social identity and appraisal theories, the authors hypothesize and find that high identifiers experience stronger negative emotions but less identity threat than low identifiers following their favorite team’s loss. When an advertisement features the losing team, low identifiers show less favorable evaluations toward the brand, whereas high identifiers report more favorable assessments. The results demonstrate that the tendency to hide and escape from the source of threat (losing team) among low identifiers is evidenced in processing marketing communications, whereas high identifiers display more positive evaluations toward the brand when the advertisement acknowledged the loss. The study findings provide implications for sponsors to consider different messaging strategies depending on the level of team identification with the losing team.

Drawing on propositions from the HAII-TIME (Human–artificial intelligence [AI] Interaction and the Theory of Interactive Media Effects) and Persuasion Knowledge Model, this study examines how knowledge of automated journalism (AJ) moderates the evaluation of algorithmically generated news. Experiment 1 demonstrates the utility of process-related knowledge in user evaluations of agency: individuals with little knowledge of AJ prefer attributions of human authorship over news stories attributed to algorithms, whereas individuals with high AJ knowledge have an equal or stronger preference for news that is described as algorithmically generated. Experiment 2 conditions these effects to show how prior characterizations of AJ—whether more machine- or human-like—shape evaluations of algorithmically generated news contingent on user age and knowledge level. Effects are found for differing age groups at lower levels of AJ knowledge, where machine-like characterizations enhance evaluations of algorithmically generated news for younger users but ascribing human-like traits enhances evaluations of automated news for older users.

Research questions: Using an experimental design, this study simulated a drafting task to examine whether a user’s involvement with fantasy sports (FS), different types of goal-framing, and competi...

Endorsement marketing has been widely used to generate consumer attention, interest, and purchase behaviors among targeted consumers. However, relatively little systematic research has been...

Purpose Sport has become a popular platform for corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns. Growing numbers of athletes, teams, and organizations are engaging in CSR campaigns to promote awareness and behaviors to support CSR campaigns addressing pressing social issues (e.g., disease prevention, health promotion, etc.). However, much of the previous work has focused on whether such initiatives benefit the organization, but not the community. The present paper provides theoretical explanations on the psychological mechanism that can demonstrate how consumers respond to CSR campaigns initiated by a sport organization Method In particular, existing literatures in moral psychology and CSR have been reviewed to identify an explanatory mechanism that promote prosocial behavior among sport consumers Results The present paper posits that moral emotion is a central processing mechanism explaining the link between CSR and socially responsible behaviors in consumers. The paper also provides a theoretical account to explain how moral emotions are evoked in the CSR context and how they can prompt prosocial behaviors Conclusion This paper adds to the literature by answering the call for the need to understand underlying mechanisms linking CSR with positive social outcomes (cf. Aguinis & Glavas, 2012).

Research questions: The purpose of this research is to theoretically develop and empirically test gratitude as a central mechanism within the triangular sponsorship model. This research addresses the following questions: (1) Which strategies most effectively generate gratitude toward sponsors? (2) What is the role of gratitude in stimulating consumer reciprocity?Research methods: Two studies were conducted to test the conceptual model. Study 1 implements an experimental approach in order to test the drivers of consumer gratitude in a controlled environment. Study 2 involves a field study in which the full gratitude and reciprocation model is tested in a naturalistic setting.Results and findings: The results demonstrate the impactful role of consumers’ causal attributions and value assessments upon feelings of gratitude. Further, gratitude was shown to promote consumer reciprocation. Findings were mixed regarding the relationship between perceptions of sponsor investment and gratitude.Implications:...

A celebrity athlete’s transgression damages the public’s trust in that celebrity. However, little is known about whether demonstrating an outstanding performance after the transgression mitigates the negative consequence of that transgression. It also remains unexplored whether engaging in reparation can restore consumer trust and generate forgiveness. Taking a longitudinal approach, we found that post-transgression performance slightly increased competence-based trust but had no impact on increasing integrity-based trust and forgiveness. However, post-transgression reparation efforts enhanced both integrity-based trust and forgiveness over time. Findings also suggest that performance has little impact on generating forgiveness, countering the popular notion that winning takes care of everything.

The current study examined the mediating and moderating roles of sponsorship-linked marketing on the relationships among cognitive, affective, and behavioral sponsor evaluations. A panel of National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) fans (N = 249) participated in an online survey, and the survey included multi-item scales including sponsor-brand recognition, consumer perceptions of property-based articulation, sponsorship-themed advertising, sponsorship-themed promotion, sponsor attitude, and purchase intention. Visit to sponsors' exhibits experience was incorporated as a moderator. This study provides empirical support for the full mediating role of sponsorship-linked marketing efforts in leveraging high levels of sponsor brand recognition into more desirable brand outcomes.

This study examines whether an organization's charitable donation will prompt consumers who closely identify with the organization to give to the charity as well. We posit that identifying with a benefactor will enhance the perception that consumers are involved in the donation process, which evokes grateful feelings. We also predict that the amount of the organization's donation will positively moderate the influence of organization identification on charity-evoked feelings of gratitude, while attitude toward the organization's charity will positively moderate the gratitude–donation relationship. In Study 1, we show how gratitude arises in the context of corporate social responsibility by demonstrating the mediating role of perceived donation contribution in the relationship between organization identification and gratitude. In Study 2, we demonstrate that organization identification has a significant indirect effect on donation intention through gratitude. Multigroup analyses show that the identification–gratitude link is more salient when the organization commits to donating a larger amount of money to a charity. Furthermore, the impact of gratitude on donation intent is significantly stronger for individuals who hold a favorable attitude toward the organization's corporate social responsibility activity. Our findings indicate that an organization's charitable giving also encourages consumers to give to the community via vicariously felt gratitude. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Athlete endorsers’ transgressions pose a dilemma for loyal fans who have established emotional attachments toward the individual. However, little is known regarding how fans maintain their support for the wrongdoer. Drawing on moral psychology and social identity theory, the current study proposes and examines a conceptual model incorporating athlete identification, moral emotions, moral reasoning strategies, and consumer evaluations. By using an actual scandal involving an NFL player (i.e., Ray Rice), the results show that fan identification suppresses the experience of negative moral emotions but facilitates fans’ moral disengagement processes, which enables fans to support the wrongdoer. Moreover, negative moral emotions motivate the moral coupling process. Findings contribute to the sport consumer behavior literature that highly identified fans seem to regulate negative emotions but deliberately select moral disengagement reasoning strategies to maintain their positive stance toward the wrongdoer and associated brands.

Sharing has become one of the most prevalent behaviors in the online environment as the rise of social media enables individuals to share content (e.g., videos and pictures) more easily with others on social networking sites. Sharing has been mainly investigated from a reciprocal standpoint (exchange-based sharing), and there has been a lack of effort to expand our knowledge of sharing from prosocial and morality perspectives. In this regard, based on the dual process theory and the dual model of entertainment media, the current study examines the role of elevation in determining individuals’ online sharing and information searching behaviors. The results indicate that participants exhibited greater intentions to share a meaningful video online and search for more information about the actor compared with a hedonic video (Experiment 1), and this effect was further moderated by participants’ moral identity (Experiment 2) and different mindsets associated with a prosocial action (beneficiary vs. benefactor; Experiment 3). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed related to online sharing and entertainment media literature.

Marketing managers often face dilemmas when their athlete endorsers are accused of immoral behavior. However, research findings have been equivocal as to whether athletes’ transgressions damage endorsed brand evaluations. Using two experiments, we empirically demonstrate that consumers’ moral reasoning (i.e., moral rationalization, moral coupling, and moral decoupling) has differential effects on evaluations of a transgressor (Study 1). In Study 2, we examine the causal effect of moral reasoning choice on evaluations of the transgressor and the associated brand. Findings show that moral coupling has negative effects on the athlete and brand evaluations, whereas moral decoupling and moral rationalization positively affect brand attitude and purchase intent through positive evaluation of the athlete. Findings from this study provide empirical evidence to explain how and why some consumers continue or discontinue their support for a troubled athlete and associated brand.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into how consumers value sports team-branded merchandise. Two experiments are conducted to examine the effects of rivalry and team identification on evaluations of licensed product (Study 1). Study 2 examined the effects of team brand cue, team performance priming and product category on licensed product evaluations. Design/methodology/approach – Study 1 (N = 104) examined the effects of team rivalry and team identification on multidimensional product values and purchase intent. In Study 2, a 3 (performance priming: positive/negative/neutral) × 2 (team brand cue: present/absent) × 2 (product category: symbolic/utilitarian) between-subjects design (N = 285) was utilized. Samples were recruited from students and alumni at a large Midwestern university in the USA. A series of multivariate analysis of covariance was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings – Fans view a product licensed with a rival team’s logo to have significantly less functional, emotional and social value than a product licensed with their favorite team’s logo. Highly identified fans showed greater bias in evaluating the product than less identified fans. Team performance priming also moderated the effect of team brand cues on purchase intentions toward the licensed product. Research limitations/implications – Team identification level accentuates bias in valuations of a licensed product. In addition, better performance of a team further motivates purchase decisions. Use of a collegiate brand in this study limits generalizability of the findings. Practical implications – Practitioners should realize that simple heuristic cues can change consumers’ perceptions of licensed merchandise product values. Originality/value – The current study extends previous research on licensed product valuation by using multidimensional value propositions and a variety of product-related cues.

Sponsorship of sport has developed over the past three decades to become a worldwide communications platform, a motivator for relationship building, and an omnipresent aspect of consumer experience for many. While it has been and continues to be a funding mechanism for sport, it is the evolution and metamorphosis of sponsorship-linked marketing that delivers endless research topics as sponsoring evolves dynamically.

Public figures’ transgressions attract considerable media attention and public interest. However, little is understood about the impact of celebrity endorsers’ transgressions on associated brands. Drawing on research on moral reasoning, we posit that consumers are not always motivated to separate judgments of performance from judgments of morality (moral decoupling) or simply excuse a wrongdoer (moral rationalization). We propose that consumers also engage in moral coupling, a distinct moral reasoning process which allows consumers to integrate judgments of performance and judgments of morality. In three studies, we demonstrate that moral coupling is prevalent and has unique predictive utilities in explaining consumers’ evaluation of the transgressor (Studies 1 and 2). We also show that transgression type (performance related vs. performance unrelated) has a significant impact on consumers’ choice of moral reasoning strategy (Study 2). Finally, we demonstrate that consumers’ support for (or opposition toward) a brand endorsed by a transgressor is a direct function of moral reasoning choice (Study 3). Findings suggest that public figure’s immoral behavior and its spillover to an extended brand is contingent on consumers’ moral reasoning choices.

Despite its explosive growth in North America, relatively little research has been conducted on the gambling implications of fantasy sports. The current study examines whether financial information (i.e. entry fee and payout) in an advertisement promoting a fantasy football service influences perceptions about opponents' perceived skill level and expected outcomes. This study also examines the impact of perceived opponents' skill and perceived winning expectations on the desire to participate in the advertised fantasy sports service. Findings indicated that entry fee and reward information significantly increased the participants' expectation of opponent quality, but that this expectation did not result in decreases in the subjects' self-reported probability of winning the league. Additionally, subjects indicated that they were most likely to join a league in which the expected opponents' skill level was nearly equal to their own. In the presence of an advertised monetary reward, however, perceived winnin...

AimsPositive ulnar variance is an established risk factor for idiopathic ulnar impaction syndrome (UIS). However, not all patients with positive ulnar variance develop symptomatic UIS and other factors, including the morphology of the lunate, may be involved. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between lunate morphology and idiopathic UIS.Patients and MethodsA cohort of 95 patients with idiopathic UIS (UIS group) was compared with 95 asymptomatic controls with positive ulnar variance. The shape of the lunate was measured using the capitate-triquetrum distance (CTD), ulnar coverage ratio (UCR), radiolunate distance and radiolunate angle. The association of radiographic parameters and lunate types with the development of UIS was investigated in univariable and multivariable analyses. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to estimate a cutoff for any statistically significant variables.ResultsThe proportion of type II lunates, which have a medial hamate facet, were significantly higher in the UIS group than in the control group in the univariable analysis (p = 0.001). CTD (odds ratio (OR) 1.52; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11 to 2.06; p = 0.008) and UCR (OR 44.78; 95% CI 5.35 to 374.90; p = 0.002) showed a positive association with UIS in the multivariable analysis. Estimated cutoff values were 2.5 mm for the CTD (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.65) and 0.4 for the UCR (AUC = 0.64).ConclusionThe proportion of type II lunates was greater in the UIS group than in the control group. A large UCR, which represents the broad base of the lunate, was positively associated with the development of idiopathic UIS. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2017;99-B:1508–14.

During the month of October, the National Football League (NFL) activates a breast cancer awareness campaign - Crucial Catch - in which players, referees and coaches wear pink apparel and gear to promote its cause. Given that more than 17 million people in the USA watch a regular season game every week, this campaign reaches a broad audience. Using a representative sample of US adults (N = 600), this study examined differences in demographic variables (age, gender and race) and domain-specific personal variables (television viewership, cause involvement) on various campaign-related outcomes including cause-related outcomes (i.e., breast cancer perception and donation intentions to support the campaign) and organisation-related outcomes (i.e., perceived motives of the NFL, attitude toward the NFL and behaviour toward the NFL). Findings show how consumers' demographic, lifestyle and psychographic characteristics influence their responses to the campaign.

Celebrity athlete endorsers are often engaged in immoral transgressions that cannot be controlled by marketers. While previous research on celebrity endorsement has emphasized how utilizing athletes could enhance persuasiveness of marketing communications, empirical research on consumer responses to athletes’ transgression and their associated brands remains sparse in the literature. In the present study, we focus on moral reasoning strategy (e.g., moral decoupling referring to exclusion of immorality in evaluation process: Bhattacharjee et al. 2012; moral rationalization referring to justification of immorality in evaluation process: Bandura et al. 1996) as a main processing mechanism. In two experimental studies, we identified the existence of a distinct moral reasoning process (i.e., moral coupling) which allows consumers to integrate judgments of morality and performance of a transgressed athlete. Study 1 examined the effect of moral reasoning priming on consumers’ judgments of a transgressed athlete’s morality and performance. Study 2 utilized path analyses to examine causal relations between different types of moral reasoning choices, attitude toward the athlete (AAth), attitude toward the endorsed brand (ABrd), and purchase intent (PI).

Considerable research on sponsorship effectiveness has treated sponsor recall and recognition as main indicators of successful sponsorship. However, relatively little research has been conducted to examine if high brand recognition at a cognitive level translates into more desirable brand-related outcomes such as brand preference and purchase behavior. Instead of treating cognitive, affective, and behavioral sponsorship outcomes simultaneously, we examine the hierarchical relationship between these outcomes involving fans of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) fans. In particular, we focus on the mediating effects of sponsorship-linked communication efforts (i.e., driver-sponsor articulation, sponsorship-themed advertising and promotion) between cognitive and affective sponsor evaluations.

Sport provides a unique opportunity to explore how emotions operate in people. However, the prevailing sport consumer behavior research has focused on emotion as an outcome variable and little research has examined the motivational function of such transitory emotional states on subsequent behavior and cognitive processing. The purpose of this research is to investigate the approach/avoidance characteristics of emotion in a spectator sport setting. We manipulated participants' emotional state by using a fictitious publicity about their favorite team and examined its effect on behavioral and cognitive responses to marketing stimuli. Study 1 examined the effect of message-induced emotion on participants' acceptance of a promotional item. In an effort to identify the underlying mechanism of the stimulus-behavior link, Study 2 investigated whether such message-induced emotions influenced brand-related product evaluation. Findings suggest that emotions elicited from a single exposure to a written comm...

This research examines antecedents to consumer adoption of a popular form of online entertainment - fantasy sports leagues. Employing Davis' (1989) Technology Acceptance Model as a theoretical framework, the study found that attitude toward the televised sport (American professional football), perceived ease of using in relation to fantasy sports websites, perceived knowledge of the sport and subjective norms all played a role in explaining participants' attitudes and behavioural intentions towards playing fantasy football.

Despite the growing interest in social media and user-generated content, both academics and practitioners are struggling to understand the value and consequences of social media (e.g., blogs). This study employed a 2 (media source: mainstream/ social media) × 2 (message valence: positive/negative) × 2 (team identification: high/low) between-subjects design on source credibility and attitude toward an article. Positive and negative messages about the university’s varsity men’s basketball team were presented in either the mainstream media (sport magazine) or a user-generated format (blog). The results revealed that message valence had a significant main impact on triggering biased source evaluation and attitude toward the message. In turn, media source had a significant main effect on source expertise, but no main effects were found for trustworthiness and attitude. Team identification moderated the effect of media source on cognitive processing, suggesting that highly identified fans evaluated mainstream content more favorably, whereas less identified fans preferred user-generated content.