Cultivation of Sport Fandom in Social Media: Motivation, Identification, and E-Word of Mouth of Facebook Users
Kayoung Kim, Tae Yo Kim, Yukyoum Kim
The purposes of this study were to examine: (i) the relationship among interactive motivation of sports fans, identification and e-word of mouth (e-WOM) intention and (iii) the mediating effect of the relationship between interactive motivation and e-WOM intention in the social media. The study utilized structural equation modelling (SEM) and data was collected by an instrument from a total of 417 college students who visited their favourite athlete’s Facebook page. The results indicate that sport fandom has changed from pure interest in the athlete (organic fandom) to interactive fandom in the social media context. (479-499)
Does Natural Leadership Exist in Elite Youth Football
Gerco van Dalfsen, Joe Van Hoecke, Hans Westerbeek
This study assesses the evolutionary leadership theory and the natural leadership instrument of Van Vugt and Ahuja (2011) in the context of youth elite football. The Evolutionary Leadership Theory is a comprehensive new way of looking at leadership that suggests environmental pressures influence the choice of who becomes the leader. The results revealed that the concept of natural leadership, as measured using the six natural leaders questionnaire, cannot be applied to the context of youth football. The preliminary data showed that natural leadership in youth sport requires a more basic framework of leadership consisting of communication, resources and focus on competition. (500-516)
Pay Dispersion and Team Performance in Professional Sports: Does Task Interdependence Matter?
Yong-Yeon Ji, Jaehoon Lee, Keunsu Han, Sung Ho Kwon
The purpose of this paper is to understand the influence of pay dispersion among team members on a team’s performance in professional sports: the MLB (Major League Baseball), NBA (National Basketball Association), and NFL (National Football League). Study 1 shows that there is a positive relationship as well as an inversed U-shaped relationship between pay dispersion and team performance in the NBA. In contrast, there is a negative relationship in the MLB. These results suggest that the influence of pay dispersion on team performance varies across different sports. In Study 2, we surveyed NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) coaches to examine the degree of task interdependence in professional sports on the basis of Thompson’s (1967) typology. The degree of reciprocal interdependence was significantly lower for baseball; and the degrees of pooled independence and reciprocal interdependence were higher, albeit not significantly, for football compared to other sports. Since the findings suggest that reciprocal task interdependence may not be a critical factor that can account for the observed relationships between pay dispersion and team performance, we proposed other contextual factors such as a) salary cap, b) institutionalized pay practices, c) reliance on key players, and d) discretion and programmability. (517-538)
Organizational Commitment among Frontline U.S. Intercollegiate Athletics Employees: An Application of the Meyer and Allen Three-Component Model
J. Michael Martinez, John J. Miller, Gi-Yong Koo
The purpose of this study was to determine perceptions of organizational commitment among frontline employees in U.S. intercollegiate athletic departments. Data from full-time personnel in customer contact roles were collected. Two factorial multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) were conducted to examine the effects of individual and job-related characteristics on scales of organizational commitment (e.g., affective commitment, normative commitment, high sacrifice [CC:HiSac] and low alternatives [CC:LoAlt]). Results indicate that transience influenced normative and Lo-Alt scores. The findings suggest that organizational commitment moderates relationships between perceived managerial practices and employees’ affective states. (539-560)
The Influence of Imagined Contact and Baseball Team Identification: South Koreans’ Prejudice toward Japanese Individuals
Sungeun Kang, George B. Cunningham
The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of imagined contact within the sport setting as a way of reducing Korean’s intergroup anxiety and prejudice expressed toward Japanese individuals. As an important extension of the imagined contact work, the authors also considered the potential moderating effects of team identification. A total of 210 Korean undergraduate students took part in the experiment. Participants in the experimental group (n = 98) were asked to have imagined a pleasant contact with a Japanese pitcher for two minutes. Those in the control group (n = 112) were asked to have imagined a positive contact with a stranger for two minutes. Results indicate that even highly identified fans do not decrease their anxiety level towards Japanese individual after the mental simulation. In contrast, lowly identified fans experienced a decrease in their intergroup anxiety level. Finally, intergroup anxiety was associated with prejudice, particularly for highly identified fans. The results are discussed in terms of practical and theoretical implications. (561-575)
Exploring Migration Patterns and University Destination Choices of International Student-Athletes in NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball (2004-2014)
Jepkorir Rose Chapyator-Thomson, Ryan Turcott, Matthew Lee Smith
The United States is the heartland of global basketball, whether played at the professional or collegiate level. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, the most competitive of the three divisions, has skilled players from beyond the nation’s border. The purpose of this study was to explore patterns of migration of international student-athletes and discover their institutional affiliation in U.S. NCAA Division I collegiate institutions over a 10-year period. Data for this study were derived from the NCAA Director of Media Coordination and Statistics. Specifically, the data were compiled from NCAA Men’s Basketball rosters and archives available at official university websites. This study used descriptive statistics. Frequencies were calculated using SPSS 22 software in the analyses of the data. The findings of this study revealed (a) patterns of migration reflective of continent and country of origin, with the majority of foreign-born players coming mainly from English-speaking countries, (b) diversity in destination choices that point to clustering, with mid-majors being where the players concentrated, and (c) increasing number of foreign players moving to participate in the sport of basketball in the United States. An implication from this study includes the impact of talent migration on the host country United States and on the exporting countries. (576-592)
Examining Identity Politics and Fundraising within Intercollegiate Athletics
Jordan R. Bass, Joshua I. Newman, Claire C. Schaeperkoetter
It has been suggested both in industry directives and scholarly research that in order to most effectively communicate with, and elicit donations from, potential donor groups, sport-based fundraising organizations need to align their “organizational identities” with the dominant social identities of target donor markets. Furthermore, the political aspects of such identities work through the interests of social groups and identities (e.g. race, class, religion, gender profession). In this article, we report on a series of interviews conducted during a campaign-long organizational ethnography of the fundraising department within the intercollegiate boosters organization of a major U.S. university. Author One spent four months in an observational role in the athletics fundraising office of a NCAA Division I athletic department. During this span, five athletics fundraising employees were interviewed. Drawing upon an organizational politics perspective, we examine the practices of hiring and promotion in this fundraising context by exploring potential issues surrounding job mobility, institutional culture, and gendered norms. (593-621)
Peer Motivational Climate and Its Relationship with Positive Affect in Collegiate Intramural Sports
Evan Webb, Scott Forrester
This study looks at how perceived peer motivational climates (task-involved and ego-involved) impact positive and negative affective states of intramural sport participants post-participation. Intramural sport participants (N = 315) at a Canadian university completed a questionnaire after participating in their intramural sport. Hierarchical regression analyses helped examine the effects of perceived peer motivational climates on positive and negative affect. Results indicated task-involved climates were more conducive of positive affective states post-participation whereas ego-involved climates resulted in lesser positive affective states and more negative affective states. Teams that promote improvement and effort instead of intra-team competition and conflict should have more positive recreational sport experiences. Future research should explore other psychological outcomes that can result from peer motivational climates in recreational sport settings. (622-645)
