Blinded by the sand of its burrowing? Examining fans’ intentions to follow one-day cricket on TV with a moderating effect of social influence

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of patriotism, nostalgia, drama and excitement of the game, and interest in star players to predict fans’ intentions to follow one-day cricket in near future. Furthermore, social influence is positioned as a moderator to enrich the understanding of fans’ motives to follow one-day cricket. Design/methodology/approach The data are collected by means of a cross-sectional survey conducted among 609 university students enroled in Pakistani and Sri Lankan universities. The collected data are analysed by employing a structural equation modelling procedures to reach meaningful conclusions. Findings The variables of patriotism, nostalgic associations, excitement and drama of the game, and interest in star players are found to positively relate to the fans’ intentions to follow one-day cricket in near future. However, the moderating effects of social influence only moderated with interest in star players, which has practical and theoretical implications. Originality/value The study is an original contribution to the field of sports marketing. The proposed relationships are based on social identity theory paradigm. Furthermore, the moderating effects of social influence and a multi-country data are unique to this study. Finally, in previous studies, football fans’ motivation and test-match cricket fans’ motivations are studied, hence one-day cricket as a context is also unique to this study.

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

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“Drink It or Not”: Soft Drink Anticonsumption Behavior and the Mediating Effect of Behavioral Intentions

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Intergenerational differences in fans' motivation to watch the T20 world cup: a generation cohort theory perspective

“…Similarly, drama and excitement were found to be another important intentional factor for watching cricket tournaments (Eddosary et al, 2015). Subsequently, Kashif et al (2019) reported that nostalgic associations are one of the reasons why people watch sporting events, particularly cricket tournaments, in groups; however, individuals' nostalgic associations with cricket as a sport are widely overlooked (Cho et al, 2014). Furthermore, Stevens and Rosenberger (2012) highlighted that previous studies conducted in this domain have examined star players as a source of identity formation; hence, this factor plays the role of an intentional antecedent for watching cricket or any other sport.…”

“…While exploring fans' intentions and their antecedents for watching sporting events, we identified patriotism (developing group solidarity and social identity) as one of the prime intentional motives for watching a sporting event (Kashif et al, 2019). Similarly, drama and excitement were found to be another important intentional factor for watching cricket tournaments (Eddosary et al, 2015).…”

“…Over a period of time, it became one of the best-known sports around the globe, including in Pakistan (Nisar, 2019). Once it had gained global fame, it became a source of national identity for the citizens of participating countries (Kashif et al, 2019;Wagg, 2005). Cricket is among the most popular sports, with 1,039 billion fans, mostly residing in South Asia (The Express Tribune, 2018), including Pakistan (Iqbal, 2018;The Economist Times, 2018).…”