Conceptualizing Relative Size and Entitativity of Sports Fan Community and Their Roles in Sport Socialization

Abstract

Sport socialization research has revealed that a community is one of the most influential socializing agents. However, little is known about which aspects of a community promote sport socialization and how it occurs. In the current research, we identified and conceptualized two key factors characterizing sports teams’ fan communities, relative size and entitativity, and discussed how these factors influence sport socialization and its outcomes. First, we developed the model of community influence on sport socialization to depict the effects of relative size and entitativity on people’s perceptions and behaviors at the initial stage of their sport socialization. Second, we proposed the model of community influence on the outcomes of sport socialization, which explains how relative size and entitativity contribute to the outcomes of sport socialization.

Investigating ‘Fear of Missing Out’ (FOMO) as an extrinsic motive affecting sport event consumer’s behavioral intention and FOMO-driven consumption’s influence on intrinsic rewards, extrinsic rewards, and consumer satisfaction

“…First, FOMO was positively associated with intention, directly explaining 27.0% and 37.2% of intention's variance in Models 1 and 2. The finding adds to the body of research identifying FOMO as a meaningful motive of behavior formed based on concerns of incompetence and lack of relatedness [6,14,19] and social apprehension as a trigger for sport consumption [9,11,12]. As an extrinsic motive, FOMO's association with sport event consumption intention was strong, which was somewhat inconsistent with previous studies reporting modest or insignificant effects of extrinsic motives (e.g., promotional deals, advertisements) [25,63].…”

“…Other studies suggest that FOMO is a meaningful motive, as conforming with social others can stimulate the behavior of sport fans [ 9 , 10 ]. The notion that FOMO is a form of extrinsic motive for sport event consumption can be linked to socialization studies as social apprehension and compliance are known to cause people to support a sport team popular among others [ 11 , 12 ].…”

“…However, empirical testing of FOMO related to sport event consumption is limited. Most studies in the sport context offer a conceptual understanding of how FOMO may affect behavioral decisions [ 10 , 11 , 12 ] or examples of motives related to FOMO on a social level [ 7 , 20 ]. Perhaps, the work by Larkin and Fink is one of the rare studies that tested FOMO as a predictor of sport consumption but limited to fantasy sport and use of social media [ 21 ].…”

“…Knowledge acquisition, social affiliation, and community support are examples of motives relevant to FOMO, as formed based on urges to stay competent and relatable in a social group [ 20 , 27 ]. In socialization studies based on self-categorization, social apprehension motivates people to follow a team supported by meaningful others (e.g., family, community) [ 11 ]; the strength of motive relies on the relative size and homogeneity of the social group [ 12 ]. In the Psychological Continuum Model [ 10 ], sport consumers in the attraction stage follow a team to conform with social others, conditional on external influences.…”

Fan Ties and Friendships: A Longitudinal Network Study of Division III Sports on Campus

“…The notion of "sport fan communities" has garnered increased attention by sport management research (e.g., Asada & Ko, 2019;Yoshida, Heere, & Gordon, 2015). Within these communities, individual fans are influenced by both a psychological sense of community and individual relationships with other members (Katz, Ward, & Heere, 2018).…”