Sports Spectators Motives

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Motives of Sport Spectators

Article · January 2015

DOI: 10.1007/978-4-431-55324-3_4

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Shanghai University of Sport

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Waseda University

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Int. J. Sport Management and Marketing, Vol. 15, Nos. 1/2, 2014 57

Motives of sport spectators in China: a case study of
the Chinese Super League

Chengcheng Wang
School of Economic and Management,
Shanghai University of Sport,
399# Changhai Road, Yangpu District,
Shanghai, 200438, China
Fax: 021-5125-3515
Email: bingchengzi99@hotmail.com

Hirotaka Matsuoka*
Waseda University,
3-4-1 Higashifushimi,
Nishitokyo, Tokyo 202-0021, Japan
Fax: 042-451-1015
Email: matsuoka-hiro@waseda.jp
*Corresponding author

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the motives of spectators of
Chinese professional football, in particular, the Chinese Super League (CSL).
Based on the results of a focus group and a comprehensive literature review, a
12-motive, 38-item scale was developed. Questionnaires were distributed
among CSL spectators in Shanghai. The 333 usable questionnaires were
divided into two groups, and two confirmatory factor analyses were conducted
to validate the scale. Finally, a 9-motive, 24-item scale was developed. Results
indicated that sport interest, achievement, and socialisation were the most
important motives for CSL spectators. Further, male spectators were more
interested in football than female spectators were, attended more games, and
were more willing to attend future games. Similar to previous studies, female
spectators were more motivated by individual players. The results of the
multiple linear regression showed that achievement could explain 30.8% of the
dependent variable of intention of future attendance. Suggestions and
implications for sport managers and marketers are given.

Keywords: motives; Chinese Super League; CSL; Chinese spectator.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Wang, C. and
Matsuoka, H. (2014) ‘Motives of sport spectators in China: a case study of the
Chinese Super League’, Int. J. Sport Management and Marketing, Vol. 15,
Nos. 1/2, pp.57–74.

Biographical notes: Chengcheng Wang is a PhD graduate from Waseda
University and a lecturer at School of Economic and Management, Shanghai
University of Sport, China.

Hirotaka Matsuoka is a Professor in the Faculty of Sport Sciences at Waseda
University. His research interests include sport marketing and sport consumer
behaviour.

58 C. Wang and H. Matsuoka

1 Introduction

Since 1978, China has moved from a closed, centrally planned system to a more
market-oriented one. After more than 30 years of development, in 2010, China became
the second largest economy in the world after the USA. Along with the successful
hosting of the 29th Olympic Games, the sport markets in China have been gaining more
attention from global marketers and managers. National Basketball Association (NBA)
and Italian Super Cup have already brought some games to China and have benefited
from these activities. In addition, a large number of Chinese sports fans watch NBA,
National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League
Baseball (MLB), Barclays Premier League, Union of European Football Associations
(UEFA) Championship, and other top professional sports from around the world through
TV or the internet. According to the ‘General Administration of Sport of China’, the
sports industry accounted for 0.55% of the GDP in 2010 and grew at a faster rate than the
GDP did. However, little is known about the spectators of professional sports in China.
More research studies in this area are needed.

Rosner and Shropshire (2004) noted that professional sports teams generate revenue
from four principal sources: tickets sales or gate receipts, broadcasting rights, licensing
income, and stadium-related revenues (e.g., luxury boxes, concessions, and stadium-
naming rights). The Sports Business Group at Deloitte splits revenues into three
categories: revenue derived from match-day (i.e., largely derived from gate receipts,
including season tickets and memberships), broadcasting (i.e., both domestic and
international broadcasting rights), and commercial sources (i.e., sponsorships and
merchandising). This group formed the Deloitte Football Money League during the
2012/2013 season. According to the report, the Barclays Premier League gained 40% of
its total revenues from broadcasting, 50% from tickets sales, and only 10% from
merchandising and sponsorship. In particular, Manchester United, which won the
England Domestic League championship in the 2012/2013 season, and came in third in
the 2013 Deloitte Football Money League, gained 32% of its total revenues from
broadcasting, 31% from match-day and 37% from commercial sources. In China, tickets
sales, merchandising, sponsorship, and broadcasting are considered the main revenues for
football clubs of the Chinese Super League (CSL) (Xu et al., 2009). According to the
Report on the Commercial Values of the CSL, 84% of the CSL’s total revenues came
from merchandising and sponsorship, 12% from tickets sales, and 4% from advertising in
the stadium. However, due to the dominance of the state-owned broadcaster, CCTV5,
less revenue is generated from the broadcast rights of domestic sporting events in the
national television market in comparison to broadcasters in other countries.
Consequently, Chinese clubs gained little revenue from broadcasting.

It seems inadequate to assert that the proportions of revenues sources for the Barclays
Premier League are better than those of the CSL. A rational hypothesis could be that if
each source contributes a relatively equal share to the total revenues, to some extent, the
team could diversify its risk, and reduce the potential impact of each factor, such as
adverse conditions in the sponsorship market. One difference between the two leagues is
that, the CSL relied heavily on sponsorship. A virtuous circle exists between sport
managers, marketers, and sponsors: popular events expand the fan and participant base,
which in turn increases the popularity or awareness of the products from the sponsors’
company, which in turn attracts more sponsors and fosters more events. Therefore, the
CSL might increase the proportion of its revenue that comes from tickets sales by using

Motives of sport spectators in China 59

its existing sponsorships more effectively to increase attendance rates. In other words,
sport marketers and managers in the CSL should emphasise attracting more spectators.

According to figures published by the CSL, the average attendance at games during
2011–2012 seasons was 18,740 spectators. A sports economy company in Brazil noted
that during the 2010–2011 seasons, the average attendance for the CSL was 17,651
spectators. The CSL attracted more spectators than any other Asian professional football
league. However, when considering attendance rates, the CSL had no superiority to other
Asian leagues, such as the J-League. Some sport managers and marketers may attribute
the low attendance rates to the large capacity of the stadiums. Though the large capacity
of the stadiums did have a negative influence on the attendance rates, the fact that two
clubs once sold out tickets indicates the possibility for the clubs to attract more
spectators.

Since motive underlies behaviour (Hawkins and Mothersbaugh, 2010), a
comprehensive understanding of consumption motives could help marketers to better
understand their customers, more effectively segment the market, and develop relevant
marketing strategies. It is important for football clubs to learn about the characteristics
and motives of their spectators.

Numerous studies in the USA and some European countries have been conducted on
scales for evaluating the motives of sport spectators (Wann, 1995; Trail and James, 2001;
Funk et al., 2001). In China, however, there is no such scale. As cited in Mooij (2004),
“People across cultures can do the same thing for different reasons or motives, and
people in different countries may do different things for the same reasons”. In addition,
the national cultural and economic ideology differences among countries might have
great impact on people’s behaviour (Ralston et al., 1997). Therefore, the motives of
Chinese sport spectators might differ from those of Western spectators.

The purpose of this study was to explore motives of spectators of the Chinese
professional football (CSL). In addition, the relationship between motives and the
intention of future attendance was discussed. Finally, implications and suggestions for
sports marketers and managers were provided.

2 Review of literature

2.1 Professional football in China

Football is the most-watched sport in China. According to a report from the Economist
Intelligence Unit, from January to August 2009, the number of broadcasting hours
devoted to football was much greater than any other sport. There are two professional
leagues, the CSL and the China League One (Chinese Jia League), and both receive
considerable attention from the state-owned broadcaster, CCTV5, and other local
television stations.

As the highest tier of professional football in China, the CSL was created in 2004 by
rebranding the Chinese Football Association Jia-A league. After nearly ten years of
development, and especially after the anti-corruption movement in 2010, the image of the
CSL has improved a great deal, and the average attendance rate has increased gradually.
However, due to the dismal performance of the national team and the influence of
match-fixing, pitch violence, and bribery, the number of football spectators has decreased
in comparison to the era of the Jia-A league (Figure 1).

60 C. Wang and H. Matsuoka

Figure 1 Average attendance rate from Jia-A league (1994 ~ 2003) to CSL (2004~2012)
(see online version for colours)

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2.2 Sport spectators’ motives

Motive refers to an activated state that creates a desire to take a specific pathway to
achieve a goal-directed behaviour (Mowen and Minor, 1998). According to the push-pull
concept, a two-dimensional approach to motive is proposed. Crompton (1979) noted that
push motives represent the recognition of unsatisfied internal social-psychological needs,
while pull motives reflect the seeking of external experiences that can satisfy these needs.
Therefore, sport spectators’ motives could be defined as needs that are satisfied from
attending a game. There are five methodological approaches to measure those needs:
scaled activity, interest, and opinion [AIO]; motive research methods [in-depth guided
interviews and projective tests]; focus groups; qualitative research; and ethnography
(Engel et al., 1995). Previous studies mainly used AIO to explore the motives of sport
spectators.

Wann developed the sport fan motivation scale (SFMS) in 1995, which is an 8-
motive,23-item scale, including eustress, self-esteem, escape, entertainment, economic,
aesthetics, group affiliation and family motives. In 1999, Wann et al. used the SFMS to
conduct three studies: the first study computed Pearson’s correlations on the relationships
involving age, level of sport fandom, education level, and SFMS scores to reaffirm the
criterion validity of the SFMS; the second study explored the motivational differences
between different types of sports (individual vs. team; aggressive vs. non-aggressive);
and the third study confirmed the hypothesis that individuals with extrinsic athletic
motivation have higher levels of extrinsic fan motivation and individuals with intrinsic
athletic motivation have higher levels of intrinsic fan motivation. Further, Wann et al.
(2008) used the SFMS to examine the sport spectating motives of 886 college students
and compiled motivational profiles of fans of different sports.

Trail and James (2001) developed a 9-motive scale, the motivation scale for sport
consumption, (MSSC), which included achievement, knowledge, aesthetics, drama,
escape, family, physical attraction, skill and social motives. James et al. (2009) used the
MSSC to examine the motives of American and Japanese baseball spectators and
compared the motives of spectators in the two countries. This study re-confirmed the
reliability of the MSSC not only in an English-speaking country, but also in a non-
English speaking country.

Motives of sport spectators in China 61

The sport interest inventory (SII) was used to explore the motives of spectators of
women’s sports. Funk et al. (2001) developed a 10-factor SII to examine the motives of
spectators who were interested in the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Funk et al. (2002)
used open-ended questions to determine four additional motives for women’s
professional soccer spectators and confirmed the 14-factor SII by examining the level of
continued interest in the US women’s team subsequent to the 1999 FIFA Women’s
World Cup. Funk et al. (2003) finally developed the SII into an 18-motive scale,
including the following motive categories: community support, escape, interest in sport,
support women’s opportunity, entertainment value, aesthetics, bonding with family,
achievement, drama, bonding with friends, customer service, interest in player, role
model, socialisation, interest in team, sport knowledge, excitement, and wholesome
environment.

2.3 Team attachment

Team attachment refers to one’s psychological attachment to a team (Kwon and
Armstrong, 2004). Though it might just be one aspect of identification (Robinson and
Trail, 2005), to some extent, team attachment is equal to team identification. It was noted
that highly identified fans are more attached to the team (Mitrano, 1999; Sutton et al.,
1997). Wann and Branscombe (1990) suggested that different levels of team
identification could explain the phenomena of die-hard and fair weather fans. Since fair
weather fans only associate with the team when it is performing well, they might be the
cause of attendance fluctuations. Therefore, it is important for sport managers and
marketers to know the level of their fans’ attachment and then adapt appropriate
marketing strategies for different market segments.

3 Method

3.1 Focus group

As Wang and Matsuoka (2012) noted, the demographic characteristics of Chinese sport
spectators could only be known from previous studies. Therefore, the purpose of the
focus group was to determine the possible motives of Chinese sport spectators.

Questionnaires with open-ended questions were used to accomplish this purpose.
Participants were asked how many times they had attended a sporting event the year
before they came to Japan, and the kinds of factors that motivated them to attend sporting
events.

Data was collected from Chinese students enrolled in the Waseda University and
Tsinghua Alumni Association in Japan. Emails were sent through Google groups on June
22, 2012. The introduction of the authors, the purpose of the study, and instructions for
completing the questionnaire were explained in the email, and the link for replying to the
questionnaire was attached at the end of the email. On June 29, 2012, a second email was
sent through Google groups again to remind the members of the two groups to answer the
questionnaire. By July 10, 2012, 121 Chinese students replied. Forty of them (20 males,
20 females) replied that they had attended at least one sporting event and gave some
detailed information about their motives for attending sporting events.

62 C. Wang and H. Matsuoka

Based on the responses from the focus group and previous studies, 12 motives were
extracted for this study, namely aesthetics, achievement, drama, sport interest, family
bonding, interest in player, support the city, escape, knowledge, socialisation,
entertainment, and wholesome environment. Aesthetics refers to the beauty, grace, or
other artistic characteristics of a sport (Wang and Matsuoka, 2012). Achievement refers
to the desire to be associated with those who succeed, such as a winning team (Trail and
James, 2001). Drama refers to the excitement associated with a close game (Mahony
et al., 2002). Sport interest represents the enthusiasm toward the sport (Funk et al., 2002).
Family bonding refers to the need to spend time with family members (Wann, 1995).
Interest in player corresponds to the desire to see a sport star (Funk et al., 2001). Support
the city refers to the spectator’s attachment to the city that contributes to the attendance
(Funk et al., 2002). Escape refers to the desire to get away from daily life though the
game (Wann, 1995). Knowledge signifies the desire to learn about the techniques, tactics,
or rules of the sport (Trail and James, 2001). Socialisation refers to the desire to
communicate with social beings (James and Ross, 2004). Entertainment denotes the
ability of the spectator to afford and enjoy the game (Funk et al., 2003). Wholesome
environment refers to the atmosphere around the stadium (Funk et al., 2003).

3.2 Scale development

Items for each factor were generated from previous scales. Except for socialisation and
knowledge, which contained four items, the other ten factors contained three items each.
Each of the items for the 12 motivational factors were assessed according to a 7-point
Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree).

Since the previous scales were all in English, the English version of the scale
(12 motives with 38 items) was translated separately into Chinese by two Chinese PhD
students in sport sciences. Subsequently, the two Chinese versions of the scale were
translated back into English by two other Chinese PhD students, who also majored in
sport sciences. Finally, the authors and the four Chinese PhD students deliberated and
decided the wording of the final version of the Chinese scale. The back translation results
showed that the questionnaire was consistent in its content.

3.3 Instrument

A questionnaire survey was conducted to accomplish the aims of the study.
‘Demographic information’, ‘experience’, ‘motives’ and ‘intention of future attendance’
were the main sections of the questionnaire.

In the demographic section, participants were asked to provide their personal
information, such as gender, age, educational background, and income.

In this study, experience referred to the spectators’ past attendance and their sports
experience. Participants were asked whether they were fans of Shanghai Shenxin or
Shanghai Shenhua, two professional football teams in the CSL, whether they had
experience playing football, the kinds of tickets they usually held, and their travel time
from their house to the stadium.

Finally, the participants were asked to evaluate their past attendance frequency,
indicating home game attendance, frequency of game viewing on television, and the

Motives of sport spectators in China 63

frequency with which they read team news on the internet during the season. They
were also questioned about their future intentions, indicating how likely they were
to attend home games of the team, watch games on TV, and read team news on the
internet.

3.4 Participants and data collection

Data were collected outside each stadium before the games on October 6, 2012 (Shanghai
Shenxin vs. Tianjin Taida) and October 20, 2012 (Shanghai Shenhua vs. Changchun
Yatai). For each game, ten volunteers from universities or colleges around the stadiums
were recruited. They were told the purpose of the data collection and trained to distribute
and collect questionnaires. Only ticket holders were targeted to participate. During the
first game, 338 questionnaires were distributed and 324 (95.9%) of them were collected;
257 questionnaires were distributed during the second game and 234 (91.1%) of them
were returned. In all, 558 questionnaires were collected in the two games, and 478
(85.7%) of them were fully completed. However, due to the possibility that holders of
free tickets came to the game only because they had a ticket, only data from the
participants who paid for their tickets was included in this study. This procedure yielded
a final sample of 333 valid respondents.

3.5 Procedure

First, the 333 valid respondents were sorted by gender and age; then, they were numbered
in sequence. Finally, respondents with odd numbers were labelled as group 1 (N = 167),
and the others were labelled as group 2 (N = 166). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)
was conducted using data from group 1 to verify the scale. Using data from group 2, a
CFA was conducted again to confirm the revised model. The motives of the CSL
spectators are reported in the following section. Finally, a multiple linear regression was
conducted to explore the relationship between the motives and the intention of future
attendance. Suggestions and implications for sport managers and marketers are discussed
at the end of this study.

4 Results

4.1 Descriptive statistical results

Questionnaires from the two games showed that 78.0% (n = 238) of the respondents were
male and 22.0% (n = 67) were female. The ages for the participants ranged from 12 to 62
with an average age of 26.9. The majority of respondents were young people who were
less than 30 years old (22.2% were under 20; 30.4% were between 21 and 25; 23.4%
were between 26 and 30). In reference to the respondents’ educational background,
41.2% graduated from junior college and 28.9% had received a Bachelor’s degree. In
addition, except for the 96 students (29.3%) who did not have any income, 44.8% of the
participants had a monthly income of more than RMB 3,000 (equivalent to USD 490).
Detailed demographic information is shown in Table 1.

64 C. Wang and H. Matsuoka

Table 1 Demographic information (n = 333)

n %

Gender Male 238 78.0
Female 67 22.0

Age (M = 26.9) 12~20 73 22.2
21~25 100 30.4
26~30 77 23.4
31~35 33 10.0
36~62 46 14.0

Education Junior High 22 6.8
Senior High 66 20.3

Junior College 134 41.2
Bachelor 94 28.9
Master~ 9 2.8

Income (RMB)
(RMB 6.13 = $ 1)

0~1,250 96 29.3
1,250~1,800 12 3.7
1,800~2,300 26 7.9
2,300~3,000 47 14.3
3,000~5,200 97 29.6

5,200~ 50 15.2

Table 2 Experience (n = 333)

n %
Fan type Fan of home team 241 72.4

Fan of other teams 43 12.9
Not a fan 49 14.7

Playing experience Now/often 79 25.2
Past/often 81 25.8
Sometimes 96 30.6

Never 58 18.5
Time 0~30mins 169 52.8

31~60mins 93 29.1
61~90mins 20 6.3
90mins~ 38 11.9

Notes: Playing experience refers to participant’s experience of playing football.
Now/often = often play football right now;
Past/often = used to play football;
Sometimes = only play football sometimes;
Never = never play football.

In addition to demographic information, participants were asked about their past
attendance experience and their experience playing football. Among the 333 participants,
72.4% were fans of the home team and 12.9% were fans of other teams (the away team,

Motives of sport spectators in China 65

other teams of the CSL, or other countries’ professional football teams). Only 14.7%
were not fans of a particular team. Further, 18.5% of the participants had never played
football. Finally, most of the participants (81.9%) could travel to the stadium within one
hour. Detailed information about the respondents’ experience is reported in Table 2.

4.2 Scale refinement

Since the Motives of Sport Spectator Scale used in this study was developed in previous
studies, and the translated version of this scale was used for the first time to evaluate the
motives of sport spectators in China, evidence for the reliability and the construct validity
of the scale was needed. Therefore, a CFA and a Cronbach’s internal consistency analysis
were conducted. The correlations between items, AVE values, and Cronbach’s alpha
coefficients are reported in Table 3. The correlations between factors ranged from –.11 to
.97, and 14 of them were above .85 (Kline, 2005), revealing a low discriminant validity
among the 12 factors. In addition, the AVE values for socialisation (.37), escape(.34),
interest in player (.39), and entertainment (.32) were far below the ideal cut-off of .5
(Hair et al., 2010). Moreover, some of the model fit indices were below the acceptable
limits (CFI = .782; IFI = .789; RMSEA = .081). However, the Cronbach’s alpha
coefficients ranged from .60 to .84. As Hair et al. (2010) noted, in exploratory studies, the
lower limit for Cronbach’s alpha is .60; thus, the internal reliability of the 12-factor
model was moderate. In order to improve the model, the scale was refined based on the
statistical results and the meaning of each item.

Table 3 Correlation and AVE and Cronbach α (Group1, n = 167)

SI ACH SOC ESC DRA KNO CITY FAM IP AES ENT ENV α

SI .64a .84

ACH .59 .64b .83

SOC .74 .76 .37c .69

ESC .68 .66 .90 .34d .60

DRA .50 .69 .86 .76 .45e .68

KNO .68 .76 .94 .88 .70 .41f .73

CITY .49 .66 .74 .69 .75 .67 .54g .77

FAM .41 .39 .64 .66 .58 .50 .66 .56h .79

IP –.11 –.11 –.02 .28 .09 .09 .20 .34 .39i .62

AES .86 .72 .83 .71 .71 .83 .72 .52 .06 .40j .67

ENT .95 .79 .80 .93 .70 .88 .71 .46 –.03 .94 .32k .60

ENV .82 .71 .94 .82 .72 .91 .69 .49 –.03 .97 .89 .42l .68

Notes: SI = sport interest; ACH = achievement; SOC = socialisation; ESC = escape;
DRA = drama; KNO = knowledge; CITY = support the city; FAM = family
bonding; IP = interest in player; AES = aesthetics; ENT = entertainment;
ENV = the wholesome environment; ‘a’, AVE for SI; ‘b’ AVE for ACH; ‘c’ AVE
for SOC; ‘d’ AVE for ESC; ‘e’ AVE for DRA; ‘f’ AVE for KNO; ‘g’ AVE for
CITY; ‘h’ AVE for FAM; ‘i’ AVE for IP; ‘j’ AVE for AES; ‘k’ AVE for ENT;
‘l’ AVE for ENV

66 C. Wang and H. Matsuoka

First, the factors of entertainment and wholesome environment were eliminated from the
model. Entertainment refers to the spectator’s ability to afford and enjoy the event (Funk
et al., 2003), and wholesome environment represents the atmosphere around the stadium
(Funk et al., 2003). Though previous studies (Funk et al., 2002, 2003) identified
entertainment and wholesome environment as motives for spectators to attend the game,
several of the corrections between those two factors and other factors were above the .85
ceiling (Kline, 2005) indicating a high degree of similarity. As shown in Table 3,
entertainment was highly correlated with the wholesome environment (.89), and both
were highly correlated with sport interest, socialisation, escape, knowledge, and
aesthetics. One hypothesis might be that sport interest, socialisation, escape, knowledge,
and aesthetics are sub-dimensions of entertainment and the wholesome environment. In
the stadium, a wholesome environment could satisfy spectators’ needs to socialise with
others, help them forget about ‘life’s little problems’, and give them the opportunity to
learn about and enjoy their favourite sport. Moreover, as mentioned previously, since the
reform embarked upon in 1978, the economy in China has grown rapidly, and for most
people the standard of living has improved remarkably. Therefore, personal budgets for
leisure activities such as movies, concerts, and travel may have increased. Thus, the
affordability of the event is not an important factor in the decision-making process.
Therefore, the factors of entertainment and wholesome environment were eliminated
from the study.

Second, though aesthetics was one of the most important motives in previous studies
(e.g., Funk et al., 2002), the items for this motive were difficult to understand in Chinese.
To Chinese people, ‘aesthetics’ is an abstract word. They always associate aesthetics with
art or beauty. It is easy for them to understand the aesthetics aspect of dancing due to the
individual’s graceful body movement. However, when referring the aesthetic aspect of
football, a team sport, they may feel confused. As mentioned by Wann et al. (2008),
aesthetics is particularly prominent in individual sports, such as figure skating, non-
aggressive sports, such as professional baseball, and stylistic sports, such as gymnastics.
Since this study focused on football, an aggressive, non-stylistic team sport, the aesthetics
factor was eliminated.

Third, based on the correlations between factors, AVE values, Cronbach’s alpha
coefficients, and the meaning of each item, five items from three factors were eliminated.
Two items relating to the social factor were removed: “The CSL game is a great
opportunity to socialize with others” and “Interacting with other fans is a very important
part of being at CSL games”. The other two items that focus on socialisation with friends
were kept: “Sharing the experience with my friends is a very important part of being at
CSL games” and “I enjoy CSL game because it gives me an opportunity to be with my
friends”. One item in the knowledge factor (“I enjoy learning about my favorite team”)
was removed, since the other three items refer to learning about football (“I increase my
knowledge of football when I attend CSL games”, “I increase my understanding of
football tactic by watching CSL games”, and “I learn about the technical aspects of
football by watching CSL games”). The item, “The main reason I attend a CSL game is
to cheer for my favourite player” was removed, since the remaining items emphasise the
relative importance of the player and the team (“I am more a fan of an individual player
in a CSL game than I am of the team”, “I tend to follow an individual player in CSL
games more than the team”). In addition, “Going to a CSL game can help me escape
from my day-to-day activities” was removed from the escape factor. When translated into
Chinese, the word ‘escape’ implies negative feelings such as wanting to run away from

Motives of sport spectators in China 67

daily life and never return. However, the remaining two items, “Going to a CSL game is
a great change of pace from what I regularly do” and “I like going to CSL games because
when I’m there I forget about all of ‘life’s little problems”, indicate that individuals want
to temporarily retreat from unpleasant realities through sport.

Finally, a 9-motive, 24-item model was developed. The model included three factors
with two items each from socialisation, escape, and interest in player, as well as six
factors with three items each from achievement, drama, knowledge, sport interest, family
bonding, and support the city.

4.3 Confirmation of the model

In this section, based on the revised model, a CFA was conducted again using data from
group 2. The results of the CFA revealed that the data from group 2 adequately fit the
revised 9-factor model. The CFI (.900) and IFI (.903) were both above the .90 benchmark
(Bentler, 1990); moreover, RMSEA = .072 was within the 0.05–0.08 range for an
acceptable model fit (Hair et al., 2010). The correlation matrix (Table 4) demonstrates
that all of the correlations between factors were below .85 (Kline, 2005), which revealed
a moderate discriminant validity among the nine factors. In addition, VIFs (variance
inflation factor) ranged from 1.35 to 2.39, which were far below the benchmark of 10.00
(Hair et al., 2010) and showed a small degree of multi-collinearity among factors.
Further, as reported in Table 5, none of the indices from the 1-factor scale meet the
benchmark, which indicated a better discriminant validity for the 9-factor scale.
Table 4 Correlation and AVE (Group 2, n = 166)

SI ACH SOC ESC DRA KNO CITY FAM IP α VIF

SI .53a .76 1.36

ACH .51 .63b .83 2.39

SOC .68 .66 .44c .61 1.77

ESC .49 .72 .78 .54d .70 2.00

DRA .43 .75 .75 .77 .58e .81 2.22

KNO .46 .65 .63 .81 .69 .61f .81 1.97

CITY .28 .73 .58 .68 .60 .58 .44g .70 1.71

FAM .27 .36 .59 .51 .54 .38 .54 .70h .88 1.58

IP –.05 –.08 .07 .16 .27 .17 .40 .55 .43i .60 1.35

Notes: SI = sport interest; ACH = achievement; SOC = socialisation; ESC = escape;
DRA = drama; KNO = knowledge; CITY = support the city; FAM = family
bonding; IP = interest in player. ‘a’, AVE for SI; ‘b’ AVE for ACH; ‘c’ AVE for
SOC; ‘d’ AVE for ESC; ‘e’ AVE for DRA; ‘f’ AVE for KNO; ‘g’ AVE for CITY;
‘h’ AVE for FAM; ‘i’ AVE for IP.

Table 5 Model fit indices 1-factor scale VS 9-factor scale

CFI IFI GFI RMSEA X2 df X2/df

1-factor .628 .633 .656 .129 940.645 252 3.73
9-factor .900 .903 .842 .072 401.295 216 1.86

68 C. Wang and H. Matsuoka

The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from .60 to .88, thus providing further
evidence for a moderate degree of internal reliability of the model. Therefore, the
9-motive, 24-item model was confirmed.

4.4 Motives of the CSL spectators

The means and standard deviations of each motive for the CSL spectators are reported in
Table 6. Sport interest (M = 5.86), achievement (M = 5.78), and socialisation (M = 5.56)
were the top three motives for CSL spectators. Support the city (M = 5.23), family
bonding (M = 4.68), and interest in player (M = 3.92) were the least important motives.
Table 6 Means and standard deviations (Group 2, n = 166)

M SD

SI 5.86 1.18

First and foremost, I consider myself a fan of football

I love to follow the game of football

I am a huge fan of football in general

ACH 5.78 1.38

I feel proud when my favourite team plays well

I feel like I have won when my favourite team wins

I feel a personal sense of achievement, when my favourite team plays well

SOC 5.56 1.29

Sharing the experience with my friends is a very important part of being at
CSL game

I enjoy CSL game because it gives me an opportunity to be with my friends

ESC 5.44 1.38

Going to CSL game is great change of pace from what I regularly do

I like going to CSL game because when I’m there I forget about all of ‘life’s
little problems’

DRA 5.41 1.42

I like the excitement of CSL game’ outcome not being decided until the end

I enjoy the dramatic turn that CSL game can take

I like the suspense of CSL game where the lead changes back and forth

KNO 5.32 1.41

I increase my knowledge of football when I attend CSL game

I increase my understanding of football tactic*2 by watching CSL game

I learn about the technical aspects of football by watching CSL game

CITY 5.23 1.44

I attended the CSL game to support my city

When my city’s team wins, I feel proud to be a citizen

I support the team because the team enhances the status of the city

Motives of sport spectators in China 69

Table 6 Means and standard deviations (Group 2, n = 166) (continued)

M SD

FAM 4.68 1.73
Being with my family is why I enjoy attending the CSL game
The opportunity to spend time with my family is something I like about

attending CSL game

I enjoy CSL game because they are a good family activity
IP 3.92 1.86
I tend to follow individual player in CSL game more than the team
I am more a fan of individual player in CSL game than I am of the team

4.5 Multiple liner regression

The final purpose for this study on the motives, characteristics, and behaviour of sport
spectators, was to predict spectators’ future behaviour to assist sport marketers and
managers in making more effective sport marketing plans.

In this study, ‘team attachment’, ‘intention of future attendance’, and ‘past
attendance’ were evaluated according to a seven-point Likert-type scale (1 = never or
very unlikely; 7 = very often or very likely). Descriptive statistical results and Cronbach’s
alpha coefficients for these items are shown in Table 7.
Table 7 Team attachment and future intention and past attendance

Item M SD
Cronbach

α
Team attachment
I am a loyal fan of my favourite team no matter if it is winning or

losing
5.55 1.40 .79

It is important for me to feel connected to my favourite team
I feel like part of my favourite team when attending the sporting

event
Intention of future attendance
How likely are you to attend home games of the team in the future 5.63 1.24 .80
How likely are you to watch the game of the team on TV in the future
How likely are you to read the news of the team over the internet in

the future
Past attendance
How often do you attend home games of the team during the season 5.02 1.49 .76
How often do you watch the game of the team on TV during the

season
How often do you read the news of the team over the internet during

the season

In order to explore the relationship between intention of future attendance, motives, and
past attendance, the bivariate correlation and multiple linear regression (stepwise)
analyses were computed. The results showed that there was a significant correlation

70 C. Wang and H. Matsuoka

between ‘past attendance’ and ‘intention of future attendance’ (r = . 733, p<.01). Further, the results of the regression model presented in Table 8 indicate that 30.8% of the variance in future attendance was explained by achievement. Table 8 Multiple liner regression dependent variable – future attention

Variable b SE B β R2 Adjusted R2

ACH .508 .059 .559 .312 .308

Note: Full model: F = 74.41; p < .01(Group 2, N = 166)

4.6 Gender differences

As reported in Table 9, male spectators showed a significantly higher interest in sport
than female spectators did, while female spectators were more motivated by individual
players. Meanwhile, male spectators attended more games than female spectators
attended and were more willing to attend games in the future. Male spectators were
significantly more attached to the team than female spectators.
Table 9 Gender differences

Male Female

SI 6.03 (1.05)** 5.34 (1.37)**
ACH 5.89 (1.37) 5.36 (1.49)
SOC 5.67 (1.27) 5.38 (1.39)
ESC 5.55 (1.41) 5.02 (1.22)
DRA 5.49 (1.48) 5.18 (1.34)
KNO 5.39 (1.45) 5.19 (1.12)
CITY 5.27 (1.46) 5.04 (1.49)
FAM 4.58 (1.80) 4.95 (1.62)
IP 3.69 (1.85)** 4.65 (1.82)**
TA 5.69 (1.33)* 5.00 (1.54)*
Intention of future attendance 5.94 (1.16)** 5.27 (1.28)**
Past attendance 5.45 (1.41)** 4.83 (1.55)**

Notes: **p < .01; *p < .05

5 Discussion and implications

The purpose of the study was to explore the motives of CSL spectators. The first Chinese
version of the Motives of Sport Spectator Scale was developed and used to evaluate the
motives of CSL spectators in this study. Descriptive statistical analysis and the multiple
linear regression analysis were also computed in order to further explore the
characteristics of Chinese professional football spectators. The results showed that sport
interest, achievement, and socialisation were the most important motives for CSL
spectators. Moreover, achievement could explain 30.8% of the intention of future
attendance. To some extent, these results were consistent with the current level of
development of football in China. The spectators had a high interest in football and were

Motives of sport spectators in China 71

eager to watch football games. However, the poor performance of the national team made
them feel frustrated. Therefore, Chinese football spectators needed achievement from the
professional team that they supported so that they could bask in the reflected glory.
Further, continuous wins could encourage spectators to attend more games in the future.
Support the city, family bonding, and interest in player were found to be the least
important motives. This was slightly inconsistent with previous studies and with the
current marketing strategy of the CSL. First, it has been supposed that family is one of
the most important external influences on consumer behaviour (Hawkins and
Mothersbaugh, 2010), especially in a country like China that has a culture of
Confucianism (Wang and Matsuoka, 2012). Second, the enthusiasm for importing foreign
football stars led the CSL to employ David Beckham for celebrity endorsements. One fan
club manager said, “besides promotion of the team’s performance and some commercial
benefits, foreign players can attract more spectators”. A recommendation ensuing from
this study is that it would be better if the managers and marketers could employ an
energetic cheering squad to elevate the atmosphere surrounding the game. In addition,
advertisements should highlight the fabulous performance of the team, the moment the
team wins, and friends watching the game together.

Though the focus group survey in the present study did not find any new motives for
Chinese sport spectators and no empirical study was conducted to compare American and
Chinese sport spectators, the spectators of these two countries might be attracted to the
stadium for different reasons, or for the same reasons but with different rankings in terms
of importance. Robinson and Trail (2005) reported that drama, physical skills, and escape
were the most important motives for spectators who attended NCAA football games.
McDonald et al. (2002) noted that skill mastery, vicarious achievement, competition, and
stress release (escape) were the most important motives for college and professional
football spectators. Funk et al. (2001) reported that aesthetics, excitement, sport interest,
and drama were the most important motives for spectators who attended the 1999 FIFA
Women’s World Cup. Funk et al. (2002) noted that role model, excitement, drama, and
the wholesome environment were the most important motives for spectators who
attended the 1999 US Cup. To some extent, Americans attended the football games
mostly because they are attracted to the game itself. They enjoy watching fierce
competitions between skilful players and close games excite them. They feel they have to
focus on these games with their heart and soul, and therefore are temporarily able to
forget about the little problems of daily life. In contrast, Chinese football spectators are
attracted to the stadium mainly because of personal reasons. Self-interest is crucial for
Chinese spectators. Since they love football, they like to devote time, money, and energy
to it. In addition, the opportunity to spend time with friends and bask in reflected glory
motivates Chinese spectators to attend games.

Many of the previous studies investigated gender differences (Ridinger and Funk,
2006; Wann, 1995; Wann et al., 1999). According to demographic information, the
number of male spectators was larger than that of female spectators. Since women are the
primary decision-makers regarding household purchases, sport managers and marketers
should use the motive scale in this study to further explore the motives of female sport
spectators. A t-test was computed on the data from group 2 to examine whether there
were significant differences between male and female spectators’ motives. The results
showed that only one motive, interest in player, was found to be significantly different
(p < .01). Female spectators had a higher mean score of 4.65 (SD = 1.82), while male spectators had a mean score of 3.69 (SD = 1.85). Moreover although not statistically

72 C. Wang and H. Matsuoka

significant, female spectators were more motivated by family bonding. This was
consistent with previous studies (Wann, 1995; Ridinger and Funk, 2006). Therefore, to
attract more female spectators, a discount for family tickets could be offered.

Further, 29.3% of the spectators were students without any income. Although, the
standard of living for Chinese people has remarkably improved, most students have a
limited income. If there were special discounts or coupons for students, they would be
more likely to attend additional games.

Finally, during data collection, it was found that nearly one-third of the spectators
held a free ticket. It is common practice for teams to give free tickets to sponsors to thank
them for their support. However, further investigation is required. Too many free tickets
flow into the market, and as a result, the club sees less of a benefit from ticket sales. It is
strongly suggested that managers and marketers re-evaluate the capacity of the stadium,
as well as the target market, and try to find a reasonable balance between free tickets,
normal tickets, season tickets, and perhaps special fan-club tickets.

6 Conclusions and limitations

It was not only the first time to use a sport spectator motives scale to evaluate Chinese
spectators, but also the first time to evaluate the motives of Chinese sport spectators. The
model developed in this study proved to be moderately psychometrically sound. The
characteristics and motives of Chinese sport spectators were also elucidated. The
relationship between the motives and intention of future attendance was discussed based
on the statistical analysis and implications for sport managers and marketers were
offered.

However, this study has a number of limitations. For the focus group, data was
collected from Chinese people living in Japan. Though they were between 19 and 47
years old and both students and workers were included in the sample, by using this
convenient sample, some important motives might have been missed. Future studies
could collect data from Chinese in various cities in China or make a case for the inclusion
of all dimensions mentioned in the previous studies. Further, the questionnaires were
collected outside the stadium, and since both games kicked off in the evening around
seven, older spectators were less likely to participate in the survey; thus, the results may
have been skewed. In addition, obtaining data from free ticket holders might have
resulted in missing some of the motives of Chinese spectators, making it difficult to
generalise the results to some of the clubs that give a large portion of their tickets to
sponsors as recompense. Finally, compared to the large number of items, the sample size
for group 1 and group 2 were relatively small.

Future research should confirm the reliability and validity of the scale. In addition,
the scale could be used with other sports, such as basketball and volleyball. In addition,
exploring the motives of a particular group (e.g., female spectators and older spectators)
might be more meaningful.

Motives of sport spectators in China 73

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Feb. 2014

Consumer Involvement in Sport Activities Impacts Their

Motivation for Spectating

Hirotaka MATSUOKA

Waseda University

Corresponding author: Hirotaka MATSUOKA

Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Japan

Email: matsuoka-hiro@waseda.jp

mailto:matsuoka-hiro@waseda.jp

Feb. 2014

100

Consumer Involvement in Sport Activities Impacts Their
Motivation for Spectating

Abstract

In order to attract a sufficient number of spectators to stadiums and arenas, it is

crucial for sport managers to clearly identify and understand the factors that trigger

consumers’ need to watch sporting events. A great deal of research has gone into the

investigation of explanatory variables of spectators’ motives since such findings are useful

in segmentation marketing. To further deepen our understanding regarding this matter, this

study also examined other variables associated with spectators’ motives. A unique

classification criterion in the sports spectator market might be the extent of spectators’

actual experience in playing sports. Thus, this study examined spectators’ motives across

different levels of involvement in sports activities. The author employed nine spectator

motives: achievement, aesthetics, drama, escape, knowledge, physical skill, social

interaction, team affiliation, and family. The survey was conducted on the spectators of a

game of professional basketball in Japan. The questionnaires with 18 items assessing

spectator motives were distributed and collected at the arena. The number of effective

respondents was 481. According to their involvement in playing basketball, 46.5% of

subjects have experience in playing basketball regularly, 16.8% of subjects have played

basketball occasionally, and remaining 36.6% of subjects have no experience in playing

basketball. Results of the data analysis indicated that there were significant differences

across the three groups on “knowledge,” “skills,” and “family.” Those who have played

basketball regularly were high in “knowledge,” whereas those of no experience in playing

basketball were high in “family.” Furthermore, there were differences on “knowledge,”

“skills,” and “family” between spectators belonging to basketball teams and those who do

not belong to any teams.

Keyword: spectator motive, sport activity, segmentation marketing

Haocheng Zhang
高亮

Feb. 2014

101

Due to successful management of the J-League (Japan Professional Football League)

and growth in the popularity of spectator sports, Japan has experienced significant growth

in the spectator sport industry year after year. However, not all professional sports leagues,

clubs, or teams are financially healthy; many are suffering from the difficulty of attracting

enough attendees, and are having problems with marketing and financing. Professional

sports leagues in other Asian countries have also faced such challenges. In order to attract

a sufficient number of spectators to stadiums and arenas, it is crucial that sport managers

clearly understand the factors that trigger consumers’ need to watch sporting events.

Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard (1995) introduced six major categories of triggering

factors: time, changed circumstances, product acquisition, product consumption,

individual differences, and marketing influences. Although these factors are important, the

primary issue might be the consumer’s motives themselves. Therefore, marketers need to

answer the question: “Why would people want to consume a particular service?” Some

people may want to enjoy the aesthetic sport performance by skillful athletes, while others

may want to feel the excitement by watching sports and being part of a group experience.

Several research studies have sought to examine the motives of spectators in more

depth. For example, Wann (1995) as well as Wann, Schrader, and Wilson (1999) discussed

eight reasons why individuals were spectators at sporting events: self-esteem; group

affiliation; family; aesthetics; escape; economic; eustress; and entertainment. Similarly,

Milne and McDonald (1999) identified twelve motives: self-actualization; self-esteem;

value development; social facilitation; affiliation; skill mastery; aesthetic; stress release;

risk-taking; aggression; competition; and achievement. Trail and James (2001) developed

the Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption composed of nine factors: achievement;

acquisition of knowledge; aesthetics; drama; escape; family; physical attraction; physical

Haocheng Zhang
高亮

Feb. 2014

102

skill; and social interaction. By using the data from spectators of women’s soccer, Funk,

Mahony, and Ridinger (2002) examined 14 motives including: vicarious achievement,

excitement, interest in soccer, interest in player, national pride, and so forth to capture the

wide variety of motivating forces. More recently, Funk, Filo, Beaton, and Pritchard (2009)

proposed a 10-item scale named SPEED to measure five facets of motivation:

socialization, performance, excitement, esteem, and diversion.

In addition to extending our understanding of the structural components of spectator

motivation, researchers have attempted to find answers to the question: “Do those

spectating motives differ among various types of consumers?” From the perspective of

segmentation marketing, it is necessary for sport marketers to understand the most

important motives of each segment in their target markets. Researchers have investigated

factors that are associated with spectator motives such as gender (James & Ridinger, 2002),

country (James, Fujimoto, Ross, & Matsuoka, 2009), sport type (James & Ross, 2004;

Wann, Grieve, Zapalac, & Pease, 2008), length of time as a fan (Nakazawa, Mahony, Funk,

& Hirakawa, 1999), the extent of psychological commitment to teams (Mahony, Madrigal,

& Howord, 2000), the level of fans’ attachment to teams, players, and head coaches (Koo

& Hardin, 2008), and demographics and psychometrics (Mullin, Hardy, & Sutton, 2007).

Since these findings are useful in segmentation marketing, it is useful to investigate

other variables related to spectator motives. A unique classification criterion in the

spectator sports market is the extent of consumers’ actual experience in playing sports.

Because of a spectator’s experience in playing basketball, he or she might have specialized

knowledge of the game, which may provide specific motives for spectating basketball

games. Although some research studies have dealt with the relationship between sports

participation and sports spectating (Tokuyama & Greenwell, 2011), the precise nature of

that relationship has been unclear. It has been suggested that empirical studies were

Feb. 2014

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necessary to decipher this connection (McDonald, Milne, & Hong, 2002; Tokuyama &

Greenwell, 2011). Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to compare the motives

of spectators across different degrees of involvement in sports activities.

Method

Instrument

A questionnaire was prepared to assess spectators’ motives behind attending a

professional basketball game. As shown in Table 1, the author considered nine spectator

motives drawn from previous research (James et al., 2009; Matsuoka, Fujimoto, & James,

2003; Trail & James, 2001). Nine motives were achievement, aesthetics, drama, escape,

knowledge, physical skill, social interaction, team affiliation, and family.

Table 1 Nine Spectator Motives

Motives Definitions

achievement

aesthetics

drama

escape

knowledge

physical skill

social interaction

team affiliation

family

desire to be associated with successful teams

appreciation of the beauty and gracefulness of sport

desire to experience the pleasant stress or stimulation from

watching an uncertain/suspenseful outcome

desire to escape from one’s daily routine

desire to learn and understand the technical aspects of a sport

appreciate and enjoy the players’ athletic skills

desire to interact/spend time with others

desire to feel part of the team

desire to spend time with one’s family

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In addition to these nine facets, there are some other dimensions of spectators’

motivation that have been commonly employed in previous studies. These are:

entertainment; interest in player; interests in sports; and so forth (e.g., Funk et al., 2002,

Funk et al., 2004; James et al., 2009; Trail & James, 2001). The reason why the present

study did not employ these factors was rooted in the following definition of motivation:

“an internal force that directs behavior toward the fulfillment of needs (Shank, 2002,

p.116).” Since spectators attend sporting events to fulfill their needs, such needs have to be

captured by researchers and practitioners who must appreciate the internal forces that

encourage watching sports. The three facets listed above (entertainment, interest in player,

and interest in sports) are not rooted in the fulfillment of spectators’ needs. What is

required is to understand the spectators’ need to attend a game as a form of entertainment

and the reasons behind their interest in players or sports. Therefore, the relevant questions

are: “How does a spectator want to be entertained in a sporting event?” “Why is a

spectator interested in a specific sport?” and “What does a spectator want to see while

watching a specific player’s performance: skillful play, beautiful play, intelligent play, or

dramatic play?” Thus, this study attempted to determine the core components of the

motives of sports spectators using the nine facets listed above.

Another unique element and challenge of the present study was to assess each

dimension of motivation of spectating using only two items instead of three or more.

Most of the previous studies on spectator motivation employed at least three items for one

dimension and thirty, forty, and more for all dimensions (e.g., Funk et al., 2002;

McDonald et al., 2002; Trail & James, 2001). Such large numbers of questions often

bother respondents at stadiums and arenas, which may lead to an irresponsible attitude

toward answering them. Consequently, potentially ambiguous responses may have low

internal validity. Thus, by minimizing the number of questions, this problem can be kept

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105

in check (DeVellis, 2003; Funk et al., 2009).

Shorter scales also help practitioners understand the psychological and sociological

factors influencing consumers’ decision-making process. Since the longer scales bother

customers, practitioners may want to consider using a short one in a game day

environment. In addition to exploring theoretical scales, sport marketing studies need to

consider practical applications (Razzaque, 1998; Funk et al., 2009).

Therefore, the present research employed 18 items assessing nine facets listed above.

Participants rated items on seven-point Likert scales with “1” representing “Strongly

Disagree” and “7” representing “Strongly Agree.” The questionnaire also included a set of

questions pertaining to demographic characteristics, measures of experience in attending

professional basketball games, experience in playing basketball, current status of

membership in basketball teams, and intention to attend games in the next

season.

Sampling

The survey used in this study was conducted among the spectators of a pre-season

game of the bj-league (Professional Basketball Japan), which was established in 2005 with

six teams. The league has since expanded rapidly and included 21 teams in the 2012-13

season.

The game was held in a city located in the western part of Japan. Since the host city

did not have its own team, two teams from two different cites played against each other.

Thus, spectators of the game consisted of fans of both teams who had traveled to the arena

from their hometown as well as people living in the host city who had no favorite teams.

This composition should make the sample of this survey diverse, consisting of avid fans

and unfamiliar spectators. Questionnaires were passed out at an entrance point;

convenience sample was used to distribute the questionnaire. A total of 481 usable

questionnaires were collected at the arena.

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106

Results

Participant Characteristics

The participants consisted 226 male (47.0%) and 255 female (53.0%). The mean

age for the sample was 28.2 years (SD=12.8). Of the subjects, 34.1% were under 19

years old, 19.8% were between 20 and 29 years old, 22.7% were between 30 and 39 years

old, 18.9% were between 40 and 49 years old, and 4.6% were 50 years old or older.

Most respondents (72.6%, n=349) had attended one or more games of bj-league in the

previous season or before.

According to their involvement in playing basketball, 221 subjects (46.5%) have

experience in playing basketball regularly, 80 subjects (16.8%) have played basketball

occasionally, and remaining 174 subjects (36.6%) have no experience in playing

basketball. Among those who have experience in basketball regularly, 72.3% (n=149) of

them belong to a basketball team currently, whereas 27.7% (n=57) of them do not belong

to any teams currently.

Spectator motives: descriptive analyses

Mean scores and standard deviations for nine facets of spectator motives are shown

in Table 2. The participants were motivated to a greater extent by variables, “Aesthetic,”

“Skills,” “Drama,” and “Knowledge.” The mean scores on these motives were 6.30, 6.25,

5.72 and 5.37 respectively. The mean scores on “Family,” “Team affiliation,” and “Escape,”

4.42, 4.63, and 4.76 respectively, were relatively low among the nine facets of motives.

Standard deviations for nine facets ranged from .1.10 to1.77. Table 1 also provides

correlation parameters among nine facets of motives, which ranged from r = .16 to r = .73.

Feb. 2014

107

Table 2 Correlations, Means, Standard Deviations and Reliability Estimates

for Nine Facets Motive Facets (n=481)

–

.36

.47

.53

.27

.29

.42

.73

.46

–

.61

.34

.43

.72

.22

.27

.17

–

.45

.44

.49

.29

.42

.27

–

.32

.31

.53

.60

.54

–

.59

.19

.23

.16

–

.21

.18

–

.66

.62

–

.59

–

4.84

6.30

5.72

4.76

5.37

6.25

4.78

4.63

4.42

1.46

1.10

1.32

1.62

1.25

1.20

1.66

1.58

1.77

.66

.73

.72

.77

.74

.89

.86

.84

.87

Note:

Motives measured on scale anchored with 1=Strongly disagree and 7=Strongly agree.
AC= Achievement, AE=Aesthetics, DR=Drama, ES=Escape, KN=Knowledge, SK=Skills,
SO=Social Interaction, TA=Team affiliation, FA=Family
M=Means, SD=Standard Deviations, α=Cronbach’s Alphas

Spectator motives: assessment of the scale

The measurement scale of nine facets influencing spectator motives with 18 items

were examined in terms of internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant

validity. Cronbach’s Alpha, which assessed internal consistency for all facets ranged from

α = .66 to α = .89 (see Table 2). Only the “achievement” factor was below the .70

benchmark (Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, 2010). However, since it was not

significantly below the benchmark, it was considered acceptable, indicating that the

measurement scale with nine facets was internally consistent.

Assessments of convergent and discriminant validity were conducted via an

examination of the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values. Since these values for the

nine facets ranged from .53 to .81(see Table 3), they were greater than the benchmark

value foe convergent validity (.50) (Fornell & Laecker, 1981). In addition, discriminant

Feb. 2014

108

validity was examined by comparing the AVE value for each facet with the squared

correlations between the respective facets. Since any of the squared correlations did not

exceed the AVE value for all facets (see Table 2 and Table 3), discriminant validity was

confirmed (AVE value of “achievement” = .5348; the squared correlation between

“achievement” and “team affiliation” = .5285).

The model’s fit indices by the results of confirmatory factor analysis using Amos 21

(χ
2
= 318.22, df = 99, χ

2
/df = 3.21; CFI = .96; NFI = .94; RMSEA = .068) also showed the

acceptable fit to the data (Hair et al., 2010).

Table 3 Results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Motive facets (n=481)

Facets and Items

AVE

Achievement

I feel a personal sense of achievement when my favorite team
wins.
I feel proud when the my favorite team plays well

Aesthetics

I appreciate the beauty inherent in the game of basketball.
I enjoy the graceful plays in the baseball game

Drama

I like the suspense of a game where the lead changes back and
forth.
I like the excitement of a game’s outcome not being decided until
the end.

Escape
For me, a game is an escape from my day-to-day activities (e.g.,
housekeeping, work, study).
I like going to a game because when I’m there I forget about all of
“life’s little problems

Knowledge

I increase my knowledge of basketball when I attend a game.
I learn about the technical aspects of basketball by going to a
game.

Skills

One reason I like a game is being able to see well-played
basketball.
Getting to see the players’ superior skills is a major reason why I
enjoy a game.

Social Interaction

I enjoy a game because it gives me an opportunity to be with my

.56

.87

.75

.78

.72

.77

.73

.85

.72

.82

.91

.88

.85

.89

.86

.84

.53

.59

.56

.63

.59

.81

.76

.72

Feb. 2014

109

friends.
Wanting to spend time with my friends is one reason I go to a
game

Team affiliation

I want to feel like a part of my favorite team..
It is important for me to feel connected to my favorite team

Family

Being with my family is why I enjoy baseball games
The opportunity to spend time with my family is something I like
about attending games.

.84
.91

.77

Note: β = Standardized Regression Coefficients, AVE = Average of Variance Extracted

Spectator motives: comparative analyses

The scores regarding each of the nine facets were compared by the degree of

experience in playing basketball. The respondents were divided into three groups:

experience in playing basketball regularly, experience in playing basketball occasionally,

and no experience in playing basketball. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) results

indicated that there were significant differences across the three groups with respect to

“knowledge,” “skills,” and “family” (see Table 4). Those who have played basketball

regularly were ranked high in “knowledge (M=5.76)” and “skills (M=6.39),” whereas

those with no experience in playing basketball were ranked high in “family (M=4.91).”

Rank order comparisons are also shown in Table 4. The four most important motives:

“aesthetics,” “skills,” “drama,” and “knowledge,” were common to all three groups.

Conversely, distinctive differences were found regarding “social interaction” and “family.”

Among those with no experience playing basketball, “social interaction” and “family”

were ranked fifth and sixth, respectively. In contrast, those facets were ranked seventh and

ninth, respectively among the “Regularly” and “Occasionally” groups.

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110

Table 4 A Comparison of Spectator Motives by Degree of Experience in Playing Basketball

Facets

Mean

(Standard Deviation)

Statistic

Value

Regularly
(n=221)

Occasionally
(n=80)

No experience
(n=174)

Achievement

Aesthetics

Drama

Escape

Knowledge

Skills

Social
Interaction

Team affiliation

Family

4.77 <5>

(1.50)

6.29 <2>
(1.10)

5.80 <3>

(1.32)

4.65 <6>
(1.62)

5.76 <4>

(1.25)

6.39 <1>
(1.20)

4.63 <7>

(1.77)

4.54 <8>
(1.61)

4.02 <9>

(1.86)

4.87 <6>

(1.52)

6.27 <1>
(1.00)

5.79 <3>

(1.20)

4.97 <5>
(1.55)

5.13 <4>

(1.31)

6.04 <2>
(1.25)

4.78 <7>

(1.58)

4.62 <8>
(1.58)

4.42 <9>

(1.72)

4.88 <7>

(1.38)

6.32 <1>
(.87)

5.86 <3>

(3.78)

4.84 <8>
(1.54)

4.96 <4>

(1.37)

6.16 <2>
(1.17)

4.93 <5>

(1.53)

4.72 <9>
(1.53)

4.91 <6>

(1.55)

.36

.09

.04

1.47

19.54

3.04

1.55

.57

12.47

n.s.

<.01

<.05

n.s.

<.01

Note. Motives measured on scale anchored with 1=Strongly disagree and 7=Strongly agree.

In addition, each of the nine motives were examined to ascertain whether there were

significant differences between participants currently belonging to a basketball team and

those who did not belong to any teams. According to the rank orders of both the groups,

“aesthetics,” “skills,” “drama,” and “knowledge,” were once again ranked as the top four

facets. Among other facets, the rankings were similar for both the groups.

Nevertheless, the comparisons of mean scores revealed statistically significant

differences between the two groups. The results reported in Table 5 indicate that

respondents that were identified as “current members of a team” desired to learn and

understand the technical aspects of basketball, and appreciated and enjoyed the players’

athletic skills more than those that were classified as “non-member of any team”

Feb. 2014

111

(knowledge: M=6.11, M=5.02, respectively, and skills: M=6.57, M=5.95, respectively).

The results also indicated that “non-members of any team” desired to spend time with

their family by attending the basketball game more than “current members of a team”

(family: M=4.58, M=4.00 respectively).

Discussion and Conclusions

Summary

The present study attempted to compare the motives of spectators across different

degree of involvement in sport activities. Each of the nine motives was examined with

the data received from attendance of a professional basketball game. The results showed

that there were significant differences among the motives of respondents having

experience in playing basketball regularly, those that played basketball occasionally, and

those with no experience in playing basketball, and between the motives of respondents

belonging to a basketball team currently and those who did not belong to any teams.

Initially, the measurement scale with 18 items was used to examine the nine facets of

spectator motives. The scale was made shorter to improve its practical usage, and its’

validity and reliability were improved.

The findings revealed that spectators that were involved in basketball (beyond simply

watching a game) desired to learn and understand the technical aspects of the game

(knowledge), and appreciated and enjoyed the players’ athletic skills (skills). On the

other hand, spectators were less involved in playing basketball or not at all tended to enjoy

watching a basketball game with their family (Family).

Implications and limitations

The present study contributed to extend our understanding of the motives of

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112

spectators by revealing the relationship between spectators’ motives and their involvement

in sport were revealed. The study clarified the following points.

First, the findings of the study may provide an answer to the question: “How does

someone become a sport consumer?” “Consumers are surrounded by a host of factors that

may influence their decisions about sport involvement (Mullin, et al., 2007, P. 71).”

Therefore, it is important for sport marketers to appreciate the factors that affect sport

consumers’ behavior. Although researchers have been discussing socialization regarding

participant sports (Mullin et al., 2007), there has been limited analysis with respect to

socialization regarding spectator sport (James, 2001). This study revealed a probable

causal relationship that a consumer’s experience in playing sports fosters his/her need to

learn, understand, and enjoy the technical aspects of sports as well as players’ athletic

skills by watching sports. This finding might be one of the clues for understanding how a

sport participant becomes a spectator.

Second, marketers of professional sport organizations need to recognize the two

different segments they need to cater to: spectators that have significant involvement in

sports and those with low or no involvement in sport activities. There have been several

studies regarding segmentation of sport spectators. Some criteria of this segmentation

were demographic and psychometric factors such as gender, age, and psychological

commitment to teams (e.g., James et al., 2009; James & Ridinger, 2002; Mahony et al,

2000). In addition to these criteria, actual sports experience, which can be viewed as sport

involvement, is a critical and effective criterion of segmentation of sports spectators.

This clarification enables sport marketers to treat the two customer groups differently.

Marketers may try to provide spectators with significant sports involvement access to the

knowledgeable and skillful aspects of watching sports. On the other hand, they may try to

give spectators with limited or no involvement in sports activities opportunities to have

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social interactions at sporting events.

Finally, regarding the study’s limitations, the generalizability of the findings beyond

Japanese professional basketball is limited. Additional studies need to focus on other

spectator sports such as football and baseball, and examine these issues in more Asian

countries and other continents.

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