IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rsmrxx/v27y2024i1p67-89.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Who doesn’t like sport? A taxonomy of non-fans

Author

Listed:
  • Heath McDonald
  • Jason Pallant
  • Daniel C. Funk
  • Thilo Kunkel

Abstract

The motives and behaviour of sports fans are heavily researched. Past work has distinguished “fans” and “supporters” on engagement with teams or athletes and identified “non-fans” who have little interest in sport; the latter are rarely investigated further. Sport’s ubiquity, both socially and in media, means that, unusually, disinterested people are often interacting with sport. A better understanding of non-fans could assist strategies to grow sports markets and encourage engagement. This paper describes a study, using both theory-driven and machine learning approaches, of types of self-identified non-fans of a professional sport. A nationally representative sample of 3,496 adults enabled investigation of non-fandom. Five segments of non-fans are identified, differing in terms of consumption of and passion for professional sport. There is a clear hierarchy of likelihood to consume, driven by social contacts, experiences and access to the product, and impeded by satisfying alternatives. To enable easier practical application of this work, a simplified (four question) segmentation process is also presented. This simplified process maintains a high degree of classification accuracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Heath McDonald & Jason Pallant & Daniel C. Funk & Thilo Kunkel, 2024. "Who doesn’t like sport? A taxonomy of non-fans," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 67-89, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rsmrxx:v:27:y:2024:i:1:p:67-89
    DOI: 10.1080/14413523.2023.2233342
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14413523.2023.2233342
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/14413523.2023.2233342?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jason P. Doyle & Kevin Filo & Heath McDonald & Daniel C. Funk, 2013. "Exploring sport brand double jeopardy: The link between team market share and attitudinal loyalty," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 285-297, July.
    2. Paul Valentin Ngobo, 2017. "The trajectory of customer loyalty: an empirical test of Dick and Basu’s loyalty framework," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 229-250, March.
    3. Vermunt, Jeroen K., 2010. "Latent Class Modeling with Covariates: Two Improved Three-Step Approaches," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 450-469.
    4. Bob Stewart & Matthew Nicholson & Geoff Dickson, 2005. "The Australian Football League's Recent Progress: A Study In Cartel Conduct And Monopoly Power," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 95-117, May.
    5. Thilo Kunkel & Jason P. Doyle & Daniel C. Funk, 2014. "Exploring sport brand development strategies to strengthen consumer involvement with the product – The case of the Australian A-League," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 470-483, October.
    6. Kevin Filo & Daniel Lock & Adam Karg, 2015. "Sport and social media research: A review," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 166-181, April.
    7. Daniel C. Funk, 2017. "Introducing a Sport Experience Design (SX) framework for sport consumer behaviour research," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 145-158, April.
    8. East, Robert & Hammond, Kathy & Lomax, Wendy, 2008. "Measuring the impact of positive and negative word of mouth on brand purchase probability," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 215-224.
    9. Lleras, Juan Sebastián & Masatlioglu, Yusufcan & Nakajima, Daisuke & Ozbay, Erkut Y., 2017. "When more is less: Limited consideration," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 70-85.
    10. Aaron C.T. Smith & Bob Stewart, 2010. "The special features of sport: A critical revisit," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, January.
    11. Kleijnen, Mirella & Lee, Nick & Wetzels, Martin, 2009. "An exploration of consumer resistance to innovation and its antecedents," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 344-357, June.
    12. Andrew L. Goldsmith & Matthew Walker, 2015. "The NASCAR experience: Examining the influence of fantasy sport participation on ‘non-fans’," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 231-243, April.
    13. Stewart, Bob & Nicholson, Matthew & Dickson, Geoff, 2005. "The Australian Football League's Recent Progress: A Study In Cartel Conduct And Monopoly Power," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 95-117, September.
    14. Elizabeth B. Delia & Jeffrey D. James, 2018. "The meaning of team in team identification," Sport Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 416-429, October.
    15. Smith, Aaron C.T. & Stewart, Bob, 2010. "The special features of sport: A critical revisit," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, February.
    16. Wayne S. DeSarbo & Qian Chen & Ashley Stadler Blank, 2017. "A Parametric Constrained Segmentation Methodology for Application in Sport Marketing," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 4(4), pages 37-55, December.
    17. Jahanmir, Sara F. & Lages, Luis Filipe, 2016. "The late-adopter scale: A measure of late adopters of technological innovations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1701-1706.
    18. Funk, Daniel C., 2017. "Introducing a Sport Experience Design (SX) framework for sport consumer behaviour research," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 145-158.
    19. Mary C. Gilly & Mary Wolfinbarger Celsi & Hope Jensen Schau, 2012. "It Don't Come Easy: Overcoming Obstacles to Technology Use Within a Resistant Consumer Group," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 62-89, March.
    20. Hauser, John R & Wernerfelt, Birger, 1990. "An Evaluation Cost Model of Consideration Sets," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(4), pages 393-408, March.
    21. Wenting Feng & Rungting Tu & Tim Lu & Zhimin Zhou, 2019. "Understanding forced adoption of self-service technology: the impacts of users’ psychological reactance," Behaviour and Information Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(8), pages 820-832, August.
    22. Laukkanen, Tommi, 2016. "Consumer adoption versus rejection decisions in seemingly similar service innovations: The case of the Internet and mobile banking," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 2432-2439.
    23. Delia, Elizabeth B. & James, Jeffrey D., 2018. "The meaning of team in team identification," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 416-429.
    24. Goldsmith, Andrew L. & Walker, Matthew, 2015. "The NASCAR experience: Examining the influence of fantasy sport participation on ‘non-fans’," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 231-243.
    25. Filo, Kevin & Lock, Daniel & Karg, Adam, 2015. "Sport and social media research: A review," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 166-181.
    26. Kunkel, Thilo & Doyle, Jason P. & Funk, Daniel C., 2014. "Exploring sport brand development strategies to strengthen consumer involvement with the product – The case of the Australian A-League," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 470-483.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Funk, Daniel C. & Pizzo, Anthony D. & Baker, Bradley J., 2018. "eSport management: Embracing eSport education and research opportunities," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 7-13.
    2. Meiklejohn, Trevor & Dickson, Geoff & Ferkins, Lesley, 2016. "The formation of interorganisational cliques in New Zealand rugby," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 266-278.
    3. Lopez, Colin & Pizzo, Anthony D. & Gupta, Keshav & Kennedy, Heather & Funk, Daniel C., 2021. "Corporate growth strategies in an era of digitalization: A network analysis of the national basketball association’s 2K league sponsors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 208-217.
    4. Baker, Bradley J. & Du, James & Sato, Mikihiro & Funk, Daniel C., 2020. "Rethinking segmentation within the psychological continuum model using Bayesian analysis," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 764-775.
    5. Talwar, Shalini & Talwar, Manish & Kaur, Puneet & Dhir, Amandeep, 2020. "Consumers’ resistance to digital innovations: A systematic review and framework development," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 286-299.
    6. Baker, Bradley J. & McDonald, Heath & Funk, Daniel C., 2016. "The uniqueness of sport: Testing against marketing's empirical laws," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 378-390.
    7. Fu, Shihui & Xue, Kunkun & Yang, Mengya & Wang, Xiaona, 2023. "An exploratory study on users' resistance to mobile app updates: Using netnography and fsQCA," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    8. Kunkel, Thilo & Doyle, Jason P. & Funk, Daniel C., 2014. "Exploring sport brand development strategies to strengthen consumer involvement with the product – The case of the Australian A-League," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 470-483.
    9. Christoph Pott & Christoph Breuer & Michael ten Hompel, 2023. "Sport Logistics: Considerations on the Nexus of Logistics and Sport Management and Its Unique Features," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-18, August.
    10. Yi, Jisu & Lee, Youseok & Suh, Jungmin & Kim, Sang-Hoon, 2022. "Psychological determinants of non-attendees’ resistance toward performing arts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 690-699.
    11. Hajiheydari, Nastaran & Delgosha, Mohammad Soltani & Olya, Hossein, 2021. "Scepticism and resistance to IoMT in healthcare: Application of behavioural reasoning theory with configurational perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    12. Delia, Elizabeth B. & James, Jeffrey D., 2018. "The meaning of team in team identification," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 416-429.
    13. Lee, Ye Hoon, 2020. "The role of mindfulness and occupational stress in the goal orientations of development and winning," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 626-639.
    14. Nel, Jacques & Boshoff, Christo, 2021. "“I just don't like digital-only banks, and you should not use them either†: Traditional-bank customers' opposition to using digital-only banks," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    15. Giovanni Bernardo & Massimo Ruberti & Roberto Verona, 2022. "Image is everything! Professional football players' visibility and wages: evidence from the Italian Serie A," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(5), pages 595-614, January.
    16. Arghya Ray & Muskan Jain & Lan Ma & Khalid Hussain Alhamzi & Ananya Ray & Long She, 2024. "The impact of personality traits, barriers and gamification on Gen X continuance intention for mobile credit bill payment apps," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(3), pages 1154-1174, September.
    17. Faten Baklouti & Fayçal Boukamcha, 2024. "Consumer resistance to internet banking services: implications for the innovation resistance theory," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(2), pages 364-376, June.
    18. Jakee, Keith & Kenneally, Martin & Dineen, Declan, 2022. "Scheduling slots and league objectives: An empirical analysis of Australia’s AFL," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 359-371.
    19. Attié, Elodie & Meyer-Waarden, Lars, 2022. "The acceptance and usage of smart connected objects according to adoption stages: an enhanced technology acceptance model integrating the diffusion of innovation, uses and gratification and privacy ca," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    20. Syed Zeeshan Zahoor & A. M. Shah, 2024. "Impact of Social Media on Users’ Complex Buying Behaviour: Analysing the Mediating Effect of Perception and Moderating Effect of Extended Social Media Usage," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 49(1), pages 119-148, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rsmrxx:v:27:y:2024:i:1:p:67-89. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rsmr .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.