Contents for SMQ Issue 27:2

SMQ 27:2
Authors: Mark Nagel, Abdullah Demirel, Janet Fink and Steve McKelvey, Seunghwan Lee and Bob Heere, Brian H.Yim and Kevin K. Byon, Anthony D. Pizzo, Bradley J. Baker, Sangwon Na, Mi Ae Lee, Doohan Kim and Daniel C. Funk, Henry Wear, Dorothy Rodgers Collins, and Bob Heere, Anita M. Moorman
Abstract: Sport Marketing Quarterly, Volume 27, No. 2, June 2018.

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Industry Insider: Susan O’Malley
Authors: Mark Nagel
Abstract: An interview with Susan O’Malley, President of Washington Sports and Entertainment

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An Examination of Employees’ Response to Sponsorship: The Role of Team Identification

Authors: Abdullah Demirel, Janet Fink, and Steve McKelvey
Abstract: Today, sponsorship is a widely-used marketing communications tool. While consumers’ responses to sponsorship have been extensively studied, little research has been conducted on employees’ responses to a sponsorship. Based in social identity theory, this study addresses this gap by examining sponsorship from the perspective of employees of an organization that sponsors a National Football League (NFL) team. A structural model was developed and tested to examine the relationship between team identification, sponsorship related factors (i.e., perceived fit, sincerity, and benefits to the sponsoring organization) and employees’ organizational commitment. Results from the structural model indicate that team identification with the sponsored entity (i.e., the NFL team) positively predicts perceived benefits to the sponsoring organization and this relationship is simultaneously mediated by perceived fit and perceived sincerity of sponsor organization’s motives. Furthermore, perceived benefits significantly predict employees’ organizational commitment. These findings add to the limited literature on sponsorship’s internal marketing role and suggest practical implications for organizations on harnessing sponsorship’s potential to boost employees’ organizational commitment.

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Exploring the Relative Effectiveness of Emotional, Rational, and Combination Advertising Appeals on Sport Consumer Behavior
Authors: Seunghwan Lee and Bob Heere
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the relative effectiveness of emotional advertising over rational advertising and combination advertising on sport consumer behavior. To achieve this purpose, a 2 (emotion) × 2 (cognition) incomplete factorial design was employed with three experimental conditions (emotional, rational, and combination ad). A total of 324 participants with 108 participants in each of the three advertisements were recruited from a large public university in the United States. To test the relative effectiveness of the three advertising appeals on consumer behavior, multiple ANCOVAs with three experimental conditions (emotional ad: high emotion/low cognition vs. rational ad: low emotion/high cognition vs. combination ad: high emotion/high cognition) were conducted for the four dependent variables: attitudes toward the ads, brand attitudes, purchase intention, and merchandise consumption. Fanship was included as a covariate in order to control for a pre-existing characteristic that affects sport consumer behavior. The results suggested that emotional advertising led to a higher attitude toward the ad, brand attitude, purchase intention, and merchandise consumption than both rational and combination advertising. It was also revealed that combination advertising led to a higher attitude toward the ad than rational advertising. The findings will provide a deeper understanding of how to develop and design sport advertising as a vital component of overall marketing mix.

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The Influence of Emotions on Game and Service Satisfaction and Behavioral Intention in Winning and Losing Situations: Moderating Effect of Identification with the Team
Authors: Brian H.Yim and Kevin K. Byon
Abstract: This study examined the “emotion-satisfaction-behavior” model by synthesizing attribution theory (Weiner, 1985) and the transactional theory of coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Two moderators were included: (a) game outcome and (b) identification with the team. Data (N = 494) were collected from two sources: (a) a non-student sample provided by Amazon Mechanical Turk and (b) a student sample from a public university in the southeastern United States. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and partial least square (PLS) statistics were used to test the model. The latent moderated structural equations procedure (LMS) was used to examine the moderation effect of identification with the team. Results indicate that sport consumers’ behavioral intention significantly differed based on game outcome. After a win, consumer emotions were related to both types of satisfaction (i.e., game and service), and game satisfaction mediated the relationship between emotions and behavioral intention. Consumer emotions resulting from a loss, however, did not influence service satisfaction. These findings can help sport organizations understand the emotion-satisfaction-behavior process of sport consumers and design appropriate recovery strategies, such as allocating resources and effort to deliver the highest level of ancillary services to help consumers cope after core service failure.

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eSport vs. Sport: A Comparison of Spectator Motives
Authors: Anthony D. Pizzo, Bradley J. Baker, Sangwon Na, Mi Ae Lee, Doohan Kim and Daniel C. Funk
Abstract: eSports–organized video game competitions–are growing in popularity, with top tournaments drawing crowds of spectators rivaling traditional sporting events. Understanding the extent to which eSport operates similarly to traditional sport is vital to developing marketing strategies for the eSport industry and informing academic research on eSport. Prior research has examined eSports in isolation from traditional sports, overlooking direct comparisons to understand the degree to which eSport spectators are motivated similarly to traditional sport spectators. The current study measures widely-used sport consumption motives to ex-amine their influence on eSport spectatorship and game attendance frequency. In South Korea, spectator motives across one traditional sport (soccer) and two eSport contexts (FIFA Online 3 and StarCraft II) were measured. MANOVA results identify similar patterns for 11 out of 15 motives across the three. Significant differences between contexts include vicarious achievement, excitement, physical attractiveness, and family bonding. Multiple regression analysis results show that spectators across contexts have distinct sets of motives influencing game attendance. The current study demonstrates that traditional sport and eSports are similarly consumed, suggesting that sport industry professionals can manage and market eSport events similarly to traditional sport events.

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What’s in a Name? A Case Study of NBA Baskeball in Charlotte
Authors: Henry Wear, Dorothy Rodgers Collins and Bob Heere
Abstract: When the Charlotte Bobcats became the Charlotte Hornets at the beginning of the 2014 NBA season, the team became the first in history to rebrand itself with a moniker previously used and recently dropped by another NBA franchise. Despite being bound by NBA branding and merchandising rules, the organization was able to re-imagine the original Hornets brand to create a new distinct brand identity that pushed the organization into the future while still honoring the past. The franchise employed a variety of creative brand communication techniques, including sending Hugo the Hornet mascot door-to-door in the community, and was able to again capture the hearts and spirit of Charlotte and increase attendance overnight. The new brand allowed the Hornets to move from ranking 25th in the NBA in attendance to 19th and increase merchandise sales by 300%, despite winning fewer games than the previous season.

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Copyright Infringement and Embedded Photos: A Photo of Tom Brady Goes Viral and Raises Challenging Copyright Issues for Publishers
Authors: Anita M. Moorman
Abstract:

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