What draws a
sports fan to a particular team? In many cases, geography is certainly a factor
– but new research indicates that for international consumers, ethnicity and/or
nationality might also play a role.
A study in Sport Management Review examined the
2012 “Linsanity” phenomenon, in which New York Knicks player Jeremy Lin became
an NBA sensation after coming off the bench to lead his team to seven
consecutive victories and set an individual scoring record. Lin, an
Asian-American of Taiwanese descent, garnered considerable attention in Taiwan
as well as the U.S., leading researchers to wonder how many of those fans he might
have attracted based on shared cultural traits.
The study
focused on the process of self-categorization – the extent to which a sports
fan self-identifies with a particular team or sports league as an extension of
themselves. The researchers deployed an online survey to a sample of Taiwanese
college undergraduates and graduate students, as the demographic group most
likely to engage in sports-related consumption and discussion. They found that
international consumers might first become aware of a player due to his ethnic
and/or national identity, and then transfer that attachment to the team for
which he or she plays. Ultimately, the self-categorization can extend to the
sports league itself.
“These findings
have clear implications for the ability of a sports league to expand
successfully into new international markets,” says co-author Joe Phua,
assistant professor of marketing and advertising at the University
of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. “For example,
teams might consider recruiting players with diverse socio-cultural backgrounds
and leverage those associations via strategic marketing activities, such as
hosting sporting events in the foreign countries that identify most closely
with those athletes.”
And whatever
became of Jeremy Lin? It was a happy ending: On the strength of his
record-setting performance, Lin earned a $25 million contract with the Houston
Rockets. To
view the full article, click here.
Kuan-Ju Chen, Joe Phua (2016). Self-categorization process in sport: An examination of the “Linsanity” phenomenon in Taiwan. Sport Management Review.
