Developing and Validating a Venue Stimuli-Local Image Fit Scale

Few studies in sport marketing have examined the formative role of venue stimuli in affecting sport spectators. As such, the fi eld currently lacks methodological direction for dealing with venue stimuli as a means to understand the sport spectator experience. Research is needed to inform academics and practitioners about the appropriate use and potential outcomes of venue stimuli, particularly as they relate to destination image and local place. Given the notable lack of investigation on this topic, this study was exploratory in nature, with the purposes of developing and validating a sport venue stimuli and local image fi t (SIF) scale. The development process of the SIF scale comprised the six stages of scale development recommended by previous scholars. Th e scale developed in this study provides a reliable and valid instrument designed to assess the extent to which sensory stimuli in the sport venue are congruent with local image, thus offering practitioners and academics a means to understand how inimitable elements of the local culture enrich the venue experience when they become intertwined with spectators’ sensory experience.

“All in One Rhythm”: Measuring the National Team Identification of Host Residents and Event Sport Tourists at the 2014 FIFA World Cup

The purpose of this study was to investigate the fan identification of host residents and international event sport tourists at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The Sport Spectator Identification Scale (SSIS) is used to measure identification with national football teams through the lens of social identity theory. A case study approach saw survey data (n=706) collected at the official FIFA Fan Fest in Natal, Brazil. Both host residents and event sport tourists reported high levels of identification with the national team they supported. The data was analysed using SPSS 26.0 and the length of time one had been a fan was found to be positively correlated with strength of identification. There was no relationship found between gender nor supporter age and their strength of team identification. This study demonstrates that the SSIS can be used to measure the level of psychological connection supporters have with national football teams. The findings are particularly pertinent for events expanding their servicescape to include fan zones or other activation sites similar to the FIFA Fan Fests.

How useful is each item in the Sport Spectator Identification Scale?: an item response theory analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of each item in the Sport Spectator Identification Scale (SSIS) (Wann and Branscombe, 1993) using the item response theory (IRT) and to provide evidence for modifications in the scale.Design/methodology/approachA total of 635 spectators of US professional sports responded to the seven-item SSIS on an eight-point semantic differential scale. The general partial credit model was fitted to the data.FindingsThe results revealed that four items (Items 1, 2, 3 and 5) provide a relatively high amount of information, whereas three items (Items 4, 6 and 7) provide a low amount of information, indicating different levels of measurement precision among the items. Furthermore, the results showed that some low-level response options were rarely selected by participants, indicating that it may not be necessary to include response options as many as eight within each item.Originality/valueUnlike previous studies examining the psychometric properties of the SSIS as a whole, the present study provides information about the usefulness of each item of the SSIS in measuring individuals' team identification. Based on the findings, the authors identified some issues with the three problematic items, including the wording of the items and the link between the question and the target construct. The authors make several suggestions for researchers and practitioners in improving individual item quality and in making informed decisions when using the SSIS in the future.

Beasts in the Stands

Building on the prior two chapters studying the individual athlete and the institution respectively, this chapter examines the role of the sport spectator. Spectatorship, in this case, includes both the fan, which is the emphasis of the chapter, and the critic who is implicated in making both the athlete and the fan monstrous. That is, the fan is often viewed with the same social suspicion and fear as the athlete. Once again, sf stories and films that engage fandom offer a differing picture of sport fandom and suggest that their monstrosity is the result of the active orchestration of criticism both popular and scholarly. Also as in prior chapters, the dangers of that monstrosity may be equally embodied as examples such as the Hillsborough Disaster demonstrate.