IJSM Contents & Abstracts Volume 18 (2017)
NUMBER 1, JANUARY, 2017
ISBN 978-0-89641-561-4
Can Athlete-Centered Coaching Stimulate Need Satisfaction and Prevent Athlete Burnout — Frode Moen, Roger A. Federici — The purpose of the present study was to test the authors’ theoretical model of relations between athlete-centered coaching, need satisfaction and athletes’ burnout among Norwegian junior athletes in sport. Three hundred and two junior athletes from seven different Norwegian high schools for elite sports participated in the study. The athletes were participants in different sports such as cross country skiing, biathlon, Nordic combined, shooting, ice-hockey, ski jumping, alpine skiing, cycling, track and field, football, orienteering, handball and volleyball. The authors’ results show that athlete-centered coaching predicted need satisfaction positively, and that need satisfaction predicted athlete burnout negatively. The results in the present study discuss how athlete-centered coaching can stimulate need satisfaction and prevent athlete-burnout. (1-18)
Being a Servant-Leader in Sport: Servant Leadership as the Key to the Coach-Athlete Relationship— Minjung Kim, Yukyoum Kim, Janelle W. Wells — Servant leaders combine their motivation to lead with meeting their organization member’s needs, which are instrumental in obtaining organizational objectives. The explicit focus of tending to the needs of organization members differentiates servant leaders from other shared leadership styles. The purpose of this research is to propose a conceptual framework, Servant Leadership for Sport Organizations (SLSO), by adapting the concept of servant leadership to the coach-athlete relationship. The integrated framework also considers the quality of the coach-athlete relationship through the lens of commitment-trust theory (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). A high-quality relationship between a coach and an athlete results in various team effectiveness outcomes as described in the conceptual model. (19-43)
Sport Referees’ Quality of Work Life, Job Satisfaction, Career Commitment, and Turnover Intent — Wai Chi Yip, Seungmo Kim, Adam Love — Despite the fact that referees serve a key role in sporting events, little effort has been made in the field of sport management to investigate their perspectives. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to (a) examine sport officials’ perceived quality of work life and (b) explore the impact of work life quality on their job satisfaction, career commitment, and turnover intent. Data were collected from 185 referees from 12 sports in Hong Kong, China. The results of backward deletion regression analyses incorporating seven dimensions of quality of work life revealed that meaningfulness and organizational support were significant predictors of job satisfaction and career commitment, while organizational support was also a significant predictor of turnover intent. (44-64)
What Happens at the National Level Stays at the National Level: A Case Study on the Values of Community Curling — D.J. Brooks, Martha Barnes, Julie Stevens — Sport at all levels is changing as Canadian National Sporting Organizations shift from informal, kitchen table management towards formal, corporate organizational approaches. Since its Olympic debut in 1988, curling is a sport that has also transitioned to a corporate approach. This qualitative case study revealed that within the realm of curling, the professionalization and corporatization of the sport at the national level has limited to no effect at the community level. Rather, core values of respect, belonging, and giving back to the community were identified as important at the local level. Utilizing institutional theory, the findings demonstrate a mounting gap between the national and community levels of curling. Specifically, data indicate that value changes at the community level were driven by new environmental challenges such as legislation (smoking and drinking laws) and contemporary social behaviours (the busier Canadian lifestyle) rather than NSO curling initiatives. These findings have relevance for sport leaders at both local and national levels. On one hand, it is evident that grassroots sport leaders must navigate the often contradictory influences of national and community contexts in order to effectively operate within an evolving Canadian curling system. On the other hand, managers within the national curling federation must recognize the transition towards a more corporate-minded organization may not seem relevant to the majority of its curling club members. (65-88)
Public Perception of Social Impacts of the 2013 EuroBasket for Men — Simon Ličen, Amy N. Cole — This study examines perceptions and expectations associated with a non-mega sport event in Slovenia, the host of the 2013 European Basketball Championship for men. A cross-sectional design was used to survey three independent samples of online users of the Slovenian public broadcaster one month before (N=710), immediately after (N=744), and two months after (N=256) the event. Surveys included questions about the implications of hosting sports events in general and perceived impacts related to the EuroBasket 2013. Results suggest the EuroBasket contributed to an increased perceived value of non-mega sports events. Perceived benefits included world-wide recognition, promotion of active lifestyles, and economic improvements. Perceived negative aspects referred to the cost and inaccessibility of tickets, and to modest international tourist appeal. To maximize event legacy, sport managers must devise specific strategies to meet expectations ahead of time, incorporate them into the bidding and planning stage, and budget additional necessary funds in advance. (89-115)
What is Different about Sports Management — Greg Clydesdale, Mallory Goss, Elise Yule — The uniqueness of sport management is of concern to define the discipline’s boundaries and direction. This paper contributes to the debate by asking practicing sports managers what makes their jobs different to similar functions in non-sporting organizations. Two sporting organizations in New Zealand’s South Island were studied. Managers stated there was little difference in their jobs and their skills were transferable. Sport has distinctive characteristics, but few are unique and can be found in other industries. Instead of asking what individual characteristics are unique to sports management, this paper argues it is better to ask what combination of characteristics is unique. (116-140)
The Biggest Tweeter: Assessing Brand Loyalty for a Celebrity Trainer’s Twitter Followers — Antonio S. Williams, Benjamin K. Wright, Matt Blaszka — The growing body of research regarding the use of Twitter is largely limited to professional sport franchises and does not consider other sectors of sport such as health and fitness. To date, no research in sport has investigated the consequences of Twitter messages sent by organizations in terms of the impact such communications have on consumer behavior in fitness industry (i.e., brand loyalty). We present an examination of the Twitter account of a fitness professional in order to better understand the reasons users follow such accounts. Our results indicate that functional factors were the most salient uses of individuals following a fitness professional on Twitter. Additionally, our results show that interaction, organic fandom, and functional fandom, positively predicted brand loyalty. Our findings suggest that the use of social media platforms as an external form of brand communication may foster brand loyalty. (141-160)
NUMBER 2, APRIL, 2017
ISBN 978-0-89641-564-5
Employee Expectations of CSR: A Psychological Contracts Perspective — Christopher R. Barnhill, Lauren Brown — This study sought to determine if corporate social responsibility (CSR) is part of the psychological contract for employees of sport organizations. A questionnaire was emailed to 5,672 employees at NCAA Division I institutions with 540 responses deemed usable. The results indicated that CSR is indeed part of the psychological contract of sport organization employees. The results also indicated that sport organizations are generally fulfilling employees’ expectations with regard for their CSR initiatives. Additionally, awareness of CSR initiatives was shown to have a small, but positive influence on both CSR expectations, as well as fulfillment of those expectations. This study offers scholars and practitioners an important step in understanding how CSR impacts employees in sport organizations. (165-182)
Development of Attitude toward Women’ Sport Scale — Ceyda Mumcu, Scott C. Marley —The purposes of the present study were to develop the Attitude Towards Women’s Sports (ATWS) scale and examine the instrument in terms of score reliability and validity. The ATWS was constructed to measure individuals’ evaluations of women’s sports in terms of cognitive and affective dimensions theoretically proposed by related literatures. The scale was developed in two phases using both subject matter expert reviews and the analysis of data from three samples of participants. In the first phase, reliability and validity evidence for the ATWS were gathered by utilizing subject matter expert reviews and conducting item analyses. In the second phase, data was collected on a new sample and examined using exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, and correlations with an external variable. Results from the study indicate that the ATWS Scale reliably measures eight theoretically hypothesized factors that are associated with cognitive and affective evaluations of women’s sports. In addition, these factors were positive predictors of participants’ self-reported consumption intentions. (183-209)
Exploring the Relationship between Early Learning and Capstone Internship Outcomes in Sport Management Education — Molly Hayes Sauder, Dexter Davis — Experiential learning is an integral aspect of sport management education; as such, students may be involved in varied experiential learning endeavors throughout their academic careers. The purpose of this study is to explore this phenomenon by examining whether participation in early field experiences and experiential course assignments has an impact on personal and career development outcomes in a subsequent experiential learning opportunity. Undergraduate sport management students participating in capstone internships (n=139) from 13 different institutions were surveyed. Results suggest key practical considerations for faculty, students, and sport industry partners, especially with respect to the topic of career development. In addition, possible new avenues of research on experiential learning within sport management education are discussed. (210-239)
Impression Management: A Review of (Non-Sport) Organizational Literature and Opportunities for Sport Management Research — Kwame J.A. Agyemang, Timothy B. Kellison, Tywan G. Martin — It has almost been 60 years since sociologist Erving Goffman introduced impression management (IM) theory. More recently, scholars have started to apply IM to organizations, realizing, they, too, engage in IM via spokespersons and other representatives. Despite the growing body of literature on organizational impression management (OIM) and significance of image for sport organizations, sport management scholars have yet to focus on OIM. Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine and review the existing contributions related to OIM in non-sport contexts. We conducted a literature search using EBSCOhost’s Business Source Complete database, among others, to locate relevant literature. We argue the field of sport management has an excellent opportunity to contribute to the current discourse on OIM. Future studies could prove fruitful for answering sport management questions yet to be answered while also advancing OIM scholarship by illuminating IM tactics scantly researched and potentially identifying new ones. (240-258)
Consumers’ Attractions to Sport: Differences between Physical Aggression and Violence — T. Christopher Greenwell, Jason M. Simmons, Meg Hancock, Dustin Thorn — The aggressive and violent nature of many sports (e.g., football, hockey, auto racing, boxing, rugby) is attractive to many sport consumers. However, much of the extant research has generalized all aggressive acts as violent. This paper proposes that motivations to view physical aggression and motivation to view violence may be distinctly different, and investigates consumers’ perceptions of physically aggressive versus violent activity. Study 1 uses two focus groups to understand how sport consumers distinguish between spectator sport that is violent and sport that is physically aggressive. Study 2 utilizes a survey design to examine how motivations to view physical aggression and motivations to view violence influenced various consumer behaviors. Results indicate consumers do distinguish between physically aggressive and violent sport, and their motivations to consume physically aggressive and violent sport differently predict sport consumption. (259-274)
Innovating the Season Ticket Service: A Multiple-Case Study of the National Basketball Association Membership Model — Clinton J. Warren, Hulda G. Black — Service innovation plays a critical role in sport marketing. As the understanding of season ticket buyers has evolved from being primarily rooted in traditional product and tangible goods frameworks to a service-based paradigm, the importance of examining service innovation in sport has grown. This study applies a service-dominant logic view of innovation to explain the current transition from traditional season tickets to year-round memberships in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Results of this multiple case study suggest NBA sales staffs view the membership model as a service innovation that has enhanced their ability to engage their buyers and boost renewals. As such, other sport properties should consider a move to memberships in an effort to enhance firm performance. This paper also fills a gap in the sport marketing literature by extending service-dominant logic to a spectator sport setting. (275-291)
Perceived Authenticity of Sport Teams, An Exploratory Analysis — Donghun Lee, Chrysotomos Giannoulakis, Demetrius Pearson, Whitney Breslin, Soon-Ho Kim — Because the meaning of authenticity varies across contexts (Cohen, 1988), research on perceived authenticity of sport teams can benefit researchers and practitioners managing sport organizations. The current study explored the meaning of authenticity in the minds of sport consumers by surveying their perspectives on the traits (content categories) constituting team authenticity. For item generation, 47 college-aged individuals provided their opinions on contributing factors on team authenticity. Based on the overall qualitative information, a survey instrument was then developed to address team authenticity elements. Main survey data were then collected from 408 college students (N = 408) attending the same large southern university in the United States. Based on content analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, overall findings resulted in the formation of 10 content categories of perceived team authenticity. Outcomes of the study may support sport managers and organizations in diversifying their marketing tactics towards sport consumers and fans who often authenticate (or in-authenticate) their sport teams. (292-312)
NUMBER 3, JULY, 2017
ISBN 978-0-89641-569-0
Developing More Sophisticated Methods for Measuring Olympic Medal Success — Roxane Coche, C.A. Tuggle — Winning Olympic medals has become a matter of national prestige. Although the International Olympic Committee refuses to recognize country rankings by medals, the medal table is constantly updated during the competition and both the media and the public follow its evolution with keen interest. However, the medal table is not standardized. This prompted Tuggle to introduce a new way to calculate a country's Olympic medal success. Tuggle called for more research, encouraging the creation of a more sophisticated system. This paper is a response to his call, as the authors use Poisson regression to determine whether variables such as the population of a country or the size of its Olympic contingent affect that country's Olympic success. Findings indicate that HDI, size of contingent and ANOC branch are have a uniformly positive effect on medal success, while population and proportion of female athletes affect the results differently in summer and winter competitions. (313-329)
Permeability of Sport Job Sectors: An Analysis of Careers across Boundaries — Michael A. Odio, Shannon Kerwin — The concept of the boundaryless career (Arthur, 1994) has been applied to examine how careers unfold in several industries. Unique patterns of career development have been found in industries such as film, construction, and project management where careers commonly involve regularly changing employers (i.e., crossing organizational boundaries). The present study explores the career movements of 492 sports professionals within and across the different sectors of the sport industry with the following goals: (1) to provide descriptive data with regard to job, organizational, and sector changes, (2) to assess the crossing of boundaries between certain sectors in and out of the sport industry, and (3) to explore patterns of movement across careers. The results show organizational tenure in sport is below the national median and that it is common for people working in sport to change sectors, and even leave the sport industry for a time. This supports the notion that boundaryless careers exist in sport and that careers in sport do not always unfold on a linear path, findings that are relevant for human resource managers, educators, and people working in sport. (330-347)
Racioethnic Self-Referencing and the Symbolic Consumption of Sport Merchandise: A Standpoint Theory Analysis — Ketra L. Armstrong — This investigation examined the influence of race/ethnicity as athlete brand markers on the frequency in which consumers with different racial designations (e.g., Caucasians or Individuals of Color) engaged in the symbolic behavior of wearing associated sport team merchandise. Data were obtained from a sample of 479 respondents (51% Caucasians, 49% Individuals of Color) who resided in the western region of the United States. Results revealed that the groups had similar sport affinity profiles; however, the product attributes of logos/colors and the race/ethnicity of athletes were more salient to the sport consumption decision of the respondents of Color. Both groups wore sport team merchandise at a similar frequency; however, for the respondents of Color this behavior was significantly influenced by the presence of athletes on sport teams from their racial/ethnic group. The phenomenon of racioethnic self-referencing in sport is discussed and interpreted through the lenses of the standpoint theories of critical race theory and whiteness theory. (348-371)
Think Sport, Think Man? An Exploration of What Causes and Emboldens Sexism within Nigerian Sport Programs — Emeka Anaza, Jacqueline McDowell —The purpose of this study was to explore factors that embolden sexist practices, attitudes, and behaviors towards female sport participation. Using four levels of sexism as a theoretical guide, the experiences and sentiments of Nigerians were explored. Thirty research participants explain factors they believe are the root causes of sexism or elements that embolden sexist practices, attitudes, and behaviors which inhibit women’s and girls’ sport participation. These factors are individual, social structural, institutional, and cultural in nature. Fully conceptualizing the causes of sexism within Nigerian sport programs will provide practitioners with an understanding of ways to minimize the negative effects of discrimination. It will also help emancipate oppressed groups, and increase participation rate for women and girls interested in sports. (372-400)
Effects of the Hierarchical Relationships in Constraints on Student Attendance — Gi-Yong Koo, Rob Hardin, Sara Shoffner — The purpose of this study was: to identify constraints to gain a better understanding of student attendance at college football home games, to explore the effects of hierarchical relationships in constraints, and to examine whether the hierarchical relationships of the constraints would be appropriate in predicting student non-attendance. This study could assist athletic administrators in determining a better method for approaching the problem of student non-attendance. (401-421)
Investigating Rivalry in Professional Sport — Cody T. Havard, Michael Hutchinson — The current study used the Sport Rivalry Fan Perception Scale (Havard, Gray, Gould, Sharp, & Schaffer, 2013) to show that fans of professional sport teams reserved stronger negative perceptions of their primary rival than their secondary rival team. Further, the current study found that presence of a rival team impacted fan intentions to consume their favorite team, and their perceptions of rival teams impacted those intentions. Finally, the current study quantitatively measured Glory Out of Reflected Failure (Havard, 2014). Results showed that the presence of a primary and secondary rival did not impact fan likelihood to experience GORFing. However, perceptions of both primary and secondary rival teams impacted fan likelihood to experience the phenomenon. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and future study introduced. (422-440)
Relationship between Collegiate Intramural Sport Participation and Social Integration into the Campus Community — Shenise Power, Scott A. Forrester — The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between students’ participation in collegiate intramural sports and social integration into the campus community. Three hundred and twenty-four intramural participants (N=324) at a Canadian University completed a questionnaire before or after participating in their intramural sport. After controlling for student demographic characteristics, a hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the quality of intramural participation, consisting of the effort, energy, time, and money a student invests, was a significant predictor of social integration into the campus community. The breadth and depth of collegiate intramural sport participation were not significant predictors of social integration. These findings suggest that it is not how many intramural sports a student participates in, or how frequently, but the quality of that participation and how much the student has personally invested into this participation that has a positive impact on social integration into the campus community. (441-459)
NUMBER 4, OCTOBER, 2017
ISBN 978-0-89641-575-1E-mail americanpress@flash.net to order PDFs of any article.
Peer Reviewing Historical Research for Sport Management: It’s Not Qualitative Research — Chad Seifried — The challenge of finding qualified reviewers of history (e.g., management, economic, business, etc.) is pronounced because there is a: 1) misconception that historical research is the same as qualitative research (e.g., ethnography, interview-based, and textual or content analytic studies); and a general 2) lack of awareness by many historians regarding writing norms for management journals. This work will communicate information to historians about the writing expectations in leading sport management journals and differentiate historical from qualitative research for non-historians. Next, this review offers an interpretation of what the historical writing and research process entails and presents evidence of historical research in sport management studies. Finally, this work provides recommendations to historical researchers and potential editors and peer reviewers of historical research to improve the quality of the review process and subsequent negotiation for authors and referees to help all learn from their differences for the potential benefit of the field. (461-487)
Managing Social Media Marketing to Develop Event Brand Relationships: Perceived Benefits, Strategies and Challenges— Ashleigh-Jane Thompson, Andrew J. Martin, Sarah Gee, Andrew N. Geurin — This paper examines how event personnel involved in the creation and production of social media content perceive such platforms and how this was reflected in the content presented on selected platforms. The study examines the four Grand Slam Tennis events’ (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open) use of social media, specifically Facebook and Twitter, in developing their event brand. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with personnel responsible for social media content creation (n=5). Findings from the practitioners’ perceptions indicated that social media provides a number of benefits in building brand relationships, including conversation and engagement, reinforcement of brand identity, and the ability to support promotion and marketing activities; specifically co-creation, platform uniqueness and brand personality. However, three challenges were identified that potentially inhibit these benefits relating to meeting fan expectations, adaptability and flexibility, and synergy and integration with other marketing activities. (488-515)
The Balance Proposition: How Strength of Motivation Moderates The Relationship between Constraints and Attendance Intentions — Charles W. Jones, Kevin K. Byon, Rasul A. Mowatt — Recent attendance studies in sport management have focused on both constraints and motivation (e.g., Kim & Trail, 2010). While findings show that constraints and motivation are correlated with game attendance, it remains unclear why some individuals are able to overcome constraints while others are not. To test the above premise, two studies were conducted to extend our understanding of game attendance constraints. The objectives of the two studies were to examine (a) how strength of motivation moderates the relationship between attendance constraints, and attendance intentions and (b) investigate the role of negotiation as a mediator between constraints and attendance intentions. Findings suggest that sport consumers negotiate individual constraint factors differently based on their strength of motivation. These results provide support for the Balance Proposition (Jackson, Crawford, & Godbey, 1993) by extending the theory in a spectator sport context. (516-545)
Seeing through the Fog: The Impact of Concussions on Student-Athlete Academic Performance and Accommodation — Robert Baker, Catherine Glascock, Michael Hutchinson — Recent events have produced increased attention to both short and long-term effects of concussion. Yet, limited research has considered the impact of concussion on student-athlete academic performance, with even less having examined academic accommodations throughout the concussion recovery process. Thus, the purpose of this study was to understand the academic experiences of collegiate student-athletes amidst prolonged recovery from concussion. Using a phenomenological approach, this qualitative study examined collegiate student-athletes (n=9) at three postsecondary institutions who were recovering from a concussion that lasted in excess of two weeks. Findings revealed three themes pertaining to the negative impact of concussion on academic performance, pressure to prematurely return to academic responsibilities, and inequity in student-athlete treatment and accommodation. Implications for academic affairs, student affairs, athletic administration, coaches, and faculty will be provided. (546-572)
Team Identification Full Circle: The Importance of Cognition, Evaluation and Affect — Michael Naylor, David Hedlund, Geoff Dickson — Fans’ psychological connection to teams has long been of interest to sport management scholars. The connection has been explored using the team identification construct, which is derived from theories of group identity conceived well before sport-specific management inquiry emerged. In this study a multidimensional team identification scale is developed and tested. The three dimensions include two which reflect the personal aspect of group identification (cognition, affect) and one that reflects the social aspect (evaluation). The results of confirmatory factor analysis provide support for cognitive, affective and evaluative dimensions which is consistent with previous literature. Structural modeling results provide evidence supporting the relationships between team identification and behavioral intention variables. The scale is more parsimonious than its predecessors and therefore represents a step forward for measuring the construct. Significant relationships between the construct and several outcomes should generate interest from industry partners. (573-592)
Index to IJSM Volume 18 (593-595)
Manuscript Guidelines for Authors (596-598)