Explaining attendance through the brand community triad: Integrating network theory and team identification

Matthew Katz, Rose Marie Ward and Bob Heere

Sport Management Review, 2018, vol. 21, issue 2, 176-188

Abstract: •This study combined team identification and network centrality to explain attendance.•Used a multidimensional measure of team identification and an ego network approach.•Created a structural equation model to explain attendance.•Highlighted the need to include fan-to-fan relationships in the study of sport fan behaviour.In this study, the authors empirically test a model of sport behaviour that integrates both team identification and a network theory approach to understand attendance at intercollegiate ice hockey games. Grounded within the brand community triad, ego network data were collected among attendees to measure the fan-to-fan connections that constitute the horizontal relationships of brand community participants. Additionally, a multidimensional team identification measure was used to illustrate the vertical relationship between individual and team. Both measures were included in a structural equation model to test how both fan-to-fan and fan-team relationships explain attendance. The results from the model support the salience of both dimensions of the brand community triad, suggesting that understanding sport fan behaviour necessitates including both psychological and structural elements of behaviour. Future suggestions for extending the study of sport fans through structural networks are discussed.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1016/j.smr.2017.06.004

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