How Visitors and Locals at a Sport Event Differ in Motives and Identity

By Ryan Snelgrove, M. Taks, L. Chalip, C. Green. 2008

90 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Although the literature on events differentiates between locals, casual attendees, and those who have travelled specifically to attend the event, little is known about how the types of attendee differ. This study compared the fan motivation, leisure motivation, and identification with the subculture of athletics reported by a sample (N = 777) of attendees at the 2005 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. Age, gender, and income were also included. Regression analyses were used to determine the structure of relations among the variables, and to ascertain whether the levels of motivation or identity varied among the three types of attendee. Tests for linear restrictions were used to determine whether the structure of relations among the variables differed by type of attendee. The structure of relations among the variables did not differ among the three types of attendee, but attendees who had travelled specifically to attend the event reported substantially higher identification with the subculture of athletics, and slightly higher fan motivation. Identification with the subculture of athletics mediated much of the effect. Females reported higher fan motivation and higher leisure motivation than did males. Age had a small but significant relationship with fan motivation, and income had a small but significant relationship with leisure motivation. Findings are generally consistent with predictions derived from theories of motivation, subculture, and gender roles. It is suggested that marketing communications directed out-of-town should highlight opportunities to strengthen, parade, and celebrate, while those in the local trading radius should underscore the entertainment, aesthetics, and vicarious achievement featured at the event.

Subfields: Gender Studies, Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3fdf499a7cc49b36049436928c8e0d42ae15e553

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Gender Studies

1. Laura Wood
2. Ryan Snelgrove
3. M. Taks
4. L. Chalip
5. S. Késenne
6. R. Fort
7. B. Sparks

In Social Psychology

1. Laura Wood
2. Ryan Snelgrove

In Sociology and Political Science

1. Laura Wood
2. Ryan Snelgrove
3. M. Taks
4. L. Chalip
5. S. Késenne
6. R. Fort
7. B. Sparks

Citations in the corpus

• eSport vs. Sport: A Comparison of Spectator Motives (2018, unknown): “Various studies on sport consumer behavior share the assumption that consumers’ behaviors are driven by their motives (Snelgrove et al., 2008).”
• Factors Affecting Repeat Visitation and Flow-on Tourism as Sources of Event Strategy Sustainability (2009, background): “Shamir’s (1992) scales of self and social identity were modified to reflect the athletics context (cf. Snelgrove et al., 2008).”
• Attracting and Leveraging Visitors at a Charity Cycling Event (2010, methodology): “The combination of self and social identity variables follows previous research using these measures and can be supported conceptually as discussed previously (Snelgrove et al., 2008).”