Chang Yonghwan, Wann Daniel L
Department of Sport Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States.
Department of Psychology, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, Murray State University, Murray, KY, United States.
Front Psychol. 2022 Feb 1;13:819644. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.819644. eCollection 2022.
This study explores the interaction effects of game outcomes and status instability and the moderating role of implicit team identification on spectators' status-seeking behavior (the pursuit and preservation of social status). The current study seeks to contribute to the existing consumer behavior and spectatorship literature by examining the counterintuitive outcomes of winner-loser effects through the application of the biosocial theory of status. In an online experiment, NFL fans' retrospective spectating experiences were captured and manipulated. This experiment used a 2 (game outcome: victory vs. loss) × 2 (status instability: decisive vs. close) × 2 (iTeam ID: high vs. low) between-subjects design. The findings indicated that decisive victories and close losses positively influenced spectators' future attendance as well as their intention to purchase luxury suites and merchandise featuring images of the team mascot. Conversely, decisive losses and close victories had a negative influence. Additionally, the more spectators implicitly identified with a particular team, the more they exhibited status-seeking behavior; even close victories positively influenced the outcomes. By applying a nascent theoretical approach in the field of consumer behavior (the hormonal account), our results provide fresh insight into explaining spectators' status-seeking behavior. Also, the findings identify specific conditions in which spectators' status-seeking behavior is enhanced, thus suggesting ways for managers to strategically allocate their resources.
本研究探讨了比赛结果与地位不稳定性的交互作用，以及内隐团队认同对观众地位寻求行为（对社会地位的追求和维护）的调节作用。当前的研究旨在通过应用地位的生物社会理论来检验输赢效应的反直觉结果，从而为现有的消费者行为和观众行为文献做出贡献。在一项在线实验中，捕捉并操控了美国国家橄榄球联盟（NFL）球迷的回顾性观赛体验。该实验采用了一个2（比赛结果：胜利vs失败）×2（地位不稳定性：决定性的vs势均力敌的）×2（内隐团队认同：高vs低）的组间设计。研究结果表明，决定性胜利和势均力敌的失败对观众未来的观赛意愿以及他们购买豪华套房和印有球队吉祥物形象商品的意愿有积极影响。相反，决定性失败和势均力敌的胜利则有负面影响。此外，观众对特定球队的内隐认同程度越高，他们表现出的地位寻求行为就越多；即使是势均力敌的胜利也对结果有积极影响。通过在消费者行为领域应用一种新兴的理论方法（激素解释），我们的研究结果为解释观众的地位寻求行为提供了新的见解。此外，研究结果还确定了观众地位寻求行为增强的特定条件，从而为管理者提供了战略资源分配的方法。
