دانلود رایگان مقاله فرایند خودکفائی در ورزش: بررسی پدیده Linsanity در تایوان

ABSTRACT

The ‘‘Linsanity’’ phenomenon attracted an increase in attention toward the National Basketball Association (NBA) for a short period of time. Drawing on self-categorization theory to elucidate current literature on team identification, this research proposed a conceptual model delineating the social psychological process for international consumers during the phenomenon. Using an online survey with a convenience sample in Taiwan, structural equation modeling, including confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and path analysis, validated the conceptual model and confirmed the relationships between constructs in the model. Results indicated that Taiwanese identification positively influenced player identification, while player identification mediated the relationship between Taiwanese identification and team identification. Consequently, team identifi- cation positively influenced NBA involvement. The research findings together contribute to explicating the mechanism behind consumers’ self-categorization process during the ‘‘Linsanity’’ phenomenon while offering implications for international sport marketing. The research concludes with suggestions for future research.

5. Discussion and conclusion

5.1. Implications and contributions Inspired by the ‘‘Linsanity’’ phenomenon, the current research explicated the self-categorization process for international consumers, and attempted to demonstrate how the process influences their domain involvement in sport.We describe the social psychological mechanism underlying the ‘‘Linsanity’’ phenomenon with a Taiwanese sample, in which we empirically tested a conceptual model specifying the relationships between several identity-related constructs. We further explain why they become fans of an overseas professional sport. First, international consumers (e.g., Taiwanese consumers) may become aware of a player (e.g., Jeremy Lin) with whom they share a similar external social identity (e.g., Taiwanese identification), which prompts them to develop identification with the specific player, due to his/her prototypical representation of such an identity. This development of player identification increases international consumers’ interest in, and understanding of, the team in which the player is a part of (e.g., the Houston Rockets), which then significantly contributes to team identification. As a result of the process, team identification turns international consumers into fans of the team, and also increases the extent to which they engage with an overseas professional sports league (e.g., the NBA). It is also noteworthy that player identification fully mediates the influence of the external social identity on team identification, indicating a distinguishing feature of the self-categorization process for international consumers.