Measuring the Multidimensional Nature of Sporting Event Performance Consumption

Abstract

Sporting events are a type of unscripted skill performance that are bound by a set of rules and are contested so as to produce an outcome wherein one performer can claim an unequivocal victory over another. Although a predominant form of leisure behavior worldwide, little is known about what sports spectators attend to while consuming such performances. Conceptualized here as a multidimensional concept, this article details the development of a reliable and valid measurement scale of sporting event consumption that is represented by two higher-order factors (Autotelism, Appreciation) that are each comprised of three unidimensional factors (Fantasy, Flow, Evaluation; Personalities, Physical Attractiveness, Aesthetics, respectively). Collectively, the scale is referred to as FANDIM. Differences across FANDIM dimensions according to sports group (i.e., aesthetics vs. purposive) and respondent sex are investigated.

KEYWORDS:

• Sports fans
• performance consumption