Travel overseas for a game: the effect of nostalgia on satellite fans’ psychological commitment, subjective well-being, and travel intention

ABSTRACT

Sport tourists have the potential to create a significant impact on the development of regional economy and tourism. Especially, satellite fans who enthusiastically support foreign-based teams through media platforms are now drawing attention in the fields of sport and tourism. However, despite the attention from academia and industry, it has not been much studied on factors influencing satellite fans’ psychological and behavioral responses. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to extend theoretical evidence of the relationships among satellite fans’ nostalgia, psychological commitment, subjective well-being, and travel intention. Data were collected from satellite fans of European professional football leagues in Singapore. The findings showed all hypothesized relationships identified to be significant except for the direct path from satellite fans’ nostalgia to travel intention. However, the indirect effects of nostalgia on travel intention were established through psychological commitment and subjective well-being. The findings of this study shed light on the role of nostalgia on satellite fans’ psychological and behavioral outcomes. As a result, this provided a fresh perspective for sport tourism marketers to strategize new marketing styles that utilize nostalgic elements to generate satellite fans’ nostalgia.

KEYWORDS:

• Satellite fan
• nostalgia
• psychological commitment
• subjective well-being
• travel intention

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).