Prior Sport Participation and Spectator Sport Consumption: Socialization and Soccer

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the relative importance of social influences related to soccer consumption based on respondents' prior participation in the sport. The sample consisted of spectators at a professional soccer match who completed a questionnaire that assessed soccer consumption (games on television, attendance, and merchandise consumption) and the influence of seven contextual social variables stemming from consumer behavior literature (children, father, friends, internet, media, mother, and siblings). Mean comparisons and regression results found that familial influences were significantly more important for those that played soccer while children's influence was more important for non-soccer participants.