Understanding soccer team supporters' behavior and culture in a globalized society from social learning theory

Abstract

Whereas there have been many academic studies on European soccer team supporters, relatively few studies have looked at supporters in Asia, especially regarding their supporting behavior and culture. Broadly, the purpose of this paper is to describe the behavior and culture of supporters of the Korean professional soccer league (K-League). Specifically, this discourse is intended to reflect on the experiences of supporters who utilize the game of soccer to voice and express the ‘elite fandom’ they have observed, imitated and learned from European supporters. Drawing upon Bandura's social learning theory, this paper focuses on modeling and imitating concepts as a conceptual guide to grasp the behavior and cultures of these supporters.

Keywords:

• Soccer
• supporter
• globalization
• social learning theory