Red Sox versus Yankees: Sports Team Rivalry, Sports Symbols, and Distance Performance

Abstract

Building on the literature on psychological distance and visual illusion, the authors examine whether visual exposure to sports team symbols affect distance performance, depending on whether the symbols represent favored or rival teams. Boston Red Sox fans are used to test the hypothesis in the context of the famous Red Sox–Yankees rivalry. Individuals who are primed with the symbol of their favored (rival) sports team are predicted to hit/throw a ball short (long) of the target. In Study 1, Red Sox fans putt a golf ball imprinted with a Red Sox (Yankees) logo, and are found to putt short (long) of the goal. In Study 2, Red Sox fans photograph a bobble head wearing a Red Sox (Yankee) jersey and then are found to throw a basketball nearer to (farther from) themselves.

红袜对洋基：运动队对抗, 运动符号, 和距离的表现

基于心理距离和是错觉的文献资料, 作者考察了体育运动队符号的视觉曝光是否会影响距离表现, 这取决于这些符号代表的是喜欢的队还是竞争的队。波士顿红袜队的球迷被用来在著名的红袜-洋基对抗的背景下检验这个假设。如果一个人被指定为他最喜欢的(竞争对手)运动队的标志, 那么这个人就会被预测在短(长)距离目标的地方投球。在研究1中, 红袜队的球迷们将一个印有红袜队（洋基）标志的高尔夫球推入球门, 并被发现短(长)球。在研究2中, 红袜队的球迷们拍摄了一个爆炸头穿着红袜队（洋基）球衣, 然后被发现他们把篮球扔得离自己更近（远）

Keywords:

• Sports Team
• rivalry
• symbols
• distance performance

关键词:

• 体育团队；竞争；符号；距离性能

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on Contributors

Sukki Yoon (PhD, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U.S.A.) is a professor of marketing at Bryant University. Previously he taught advertising at Cleveland State University. He was a visiting scholar at Grey Worldwide and Harvard University and a consultant at U.S. and Korean firms and government agencies. He is an associate editor of International Journal of Advertising and has served on editorial boards.

Kacy Kim (PhD, The University of Texas at Austin, U.S.A.) is an assistant professor of marketing at Bryant University. Previously she taught marketing at Elon University. She was a visiting scholar at McCann and Harvard University. She has served on numerous editorial boards. Her recent research interest includes marketing analytics, consumer behavior, and marketing communication on digital platforms.

A. J. Beltis (BS, Bryant University, U.S.A.) is a marketing professional from Boston, Massachusetts. AJ is currently employed at HubSpot and previously ran the blog for Toast, Inc. - the fastest growing restaurant technology company in the U.S. AJ graduated from Bryant University in 2016 with a BSBA in Marketing and a second major in Communication, summa cum laude.

John Logan (BS, Bryant University, U.S.A.) has a background in digital advertising and has created content for the New England Patriots and the National Football League. In addition, he hosted his own web-series on Patriots.com while interacting with different players and has performed magic on ‘America's Got Talent’. John also travels the country as a keynote speaker to discuss his research on psychology, creativity, perception, and entrepreneurship.

Gayatri Subramanian (MBA, Bryant University, U.S.A.) is a senior consultant at Healthcare Innovation and Analytics at CVS Caremark RI USA. She has years of experience working in areas related to Pharmacy Benefits Management consulting and innovative product development strategies. She analyzes big data to support various business models for retail pharmacy outreaches. Her areas of expertise include Consumer Analytics and Predictive Modelling. Gayatri’s current research interests are rooted in behavioral psychology associated with the events of patient medication adherence.