Basketball Participation and Spectator Motivation and Behavior

[[abstract]]This research attempts to examine the relationships between the level of specialization in basketball participation and spectating motivation and behavior. The first hypothesis was: people characterized with a high level of specialization in basketball participation had stronger motivation for watching sports than people with a low level of specialization. The second and third hypotheses were: more people in the high-specialization group than those in the low-specialization group were primarily motivated by the motives of Knowledge and Self-esteem to watch basketball games. The fourth and fifth hypotheses were: more people in the low-specialization group than those in the high-specialization group were primarily motivated by the motives of Sociability and Entertainment. The sixth hypothesis was: motivation for watching sports partially mediated the relationship between specialization of sport participation and behavior of sport spectatorship. A questionnaire was created, which included a measure of levels of specialization (Bryan, 1977; McIntyre & Pigram, 1992) in playing basketball, measures of the four motives for spectator sports (Gau, 2008; Milne & McDonald, 1999; Trail & James, 2001; Wann, 1995), and four modes of sport spectator behavior (Gau, 2007). Using convenience sampling and quota sampling, the questionnaire was distributed in live game sites, basketball courses and school classes. Three hundred and ninety-two questionnaires were returned and 388 were valid. The sample was consisted of 55.7% males. The reliabilities of the scales were between 0.83 and 0.96. Participants were divided into two groups by using a cluster analysis (K-means) in terms of specialization in basketball participation: the high-specialization group (n=191) and the low-specialization group (n=189). Comparing the two groups, the results showed that individuals characterized by a high level of specialization in playing basketball were more strongly motivated than those characterized by a low level of specialization (p<.05). The first hypothesis was supported. Next, chi-square tests showed that more people from the high-specialization group than those from the low-specialization group chose Knowledge as the major motive for watching sports (p<.05). By contrast, more people from the low-specialization group than those from the high-specialization group chose Sociability (p<.05) as the major motive to watch sports. The hypothesis 2 and 4 were supported. Nevertheless, the hypothesis 3 and 5 were not supported. Further, using a procedure proposed by Baron and Kenny (1986), the direct path from the independent variable, participating specialization, to the dependent variable, spectating behavior, reduced (i.e. partial mediation) (from 0.790 to 0.578) when the path from the independent variable to the mediator, motivation for watching sports, and from the mediator to the dependent variable was included in a model. The sixth hypothesis was supported. Sport managers may use Sociability as themes in marketing activities to attract people with a low level of participating specialization to watch sports