Hello!
I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who took my survey last fall. I passed my defense with flying colors last week. The finished product was 78 pages and 16,000 words, so I'm happy to be graduating to give my typing fingers a rest. My thesis will officially be published in the coming months and I'll link that eventually for anyone who is actually interested. If you have any specific questions about the study, I'd be happy to get you an answer as I suddenly have free time for the first time in a long while. MIZ!
I ended up with a whopping 1150 responses amongst PowerMizzou fans, and several Facebook groups. This was an absurdly high amount of responses so I could not have been more thrilled. No earth shattering results were gained due to the scope of the research, but here's the gist:
Research Objective 1:
The first research objective examined whether there was a significant relationship between alumni status at the University of Missouri and recent attendance at Mizzou Football games. The researcher concluded that there was a significant relationship found between recent home game attendance and attendance at the University of Missouri, meaning that alumni are more likely to attend Mizzou Football games than non-alumni fans. Given the nature of the survey, the researcher speculated that a large number of participants would have attended both the University of Missouri, and a game in 2018, 2019, or 2021. This proved to be correct with 71% of respondents falling under those parameters.
Research Objective 2:
Four analyses were conducted to address research objective two. Each participant’s recent home game attendance at Mizzou Football games (2018, 2019, 2021) was compared to the participant’s social connections to the University of Missouri. These social connections examined were parents who attended the University of Missouri, grandparents who attended the University of Missouri, friends who attended the University of Missouri, and, if applicable, significant others who attended the University of Missouri. Significant relationships were found between Mizzou Football home game attendance and having parents and/or significant others who attended MU, while no relationship was found between grandparents and/or friends who attended MU.
Research Objective 3:
The third research objective was designed to assess the relationship between a participant’s highest degree earned at the University of Missouri and their level of fan identification (Donavan et al., 2005; Sutton et al., 1997) with the Mizzou Football team. The researcher concluded that the highest degree earned at the University of Missouri was not related to a participant’s level of fan identification with the Mizzou Football team. As there was a relationship found between alumni status and attendance in research objective one, the researcher presumed that the more time spent at the university, the higher the level of fan identification would be, on average. However, this was not proven to accurate in the study. This lack of a significant relationship is addressed and revised into a recommendation for future study below.
Research Objective 4:
Research objective four sought to assess any relationship between three variables: average fan identification (Fink et al., 2009; Sutton et al., 1997), average leisure participation (Jun & Kyle, 2012), and average social identity (Jun & Kyle, 2012; Tajfel & Turner, 2004; Underwood et al., 2001). Average leisure participation was found to have a strong positive correlation with average fan identification. Average leisure participation was also found to have a strong positive correlation with average social identity, Lastly, average fan identification was determined to have a strong positive correlation with average social identity, meaning that a strong positive correlation was found between all three variables. This strong positive correlation means that, on average, as one of these variables increases in a participant, the other variables would increase as well. For example, a fan’s level of fan identification with the Mizzou Football team would rise as their level of social identity with the team rose.
A small section of the Conclusion, or the "So What?" is this:
When beginning this study, the purpose was to identify differences in attendance based on motivations among Mizzou Football fans, as well as determining any correlation between fan identification, leisure participation, and social identity. The data found significant relationships between the variables in three of the four research objectives presented. While research on sport fandom is growing, the field is still full of gaps and in constant need of future research. Some potential future research concepts are listed below. The importance of this study stems from its range of research objectives. For managers and administrators of athletic departments, research objective one can help show a sample of who is and who is not attending games while research objective two can help narrow down why those fans are or are not attending games. Research objectives three and four examine the role that identification with a team plays in a fan’s life, and how some fans are incredibly supportive and how some fans are not as involved. Any information that can aid an athletic department in better understanding how to systematically acquire new fans, retain current fans, and not waste money and effort targeting the disinterested is a valuable tool.
I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who took my survey last fall. I passed my defense with flying colors last week. The finished product was 78 pages and 16,000 words, so I'm happy to be graduating to give my typing fingers a rest. My thesis will officially be published in the coming months and I'll link that eventually for anyone who is actually interested. If you have any specific questions about the study, I'd be happy to get you an answer as I suddenly have free time for the first time in a long while. MIZ!
I ended up with a whopping 1150 responses amongst PowerMizzou fans, and several Facebook groups. This was an absurdly high amount of responses so I could not have been more thrilled. No earth shattering results were gained due to the scope of the research, but here's the gist:
Research Objective 1:
The first research objective examined whether there was a significant relationship between alumni status at the University of Missouri and recent attendance at Mizzou Football games. The researcher concluded that there was a significant relationship found between recent home game attendance and attendance at the University of Missouri, meaning that alumni are more likely to attend Mizzou Football games than non-alumni fans. Given the nature of the survey, the researcher speculated that a large number of participants would have attended both the University of Missouri, and a game in 2018, 2019, or 2021. This proved to be correct with 71% of respondents falling under those parameters.
Research Objective 2:
Four analyses were conducted to address research objective two. Each participant’s recent home game attendance at Mizzou Football games (2018, 2019, 2021) was compared to the participant’s social connections to the University of Missouri. These social connections examined were parents who attended the University of Missouri, grandparents who attended the University of Missouri, friends who attended the University of Missouri, and, if applicable, significant others who attended the University of Missouri. Significant relationships were found between Mizzou Football home game attendance and having parents and/or significant others who attended MU, while no relationship was found between grandparents and/or friends who attended MU.
Research Objective 3:
The third research objective was designed to assess the relationship between a participant’s highest degree earned at the University of Missouri and their level of fan identification (Donavan et al., 2005; Sutton et al., 1997) with the Mizzou Football team. The researcher concluded that the highest degree earned at the University of Missouri was not related to a participant’s level of fan identification with the Mizzou Football team. As there was a relationship found between alumni status and attendance in research objective one, the researcher presumed that the more time spent at the university, the higher the level of fan identification would be, on average. However, this was not proven to accurate in the study. This lack of a significant relationship is addressed and revised into a recommendation for future study below.
Research Objective 4:
Research objective four sought to assess any relationship between three variables: average fan identification (Fink et al., 2009; Sutton et al., 1997), average leisure participation (Jun & Kyle, 2012), and average social identity (Jun & Kyle, 2012; Tajfel & Turner, 2004; Underwood et al., 2001). Average leisure participation was found to have a strong positive correlation with average fan identification. Average leisure participation was also found to have a strong positive correlation with average social identity, Lastly, average fan identification was determined to have a strong positive correlation with average social identity, meaning that a strong positive correlation was found between all three variables. This strong positive correlation means that, on average, as one of these variables increases in a participant, the other variables would increase as well. For example, a fan’s level of fan identification with the Mizzou Football team would rise as their level of social identity with the team rose.
A small section of the Conclusion, or the "So What?" is this:
When beginning this study, the purpose was to identify differences in attendance based on motivations among Mizzou Football fans, as well as determining any correlation between fan identification, leisure participation, and social identity. The data found significant relationships between the variables in three of the four research objectives presented. While research on sport fandom is growing, the field is still full of gaps and in constant need of future research. Some potential future research concepts are listed below. The importance of this study stems from its range of research objectives. For managers and administrators of athletic departments, research objective one can help show a sample of who is and who is not attending games while research objective two can help narrow down why those fans are or are not attending games. Research objectives three and four examine the role that identification with a team plays in a fan’s life, and how some fans are incredibly supportive and how some fans are not as involved. Any information that can aid an athletic department in better understanding how to systematically acquire new fans, retain current fans, and not waste money and effort targeting the disinterested is a valuable tool.
