Aggressive Motives and Fan Passion Across Different Types of Sports

Abstract

On-field aggression can attract and entertain sport consumers. However, the promotion of aggression in sport has been controversial, as societal shift s raise questions about how much aggression in sport is appropriate. Therefore, this study seeks to better understand the relationship between on-fi eld aggression and fandom by examining how two motives (physical aggression and violence) predict sport fan passion for three categories of sports (limited-contact, full-contact, and combat). An online questionnaire was utilized to solicit responses from 540 adult sports fans. Overall, results of this study showed consumers’ physical aggression motive influenced sport fan passion for low-contact and full-contact sports except for ice-hockey. However, consumers’ violence motive influenced combat sport passion (i.e., boxing, MMA). Results inform marketers how aggression motivates consumers and how to market this type of content across different sports.