Understanding Fan Motivation For Interacting On Social Media

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SMR-247; No. of Pages 15

Sport Management Review xxx (2013) xxxxxx
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Sport Management Review

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/smr
Understanding fan motivation for interacting on social media

Constantino Stavros a,*, Matthew D. Meng b,1, Kate Westberg c,2,
Francis Farrelly c,3
a
RMIT University, School of Economics, Finance & Marketing, Level 11, 445 Swanston Street, Melbourne 3000, Australia
Boston University, School of Management, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States
c
RMIT University, School of Economics, Finance & Marketing, Level 10, 445 Swanston Street, Melbourne 3000, Australia
b
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Article history:
Received 29 May 2013
Received in revised form 11 November 2013
Accepted 12 November 2013
Social media provide fans with an additional means to engage with their team and are a
valuable forum for sport organizations to better understand fan motivations and
strengthen fan relationships. This study contributes to emerging research on the nature
of social media use by revealing the motivations underpinning the desire of fans to
communicate on the Facebook sites of several National Basketball Association (NBA)
teams. Our ndings indicate that fans exercise four key motives as they draw value from
the social media enabled connection to the team: passion, hope, esteem and camaraderie.
Further, and in light of our understanding of these motives, we identify how this platform
can be used to facilitate interaction, a key construct in relationship marketing. A content
analysis, using a netnographic methodology, was undertaken to explore online comments
by fans of eight purposefully selected NBA teams over a two-week period during the offseason. This period represents strong potential for isolating highly identied fans who are
motivated to seek engagement and interaction. Implications for sport managers to further
relational goals are identied.
2013 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. Published by
Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Sport marketing
Social media
Motivation
Interaction
Relationship marketing
1. Introduction
Effective relationship marketing is critical in the sport environment (Heere & James, 2007). It has been suggested that
sport consumers are becoming increasingly discontented and disconnected in response to escalating attendance costs, the
increased commercialization of sport, and what they perceive as dubious motives behind the marketing activities of sport
organizations (Kim & Trail, 2011, p. 57). Therefore, sport organizations need to ensure that their interactions with fans are
mutually benecial (Buhler & Nufer, 2009). Interaction has been identied as a core element of the relationship marketing
process (Gronroos, 2004). In order to develop an effective relationship marketing strategy, sport managers must understand
the fan motivations that underpin sport consumption and how these are uniquely identied in context (Beverland, Farrelly,
& Quester, 2010), which in our research relates to the use of social media. Sport fan motivation has been described as a selfdetermined and volitional state that energizes a desire to engage in sport goal directed behaviour to acquire positive
benets (Funk, Beaton, & Alexandris, 2012, p. 364).
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 3 99255531.

E-mail addresses: con.stavros@rmit.edu.au (C. Stavros), mdmeng@bu.edu (M.D. Meng), kate.westberg@rmit.edu.au (K. Westberg),
francis.farrelly@rmit.edu.au (F. Farrelly).
1
Tel.: +1 617 353 4149.
2
Tel.: +61 3 9925 5512.
3
Tel.: +61 3 9925 1475.
1441-3523/$ see front matter 2013 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2013.11.004
Please cite this article in press as: Stavros, C., et al., Understanding fan motivation for interacting on social media. Sport
Management Review (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2013.11.004
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C. Stavros et al. / Sport Management Review xxx (2013) xxxxxx
Sport managers have embraced the opportunity provided by the digital environment to communicate with fans (Evans &
Smith, 2004; Seo, Green, Ko, Lee, & Schenewark, 2007). Sport fans, compared to casual spectators, are more likely to seek out
information about their team and players (Tapp & Clowes, 2002) and are more invested in the organizationpublic
relationship resulting in potential opportunities for sport organizations to create long lasting relationships with this
audience (Waters, Burke, Jackson, & Buning, 2011, p. 165). Social media provide relationship marketing opportunities for
sport organizations and an additional avenue through which fans can engage with sport (Williams & Chinn, 2010).
Encompassing a wide range of forums, social media present a unique platform for marketers to create a dialog with
consumers and for consumers to interact with each other. This vehicle is particularly promising in the sport context as the
enthusiastic engagement shown by fans suggests that they would welcome additional high-value experiences both within
and outside regular sport consumption (Redden & Steiner, 2000; Williams & Chinn, 2010). In addition, with the increasing
globalization of numerous sport leagues, technology inherent in social media can deliver innovative experiences and
interactions to strengthen relationships with supporters outside of a teams home market.
Despite these potential advantages, and the increasing proliferation of social media, there is only limited research that
examines their use in sport management (Mahan, 2011; Wang, 2013), particularly from the fan perspective (Clavio & Kian,
2010). Studies have explored the motivations of fans in using sport websites (Seo & Green, 2008), fan and athlete use of
communication applications such as Twitter (Clavio & Kian, 2010; Frederick, Lim, Clavio, & Walsh, 2012; Hambrick,
Simmons, Greenhalgh, & Greenwell, 2010; Thomas, 2011) and Facebook (Pronschinske, Groza, & Walker, 2012; Sanderson,
2013) as well as blogs and podcasts (Lewis & Kitchin, 2010). Williams and Chinn (2010) propose a conceptual model to
demonstrate how relational goals can be achieved through social media and highlight the importance of these networks in
facilitating interaction and creating value for the sport consumer. However a deeper and empirically informed
understanding of the motivation of sport fans to engage with social media is required.
Therefore, the purpose of our research is to provide a rich, multi-layered insight into fan motivation by examining fan
interaction on Facebook, the leading social media platform. We utilize a netnographic approach to study fans of teams in the
National Basketball Association (NBA), one of the worlds elite sporting competitions. This insight is empirically derived and
critical for sport managers seeking to develop targeted relationship marketing strategies using this interactive
communication platform. A greater understanding of the relational needs of social media users is required, particularly
as sport consumers are active collaborators through these media. Our research provides a deeper understanding of what
motivates fans to engage with sport by revealing additional motives not previously identied in the literature. It also
illuminates the existing and somewhat generic fan motives by providing a ner-grained insight into some of their
components that have not received empirical consideration to date. These ndings will allow sport managers to better
understand why fans engage with sport, particularly through social media, and provide the basis for facilitating meaningful
interactions as part of the organizations relationship marketing strategy. Providing a more robust picture of fan motives is
especially important for maximizing the use of online channels as well as for allowing sport organizations to differentiate
their brands and explore how fans engage with one another and the team away from the playing arena. The ndings from our
study advance theory and practice in relation to both fan motivation and the use of social media in sport.
2. Literature review
Relationship marketing can be described as the process of developing, maintaining and enhancing mutually
advantageous long-term relationships through interactions (Harwood, Garry, & Broderick, 2008). Gronroos (2011, p.
244) denes interaction as a mutual or reciprocal action where two or more parties have an effect upon one another and
suggests that the process of interaction is the core of successful relationship marketing.
With the advent of new technologies and platforms, interaction with consumers is being made easier and more efcient
(Yadav & Varadarajan, 2005). At the same time a new generation of empowered and engaged consumers has evolved and
they have increasing access and exposure to organizations (Tapscott, 2009). As a consequence, an emphasis on motives,
dialog and creativity is needed to inspire consumers to co-create value (Arnould & Thompson, 2005) and to provide rms
with the raw material for relationship creation, expansion and maintenance (Baron, Conway, & Warnaby, 2010).
Ramani and Kumar (2008) suggest that an interaction orientation has superseded previous forms of orientation for
successful rms and can be described as a . . .rms ability to interact with its individual customers and take advantage of
information obtained from them through successive interactions to achieve protable customer relationships (p. 27). The
challenge remains however to identify the most appropriate means by which to facilitate interactions that add value to
relationships and allow for purposeful interventions by the rm. To create an effective relationship marketing strategy it is
critical to identify the motives of fans in interacting with sporting teams or organizations in context, and the value which this
interaction delivers.
2.1. Fan motivation
Much of the extant research on sport fan motivation has been devoted to measuring its impact via the development and
modeling of various scales. Interestingly, the initial psychological factors identied by Wann (1995), while criticized for
lacking validity (Trail & James, 2001), have been corroborated, rened and extended by various others (e.g., Bilyeu & Wann,
2002; Mahony, Nakazawa, Funk, James, & Gladden, 2002; Milne & McDonald, 1999; Seo & Green, 2008; Wann, Schrader, &
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Wilson, 1999). These factors, though broad and not exhaustive (Wann, Melnick, Russell, & Pease, 2001), encapsulate some of
the key reasons why fans consume sport and include notions of eustress, escape, aesthetic pleasure, entertainment, family
needs, group afliation, self-esteem, and economic gain. Given that our overall aim is to gain a rich sense of how and why
sports fans engage through social media, it is worthwhile providing a brief description of these motives to bring context to
our research.
Eustress is described as the human need for positive stress and psychological arousal (Smith & Stewart, 2007, p. 158).
The motivation to escape from the boredom or stress of daily life is also clearly a major factor driving the attachment to sport.
Pleasure and anxiety are common to the sport fan experience as fans respond emotionally to other fans, players, situations
and actions. Sport fans can also simply enjoy the aesthetic appeal of sporting endeavors or contests (Sloan, 1989), whilst
there is the opportunity to draw pleasure and self-identity from an environment far removed from ones daily
responsibilities (Holt, 1995). Not surprisingly entertainment features as a fundamental motive underpinning fan satisfaction
with sport (Wann, 1995). Entertainment is broadly associated with the arousal of the senses in a host of different ways such
as through sights, sounds, smells, and unique colors and through experiencing feelings of anticipation, hope, fear, loss,
triumph and group solidarity (Smith & Stewart, 2007).
When highly identied fans show support for their team, a sense of togetherness can diffuse through the group via the
sharing of deeply held interests and familiar identities (Murrell & Dietz, 1992). This togetherness can occur within a family
context, particularly if seeking to spend more time in such company (Raney, 2006), or more broadly through group
afliation. Such afliation plays a pivotal role in a fans identication with, and loyalty to, a team as well as satiating latent
needs for social belonging (Gwinner & Swanson, 2003; Smith & Stewart, 2007). Engagement with sport is also a way to
maintain a positive sense of self. Wanns (1995) research, resulting in the development of the initial motivation scale,
revealed that fans increase their self-esteem by linking their knowledge and emotions with their teams performance.
Moreover vicarious experience of team effort and performance can generate positive self-esteem for the fan (Cialdini et al.,
1976). Finally, economic gain relates to the gambling aspect of sport consumption, which through new media is increasingly
providing fans with an opportunity to seek a nancial reward.
Importantly, researchers recognize that the enactment of motives both in terms of type and intensity will vary depending
on how and when the fan engages with sport (Wann et al., 2001). In terms of motive type, we contend that there is an
opportunity to better understand fan motives not only by considering additional motives, but also by recognizing that the
current set of generic motives contain multiple, signicant components that have yet to receive focused empirical attention,
especially in the social media context. For example, the desire for group afliation can be for different reasons, that is, not just
to experience a sense of belonging or togetherness as is commonly represented in the literature, but also as a means of
gaining status. In addition, fans may want to experience camaraderie, and while this is related to group afliation and
togetherness, it is uniquely dened in terms of its intent and how it is experienced, for example when connecting with other
fans by defending the team.
Moreover, we can also enhance our understanding of motives by considering how fans interact with sport and teams in
ways other than viewing the game, such as discussing sport in a range of social contexts. Different motives also are likely to
come into being during the off-season when fans efforts to co-create value will be more future oriented (Wann & Grieve,
2005). More generally, fans will exhibit some motives more than others, depending on context, and these motives may be
uniquely dened in exchanges through social media. Given the distinctive nature of the media, including the propensity to
express oneself forcefully (Qualman, 2010), fans may be prone to expressing their optimistic expectations for the
forthcoming season through social media in authoritative terms. In this forum there is a lesser chance of negative recourse
than with face-to-face communication amongst a more diverse group. Alternatively, fans may be highly opinionated and
inclined to project knowledge-inected status or personal grievances as such media provide the opportunity and the ideal
forum in which to do so.
Also of signicance in the context of our research is that sport researchers have identied the value in gaining a nergrained understanding. For example, providing a more complete picture of the nature of fan motives (Wann et al., 2001) will
better enable sport teams to differentiate their brands (Green, 2001) and to maximize their use of online channels of
interaction (Seo & Green, 2008), especially social media (Earnheardt, Haridakis, & Hugenberg, 2012). Seo and Green (2008)
developed a fan motivation scale, relating to professional sports teams websites, consisting of ten dimensions: fanship,
interpersonal communication, technical knowledge, fan expression, entertainment, economic, pass time, information,
escape, and support. These authors acknowledge that the Internet more broadly could satisfy a range of needs in excess of
traditional media given its interactive capabilities.
Indeed a rich depiction of how fans enact motives through social media is valuable because a comprehensive and nuanced
understanding of these motives can enable sport managers to be more proactive and purposeful in their interactions with
fans in this highly popular and ever expanding platform.
2.2. Social media
Social media, or social network sites, operate as virtual communities where users create a public or semi-public prole to
communicate and network with friends or others with similar interests (e.g., Balas, 2006; boyd & Ellison, 2007; Kasavanam,
Nusair, & Teodosic, 2010). Social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, are not a recent phenomenon with many
sites emerging and disappearing over the past two decades. However the increasing accessibility of social media through
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personal devices such as smart phones is a key driver for growing usage and the formation of increasingly active online
communities.
These communities can socially reinforce consumption, potentially resulting in increased brand loyalty and usage
(Kozinets, 2002). Further, social media can be viewed as an emerging and important facilitator of brand communities which
feature . . .consumers with a shared enthusiasm. . . whose members engage jointly in group actions to accomplish collective
goals and/or express mutual sentiments and commitments (Bagozzi & Dholakia, 2006, p. 45). These communities are
usually organized around a shared appreciation of a particular brand designed to foster a collective value within the
iz & OGuinn, 2001; Schau, Mun
iz, & Arnould, 2009). The simple and asynchronous nature of digital
community (Mun
networks is their greatest advantage and this technology has facilitated relationships that in the past would have been
almost impossible (boyd & Ellison, 2007; Hara, Bonk, & Angeli, 2000).
Social media also are particularly well-suited to engagement within brand communities and therefore appeal to
marketers seeking to understand those communities as most conversations occur in real-time and can be instantly digitally
archived. This data allows for an accurate analysis of situational behavior and culture (boyd & Ellison, 2007; Jayanti, 2010;
Kozinets, 2006) which, in the context of our research, can give a detailed, natural insight into the behavior and relational
desires of sport fans.
At the most basic level, interaction between consumers via social media can be viewed as an extension of word-of-mouth
communication and consequently as a hybrid element of the traditional marketing mix (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Social media
differ from previous vehicles for marketing communication by allowing customers to communicate directly and easily with
each other and to co-create value with an imagined community at a time, place and frequency that best suit the individual fan.
Foux (2006) suggests that consumer-generated media are seen as the most honest sources of information available. As a result,
consumers are turning to social media forums for product and service information (Jayanti, 2010; Lempert, 2006) and reducing
their reliance on traditional media. This shift infers that it is essential to incorporate social media into the marketing
communications mix and the advertising spend in this area is estimated at over US$7 billion worldwide annually (Emarketer,
2012). Within specic industries such as sport, the advantages of social media appear well-suited to building relationships with
fans. Enhanced fan connectedness can result in, amongst other benets, longer and more protable relationships through
increased consumptive behavior (End, 2001; Trail, Fink, & Anderson, 2003; Wakeeld & Wann, 2006).
Research exploring the use of specic social media platforms in sport continues to emerge. Wallace, Wilson, and Miloch
(2011) examined the Facebook pages of various collegiate sport organizations to identify the communication tools used, how
this vehicle was managed to build brand awareness and image as well as how users interacted with the site. The authors
found that the capabilities of this medium generally were underutilized, with links and status updates the dominant form of
content, thus limiting the potential for interaction. However, the ndings also suggested that teams were using their
Facebook site for brand-related purposes and to provide timely information, highlighting the potential for the medium to
stimulate two-way engagement. Waters et al. (2011) explored the use of both Facebook and websites by teams in the
National Football League to facilitate relationships with fans using stewardship strategies. The authors found that teams
placed greater emphasis on relationship management via their website rather than Facebook, suggesting that perhaps this
was due to a lack of exibility in the prescribed formats of social media, lack of control or lack of a measurable return on
investment. Pronschinske et al. (2012) examined how Facebook page attributes inuenced participation by professional
sport fans. Their ndings suggest that the number of fans on a Facebook page is determined by authenticity and engagement.
Authenticity relates to the perception that the site is the ofcial team site and engagement pertains to fan-centric strategies
designed to facilitate two-way dialog.
Similarly, research exploring the use of another popular social media platform, Twitter, is also emerging. For example,
Hambrick et al. (2010) examined how athletes used Twitter accounts to connect with fans, identifying a number of categories
of communication based upon a content analysis. These categories were: interactivity, sport information, promotion,
diversion, fanship and content. The results showed a high proportion of direct interaction between athletes and their fans,
which differs from traditional media communications. Research also has investigated fan response to Twitter use by athletes.
For example, in the context of a Twitter feed of a retired female athlete, Clavio and Kian (2010) found that followers use of
the feed was based on afnity with the athlete or the content of the feed. Frederick et al. (2012) explored follower reaction
and motivation pertaining to different forms of athlete interaction. The authors ndings suggest that the more social and
interactive the use of Twitter by an athlete, the greater a followers sense of closeness and engagement with the athlete. This
nding is consistent with earlier research by Kassing and Sanderson (2010) which tracked Tweets by athletes and fan
responses during a cycling event, nding that the use of this technology promoted interactivity and cultivated insider
perspectives for fans (p. 113).
While the preceding studies have made a valuable contribution to the understanding of the use of social media in sport,
there remains a need for further research, particularly from the fan perspective (Clavio & Kian, 2010) to better understand
what motivates fans to interact through these vehicles. To this end, Wallace et al. (2011) highlight the need for a qualitative
analysis of fan comments on Facebook to provide a richer understanding of fan behavior. In addition, Williams and Chinn
(2010) have discussed how social media can be used in the relationship marketing efforts of sport organizations, recognizing
sport consumers as active collaborators in this endeavor. The authors suggest that a greater understanding of the needs of
social media users is required, including which emerging technologies and platforms best meet those needs. Therefore
further investigation should explore the motivations of fans seeking to actively engage with sport organizations through
social media.
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Our research investigates the use of team Facebook sites by NBA fans and examines the motivations of fans in interacting
on these sites, both with their team and with each other. Given that interaction is a critical aspect of relationship marketing,
the ndings emerging from this study provide insight into fan motives and behavior and have implications for advancing the
understanding of social media and relationship marketing in sport.
3. Method
A qualitative approach, utilizing netnography and content analysis, was adopted to explore usage of the preeminent
social network site, Facebook, by NBA fans of a purposefully derived sample of eight teams. We intentionally explored the
use of social media during the off-season, a period in which teams have limited contact with consumers and fans have
reduced opportunities to engage in relationship reinforcing activities.
The NBA was selected as the focus for this study as it can be considered the pinnacle of basketball and a leader in adopting
relationship marketing and social media practices in sport (Cousens, Babiak, & Slack, 2000). It has more followers (in excess
of 280 million) on Facebook and Twitter than any other professional sport league (Slam, 2012). The NBA also has recognized
the importance of social media in building their brand by hosting their inaugural Social Media Awards in July 2012.
Founded in 1946, the NBA has 30 teams (29 in the USA and 1 in Canada) based in 6 divisions separated into Eastern and
Western Conferences. While the leagues teams are exclusively from North America, the 2012 NBA Finals were televised in
215 countries and territories in 47 different languages (NBA, 2012), reecting the NBAs global following. To increase
exposure to external markets, the NBA has also scheduled games internationally (Chandler, 2011).
A netnographic approach was used to collect data for this study. Netnography is an adaptation of the traditional
ethnographic research method to the examination of communities online and provides insight into natural human behavior
(Kozinets, 2010). Observation, rather than participation, can be used in netnography which is unobtrusive and enables
naturalistic data to be gathered at low cost (Jayanti, 2010; Krippendorff, 2004). Consistent with previous research related to
social media in other industries (Granheim & Lundman, 2004; Harwood & Garry, 2003; Hsieh & Shannon, 2005), the unit of
analysis was the content of the Facebook sites and the coding units were the individual posts and comments by fans.
A preliminary stage of this study involved visiting the ofcial NBA website (www.nba.com) and following the links to
each of the 30 teams to determine what social media platforms they were engaged in. It was not surprising that Facebook and
Twitter were the dominant social media used by all teams and accounted for the vast majority of interaction. Facebook is the
worlds largest social media platform, with a reported 1.15 billion active users per month (as of mid-2013). According to the
companys mission, consumers of Facebook are able . . .to share and express what matters to them (Facebook, 2013).
Facebook also provides a platform for organizations to facilitate this interaction, allowing them to set up institutional sites
that can be readily accessed through a variety of digital devices, including smartphones.
Kozinets (2010) recommends examining online groups that attract many individuals who actively post, provide
information that can be analyzed, and show interactions that relate to the outlined research questions. As a result it was
decided that Facebook, given its evident broad popularity and its interactive public writing space (wall feature), which
allowed teams to post information on their organizations ofcial page for fans to subsequently read, respond and interact
with, would be the most appropriate source for data relating to fans.
For the main stage of this study, a non-probability, judgment sample (Marshall, 1996; Zikmund, Ward, Lowe, & Winzar,
2007) of fan comments was collected during a two week period in the latter half of 2010, coinciding with the quietest period
of NBA league activity. Major off-season events, such as the NBA Draft, NBA Summer League and FIBA World Championships
had ended and most teams were focused on preparations for the upcoming training camps before the new season.
In total, 14,030 Facebook comments made by individuals on the ofcial Facebook wall of the eight teams of interest
(Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets [until April 2012 they were referred to as the New Jersey Nets], Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota
Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards) were collected and analyzed.
Given that the individuals were actively participating in discussions during the off-season, it was assumed that they were
fans of the team and/or sport. The teams of interest were selected in a way that would include teams with different
characteristics, such as smaller and larger markets, Eastern and Western Conference teams, successful and less successful
on-court performance, and newer and established teams.
Content analysis was used to elicit themes from the text (Hara et al., 2000) and computer software was used to aid in
sorting the large volume of data. As no study has previously classied motives for Facebook use by sport fans, categories were
not created prior to the examination of posts. By using an inductive category development approach (Mayring, 2000)
without preconceived categories (Kondracki & Wellman, 2002), the resulting categories owed from the data (Hsieh &
Shannon, 2005, p. 1279), allowing for a deeper analysis of the latent content (Granheim & Lundman, 2004). We were mindful
in the development and evaluation of our codes to ensure that the higher-order themes (i.e., the motives) were a function of
informant sentiments and the meaning contained in these sentiments. This was especially important in this context as the
posts of fans were often abbreviated, cited localized references and contained jargon. As a result we immersed ourselves in
the Facebook sites to try and get a sense of the whole before breaking it down into parts (Agar, 1980) and the data from fans
was read repeatedly to achieve an overall familiarity (Tesch, 1990). During this reading phase, notes on impressions and
ideas were recorded and moved in a data analysis spiral (Creswell, 1998, p. 142) creating analytical circles that were
compared amongst researchers. Labels for codes that reected the different manifestations of fan motivation began to
materialize. Once these codes began to emerge, the initial data sets were reviewed using these preliminary codes and, where
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necessary, new codes created for data that did not t. Categories were further reviewed by three researchers, working
independently, to increase intra-coder reliability (Neuendorf, 2002).
4. Findings and discussion
The ndings reveal a number of themes emanating from the actions of individuals as they utilize Facebook to interact
with their team and the broader fan community. These themes advance our understanding of fan motives for interacting
with sport, particularly in the context of social media. One of these motives (self-esteem) has been broadly articulated
previously, although not in the social media context. We identify a further three motives that explain the attractiveness of
this forum for fans, and which are particularly relevant to the interchanges that take place pre-season. Consistent with
previous research into fan communities (McAlexander, Schouten, & Koenig, 2002), these motives emanate from the needs,
sentiments and ideas of fans and, to the authors knowledge, have not been empirically investigated in a layered and context
relevant way, in this case as it relates to social media. Our data indicates that fans exercise four key motives as they draw
value from the social media enabled connection to the team passion, hope, esteem and camaraderie. Table 1 provides
denitions of these motives and their properties as demonstrated by the postings of fans. Table 1 also denotes whether fan
comments and interactions are directed at the team or fellow fans (the community).
The rst category of motivation noted at Table 1 is an emotional demonstration of affection for the team, which we
categorize as passion. A second highly emotive category exudes yearning, ambition and anticipation and is thus categorized
as an expression of hope. A third category to emerge was highly reective of the esteem needs of fans. Comments in this
category involved fans interacting with both the team and fan community by demonstrating their specialist knowledge,
expertise and insight. A nal category of motivation constitutes camaraderie and was primarily directed at the fan
community. This form of interaction included afrming and defending the team (and self), seeking assistance from fellow
fans, and more general social interaction. In the discussion that follows we describe these four motives and the benets they
afford in detail. However, rst we begin by providing an overview of the efforts of the sport organizations to stimulate
interaction with fans in the social media context.
The two-way nature of interaction was evidenced by the efforts of teams, not just fans, to provide material that would act
as a catalyst for engagement. By following an NBA team via Facebook, fans all over the world are kept apprised of team
activities including player signings, product launches, ticket sales and merchandize opportunities across both xed and
mobile platforms. This information appears on a users screen and allows for immediate response, thereby stimulating
timely interaction.
The content posted by teams had a considerable impact on the reciprocal activities of fans, leading to interaction
motivated by passion, hope, esteem or camaraderie. Responses illustrating fan passion for the team were prompted by
almost every organizational post irrespective of its content, with fans clearly using any opportunity to display their
commitment and fervent support of the team. Fan expressions of hope were often stimulated by team announcements about
new players or the activities of players in relation to tness, skill development, teamwork, or enthusiasm for the forthcoming
season. Fans also were highly motivated to respond with expertise and insight when team posts sought opinions about
matters requiring specialist knowledge. Little encouragement was needed to garner fan comments, although some teams
with fewer social media followers used the opportunity to build camaraderie by taking a more conversational and engaging
tone with fans, even to the point of facilitating socialization through non-basketball related discussion.
More broadly across all themes, some variance between teams was recognized regarding the level of interaction. Those
teams that tended to have more followers (such as the Boston Celtics) rarely responded directly to individual fans, usually
just posting general information. Fans of popular teams were seemingly motivated to attempt discussion, but due to the
sheer number of posts in such a short period, these comments were easily overlooked. Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers also
were unable to initiate topics on the teams Facebook wall and were only permitted to comment in response to ofcial team
posts, further limiting the opportunity for interaction. Fans expressed confusion or annoyance at the restrictive nature of
such an approach. For example, one fan commented Why doesnt the Lakers answer you when you write to them? Does anyone
know? However, the range of teams analyzed, from large and small markets, and from the highly active to less active
Facebook sites, did provide a consistency and richness across the four key categories of fan motivation for interacting on
team Facebook sites. These categories are discussed as follows.
4.1. Categories of fan motivation
4.1.1. Passion
The attraction of sport as a means to experience and convey passion is well established (Vallerand et al., 2006). Many
posts involving fans actively celebrating their connection to the team highlights the importance of a relational forum
outside the sports arena to publicly display team identication. Expressions of love, encouragement, praise and ardency
were commonplace and highly consistent with extant notions of passion in the broader consumption literature (Belk, Ger,
& Askegaard, 2003). Further, fan portrayal of passion was emphasized with statements about the teams centrality to their
lives.
Many fans made a point of illustrating their love of the team by stating a constant, unwavering and enduring connection.
Terms and phrases such as always, day in, day out, fan for life, and forever were typical of the emotion-laden
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Table 1
Categorization and examples of social media fan motivation types.
Category
Denition
Examples
Passion
Love
Tribalism
Encouragement
Praise
Team-directed
displays of strong
affection reecting
one or a
combination of love,
tribalism,
encouragement and
praise
FROM ITALY. . .GO GO GO CELTICS!!!!!!

Im from Germany, Wizards Go !!!;D
lets go boston we run the east. . .
boston the best. . ..forever
COLOR ME GREEN I LOVE LOVE, THE CELTICS!!!!!!!!
CS ALL THE WAY THIS YEAR!!! I BLEED GREEN & WHITE!!! LETS GIT IT!!! 2011 IS OURS!!!
Lakers all DAY EVERYDAY! Till i die.
A laker is always a laker, i am one of those forever!
U guys r amazing. . ..Go Lakers!!!!! All day every day. . ..
Srry if I sound annoying I just love the nets
the orlando magic outts look cool go magic make this season memorable
Hope
Ambition
Expectation
Anticipation
Team-directed
pronouncements
centered on
desirable
achievement and
outcomes
demonstrating one
or a combination of
ambition,
expectation and
situational
anticipation
Good luck guys!!! Lets beat L.A. THIS YEAR!!!

we goin all the way this year!! Lets go css
SIZE THEM UP FOR ANOTHER RING ALREADY!!!. . .LAKERS THREE PEAT SEASON IS COMING TO AN ARENA NEAR
YOU!!!
man, most anticipated season (for me) in a long time. . ..so much at stake for phil, kobe, the
organization. . ..bigger challenges than maybe ever. . .boston still lurking out there, the punks in miami. . .gonna
be a long tough season, cant wait!!!!
Hey hello from bathurst australia.good luck in new season.touch wood no major injures and a championship ring
for the team.ps beat miami i cant stand them now
This year is our year lets take it all the way boys Go Magic! Blue and white will ignite this year BOOOM!!!
I cant wait until da season start n October, GO SUNS GO!
Next year at this time we will be talking PLAYOFFS!!!
We Playoff-Bound. . .All of us loyal kings fans have stuck with this team through the thick and thin. We didnt just
go bandwagon over the Dark Side(Lakers)! We defended our team and stayed true to the Purple and Black. Kings
are going to make an impact this year. HERE WE RISE!
Esteem
Venting
Expertise
Sharing
Comments directed
toward the team
and/or fellow fans
that share positive
or negative personal
fandom experiences,
or proclaim
expertise and
knowledge in team
related matters.
lakers r going down. . ..i hate them mfs!!!

lets go Celtics, we need to stay healthy to win a championship, our bench really needs to step up consistently
especially with perk out, we arent a deep team at all atm, this is my biggest concern
I went to the USA recently and couldnt nd any Celtic merchandise:-(
what the Celtics are charging for tixs is insane
Cant go to the Garden but did buy tickets today when they play San Antonio. I will be wearing my Celtics TShirt
tried buying tickets, nothing available. At least, nothing thats less than a monthly mortgage payment
Been a Celtics fan all my life, since 1976, never seen them play in person. That is one thing I want to do before I
die.
my own analysis of 20102011 nba season. . . miami,60+ wins lakers,5060+ wins . . .miami will not get to the
nals because of dwight howard,paul pierce,kevin garnett and ray allen.(or should i say its either boston or
orlando as the eastern conference champion).amare stoudamire is better than bosh,so i think its better for miami
to trade bosh for stoudamire.if wade,james and amare are on the miami,then we will do the talking. of course
lakers will win in the west,(no doubt about that) but lakers defeated boston and orlando in the last two nba
season.
I have been a Suns fan my whole life, I LOVE the Suns but,Lets be honest, this is a team of jump shooters with no
power forward.Lopez is going to have a real tough time getting rebounds by himself.This team has no one, not one
player that h. . .as ever had a history of powering the ball to the basket.Nash, and Richardson are the only stars on
this team, and everyone knows that 2 guards cant win very many games without a power pressence underneath
the rim.I will always cheer for my team, but I wont lie to myself or anyone and say that the Suns are going to be a
playoff team, they are going to a lottery team. Which is good for the future,maybe the Suns can build a great team
through the draft.
The Nets are giving up way too much. We were lead to believe that theNets were building towards a
championship team. This trade might put them into the playoffs, but its doubltful they after get beyond that after
mortgaging most of their future.
Camaraderie
Socialization
Belonging
Defense
Problem-solving
Communitydirected comments
that reect a desire
for identication
and interaction
within the
community,
including knowledge
seeking and
preserving the group
from negative
inuences.
anybody know the ticket presale password?

half of you trash talking morons dont even watch basketball, stick to hating your life since its what youre best
at
wheres the lakers training camp this year?
Agreed normally for hot tickets like that prices go thru the roof! @ Paul very nice, Youve taught her well. @
jonathan I answered the trivia question Am I right? If so deliver on promise!
Hello Trish!! Nope, no beach today. I have some homework and things to do around the house:-) How are you?
What are your plans for today?
hey guys, how can i buy tikets frm australia for the october 6 game vs toronto raptors as im ying over to catch
the game thankyou My tikets may have fallen through smeone was getting me:) cant wait
PLEASE SUNS STOP THE SPAM AND ADVERTISING!!!!! IF ITS NOT SUNS RELATED BACK OFF!!!!!! DO
SOMETHING WHOEVER RUNS THIS FOR THE SUNS ORGANIZATION PLEASE!!!
Please!! Baris can you stop dropping the F bombs. we have a lot of kids on the suns fan site, we appreciate your
support even if its only for Hedo, but we don,t appreciate bad language on here Thanks:O)
If youre gonna come on here and hate, at least learn how to spell, you jackass
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statements that populated the exchanges (e.g., LA All Day, Every Day; CELTICS4LIFE). Fans sought to make it clear that
matters involving the team, whether player, management or performance related, were given regular and serious attention
in their daily lives.
In many cases these sentiments were expressed by fans in some detail, for example by commenting on the extent, depth
or intensity of their engagement with the team. However, as Table 1 indicates, expressions of passion were often brief and
stimulated limited (if any) interaction or elaboration (e.g., I love the suns. . .go team go; If the Kings move, I move).
Signicantly, the omnipresence of these singular, seemingly spontaneous utterances highlight that sports fans simply desire
the opportunity to proclaim their passion for the team.
The use of capital letters (considered shouting on social media) and exclamation marks also were common as fans sought
to draw attention to their attachment by expressing their passion in more emphatic terms. Such examples also indicate
tribalism especially as individuals clearly wanted to make public their declarations of affection, given that these statements
are made using real names (Facebook lists users names). This was true more generally as many individual statements of
fervent connection, coupled with a broader sense of unity, gave a strong sense of tribal afliation and distinction.
While a primary function of social media is to provide an opportunity to partake in dialog with like-minded individuals
(Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy, & Silvestre, 2011), our ndings highlight a key motivation for sports fans: to have a forum
to state ones passion for the team in one-off emotive proclamations. Single statements declaring passion for the team with
no follow-up by other fans featured prominently in our data. This nding highlights that fans welcome an opportunity in this
context to realize pleasure by expressing their connection to the team in a short, sharp burst of emotion. This is important
because broad assumptions exist which suggest that such interactions might be overlooked or underplayed given that fans
typically only respond in this way during a game (Wann, 1995), and given that social media are most commonly associated
with social discourse (Teichert, Bressette, & Wagenfuehrer, 2011). Proclamations of passion appear much more intrinsically
motivated and yet clearly relevant to the value fans seek from social media.
4.1.2. Hope
Hope springs eternal is an appropriate adage for highly identied sports fans, especially in the pre-season. It also
captures the disposition and sentiments of many of the fan posts. Hope is a powerful consumer motive in evidence across a
range of identity infused contexts such as health, beauty, fashion and sports (de Mello, MacInnis, & Stewart, 2007). Posts
indicative of expressions of hope were most commonly directed at the team and, compared to comments prompted by the
other motives, were most likely to stimulate interaction from other fans (e.g., Really excited for this season with all the young
guys. In a few years who knows, we might be on the same path as the Thunder. Go Wolves! which was followed by a fan response
of me too! this is the most excited ive been for a wolves season in a long time).
The data was replete with comments dened by their aspirational characteristics. Expressions of hope appeared
frequently often involving favorable assessments of the development or potential of the players, team or management (e.g.,
This year is a turning point thanks to the new management, and I am excited. Ive been a Nets fan since the 80s and I can see
things taking a big turn for the better again this season. Most hopeful Ive been since we had Petrovic, Coleman and Anderson, before
Drazens tragic death in 1993).
Most noticeable, and perhaps not surprising, was that the vast majority of fan statements were imbued with optimism
and enthusiastic expectation (e.g., Nets will denitely be hot this season). For example, the LA Lakers, NBA champions in the
two previous seasons, were overwhelmed by comments urging a threepeat (a term used to refer to three championship
titles in succession), whilst even relatively poorly performing teams in the previous season had fans that were adamant that
a play-off berth was a possible outcome in the new season (e.g., YES WIZARDS ALLDAY WE GOIN TO THE FINALS THIS YEAR).
The fact that these statements were invariably followed with elaboration or validation by other members of the online
community indicated that expressions of hope were a powerful way to engender a sense of collective optimism and
consensus.
Despite the evident connection to the team in these interactions, the most common sentiments related to the likely
performance of an individual athlete as the catalyst for the expectation of future success (e.g., Warrick is going to turn out to
be a stud for the Suns, just watch which was soon responded to by another fan with steve nash will make these guys into great
players, just like any other player that comes onto that team). Messages of hope were often substantiated by positive
portrayals of players based on character, past achievements and likely future contributions (e.g., The best thing about Paul is
how he stuck with us through all the bad years! THATS A REAL TEAM CAPTAIN followed by another fan commenting, Paul
Pierce is such a gentleman). The reason why messages of hope were most commonly attributed to players rather than the
team as a whole is perhaps because some fans are personally invested in players, or because they can be more substantive in
their expressions of hope when they articulate the potential of a particular player with whom they have some perceived
knowledge or insight.
Interactions in this context also led to the discussion and typically positive calibration of expectations. For example,
the Minnesota Timberwolves nished the 2009/2010 season with the second worst win/loss record in the NBA and had
signed Michael Beasley (since signed with the Phoenix Suns), who had twice violated the NBAs drug policy and was
criticized for not living up to his potential. Despite this reality, one fan commented Beasley is a new man. He will be in the
running for MVP. . . He will lead us to the playoffs! Moreover, the interactive nature of such a network allows fans to
respond, provide alternative interpretations, and realign expectations (e.g., Playoffs, not likely. Winning season?
Denitely possible).
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It is not surprising that comments motivated by hope featured strongly given that our study was conducted in the offseason. Notions of hope, while evident in existing literature on fan motives, are background to other motives such as
eustress, esteem and allegiance (Wann, 1995). However hope (as expressed previously) is clearly an important motive in its
own right both during and out of season given the level of emotional investment in the performance of the team. The
expression of hope meets a fundamental participatory need in that it is often a by-product of one of the most powerful
elements of the sport value exchange, namely the unpredictability of the result. Fans can take an optimistic view (especially
out of season) because there is always a possibility that aspirations may come to fruition. In this regard, the use of social
media is especially important because it provides a connection with kindred spirits that engender and amplify such
sentiments with a supportive view and in so doing can raise the fans sense of self based on their contribution and positivity
about the future of their team.
Our ndings also reveal that hope affords a degree of control. Expressions of hope allow fans to impose themselves on an
identity investment in which they otherwise have little control. Social media provide an easily accessible opportunity to do
so in a way that resonates because of likely support as well as the extended interval between when hope is manifest
(especially in the pre-season period) and reality is determined. It has been established that fans, because of the depth of their
connection, have a strong desire to feel they have some bearing on the outcome (Holt, 1995) and social media, and the
enactment of hope, seems to afford such an opportunity. Also evident in our ndings is the fact that value is attached to hope
in that it inspires positive emotion and can be uplifting and energizing especially when given credence by others in a
collective show of faith and solidarity.
4.1.3. Esteem
This category of fan motivation centers on individual esteem needs as impetus for interaction. Related statements were
unique in the way in which they reected favorably on the fan because they demonstrated specialist knowledge, authority,
commitment and status. Often these comments carried a tone of righteousness in terms of what could be expected of the
relationship as a highly committed fan.
These esteem-enhancing comments sometimes occurred in the form of negative statements such as in the explanation of
poor team performance or management decision-making, or in the failure on the part of the team to respond to fan
comments or requests posted on the network. Compared to comments motivated by passion or hope, these posts were
lengthier comments on specic events or thoughts and typically related to one of the following three issues.
Firstly, fans exhibited venting behavior where they expressed a strong opinion and sought, and often received, validation
by other fans. Although much of this venting still revealed positive sentiments about the team, there were numerous
comments expressing dissatisfaction. These posts typically related to disappointment with past performance, frustration
with players not following coaches instructions or not succeeding where there was the perceived opportunity to do so.
Given the off-season time period of the study, and fans strong identication with players, criticism often was directed at
teams based on player trades or acquisitions.
In addition, some fans expressed concern at the pricing levels for the upcoming season, while others expressed difculty
in justifying a purchase of season tickets due to their teams poor performance (e.g., Show me that the TEAM is improved on
the oor rst before I go back to anything more than Individual game tickets for the games (Teams) that are worth seeing in person.
Its not worth it to pay JUST to see TYRKE! dmc + ROY!). Related discussion on the Sacramento Kings page showed numerous
fans airing grievances about ticket pricing, but no responses from the organization were noted. Fans also expressed
frustration when organizations were perceived to be condescending in their response, or provided limited information on
topics of inquiry. For example, after the moderators of one site uploaded a video to their Facebook page, a fan responded with
WTF! look, I cant attest to Warricks toughness, but Im sure as HELL, not going base my judgment on a pregame video. Please,
stop insulting my intelligence. Rather then trying to BS all the loyal suns fans with this propagated dogma, try putting out some
actual valid and relevant information.
A second form of interaction motivated by esteem needs was the sharing of experiences, which allowed fans to bask in the
reected glory of their team (Cialdini & Richardson, 1980) by associating themselves with key experiences and accolades
(e.g., It was SO awesome being on the oor when the little purple, gold and white confetti came falling down on our heads. . .best
moment of my LIFE!). This motive was strongly linked to affection for the team but differed in that fans centered their
comments on their associations such as successfully purchasing tickets or being present at an important event.
A third and signicant element of esteem motivated interaction was when fans sought to demonstrate their expertise and
knowledge of the sport and team. This type of interaction reected a desire to engage in discussion that allowed for an
opinion to be readily expressed and validated or refuted. Fans are aware that in reality they have little control over the team
or its performance yet are motivated to suggest otherwise, as observed by their propensity to make strong statements about
how performance could improve. Clearly doing so affords self-esteem as it is a way of asserting their authority as well as the
individuality of their relationship with the team. Social media can provide the ideal forum for this as fans know they will be
heard by a largely supportive audience.
Fans across all the teams in our study took the opportunity to post suggested strategies and tactics, often emphatically,
with these statements frequently stimulating discussion. Examples of these relatively lengthy posts are provided at Table 1.
Typically fans engaging in this manner were insightful in sporting nuances and offered somewhat reasoned opinions. These
comments often were elaborated upon by like-minded fans, equally literate and forthright in expressing the tactical
decisions on and off the eld deemed necessary for success.
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Our ndings highlight that the ability to realize self-esteem is a clear motivation for fan use of social media. Most relevant
is the opportunity that social media provide for fans to be forceful (even self-righteous) in making value judgments about
team performance, whether relating to players or the temperament, intentions and abilities of coaching staff. Abstracting
from our induction of fan motives, especially self-esteem, it is apparent that there are three critical elements of social media
that enable fans to express themselves forcefully. These are opportunity, a captive audience, and (lack of) accountability, and
each is discussed briey.
Making judgments about team performance represents a critical motivation as it allows fans to express their specialist
knowledge and status, which is clearly important for their sense of empowerment and self-worth. It appears that fans
gravitate to social media not only because it affords them another opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and display
passion, but also to do so in an active and forthright way to realize cathartic and broader identity benets. We suggest this
occurs because they know they are in the company of a large number of allies (imagined and real) who will be exposed to
their message, and who will likely validate their statements either through response or through silence, which is often
accepted as tacit validation in the social media context (Toma & Hancock, 2013).
In this regard social media are important as they allow fans to account forcefully. Cyberspace grants autonomy by
enabling people to communicate with limited accountability or direct exposure to the censure they might receive in a
face-to-face situation, especially if it involves fans of other teams who are likely to rebuke such a judgment. Emoting
forcefully is not uncommon in sport, however our ndings highlight that it is particularly relevant in the social media
context because computer-mediated communication can lead consumers to feel less accountable and inhibited, and
more in control (Qualman, 2010). More generally, our study highlights that fans require opportunities for expression
that may otherwise be constrained due to the action at a game, and in other social contexts requiring the immediate
presence of others. Social media enable fans to take more control of the opportunity as they can exercise their motives in
the company of a large and generally receptive imagined community, and this is an important factor in their desire to
use the medium.
4.1.4. Camaraderie
Social media by denition provide a strong group dynamic. Sport is particularly adept at harnessing this phenomenon
given the high levels of identication and implicit trust amongst fans of the same team. Having made the effort to seek out
the teams Facebook site, it was evident that fans were strongly tied to a sense of group identity, particularly given the offseason timing. This type of interaction, focusing primarily on the notion of camaraderie and belonging, featured prominently.
Camaraderie was most evident in the acknowledgment (good point), afrmation (I fully agree), and elaboration of
opinion, or in efforts of people to allay fears about potential poor performance by taking a positive stance on what could
eventuate.
Fans often strayed from the basketball context to other matters. This social engagement occurred on a fan-to-fan basis
and in personal terms (e.g., yo Kate! How are you! Have talked to you in ages!!). These non-sport based interactions highlight
not only the power of the forum to link people, but also how sport is especially conducive to broader conversation and
friendship more generally. In some instances it was evident that these non-sport conversations were an extension of not just
a shared interest, but an interest that included the joy, frustration, humiliation, vulnerability, friendship and mutual goodwill
that is often integral to high involvement in a team.
The nature of social media made community interaction challenging at times as the rapid posting on a variety of topics led
to conversations that were quickly lost or overwhelmed by general noise. This was particularly an issue on the pages of the
most popular teams and, during our period of observation, it was apparent that teams did not seek to channel these
discussions around particular, afnity-oriented themes. However this shortcoming seemed to be recognized as many posts
were short, often substitutable, and featured what was essentially a group session of cheering or claiming allegiance.
However, this approach did vary by team, with the team pages featuring the smallest number of posts tending to have more
structured group interaction where camaraderie was evident in a more detailed or reasoned way, for example in the
explanation of why one fan agrees with anothers sentiments.
Fan camaraderie extended only marginally to the collective derogation of rival teams or their fans, which Cialdini and
Richardson (1980) describe as blasting. This may have been because no games were being contested at the time of data
collection. For the most part participants were accepting of contributions from fans of other teams, as long as they were not
overly critical of their team, in which case the community would come together to protect their team. In these instances,
evidence of camaraderie was clearly on display. When fan frustration at negative comments escalated, some moderators
removed posts that used language at odds with the spirit of the community (e.g., Sorry hes bothering you. We deleted a bunch
of his comments due to language. Well report him if his actions continue. Thanks Anthony!), thereby restoring the equilibrium of
the forum.
Camaraderie also was integral to notions of problem-solving, with numerous contributors asking for advice from other
fans about aspects of the teams operations, such as key dates and access to tickets (e.g.,Does anyone know when the Xmas day
game tickets go on sale?). Although the nature of some of these posts might suggest that they more appropriately be directed
at the team, it was apparent that fans viewed the fan community as an informed and trusted resource.
It seems that fans are motivated to exercise latent needs for social belonging (Murrell & Dietz, 1992) in a more particular
way through social media as they present an ideal opportunity to experience camaraderie. Fans communicating through
social media can share not only similar interests, ideals, and experiences, but they can also be protective of them. Because of
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the level of investment in the team, fans can feel a strong need to deal with views that violate their self-perception, and social
media provide an ideal forum to come together to counter-argue information that runs contrary to such perceptions.
Similarly, social media allow fans to elaborate and magnify those sentiments that are consistent with favorable perceptions
of like-minded fans, the team and self.
Interestingly, Seo and Green (2008, p. 105) note that the ability of Web sites to enable users to interact with others. . . is
fairly unique in the marketing-communications mix. Clearly the proliferation and ubiquity of social media in such a short
period of time has expanded this opportunity enormously. Our study, which has considered the most popular medium,
highlights the sense of community and sub-cultural camaraderie that can be facilitated through such a network. It is also
hard to imagine the dissipation of such expression in coming years. Indeed it is likely that the ability of social media to
connect global audiences will enlarge the community and camaraderie opportunities as fans invested in a team exercise
their need for belonging.
4.2. Theoretical contribution
We contribute to the literature by extending the understanding of fan motives for engaging with sport by examining their
unique expression through Facebook. In doing so we respond to calls to better understand why fans interact with social
media (Clavio & Kian, 2010) and to gain a rich contextual perspective of these motives (Wallace et al., 2011). We identify that
Facebook provides a platform to satisfy motives not wholly met by other forms of interaction such as spectating or viewing
the game. More generally we add to the previous work on fan motivation by bringing greater clarity and meaning as revealed
in the context of social media. The existing literature, whilst highly valuable in identifying the impact of fan motives (e.g.
Funk, Ridinger, & Moorman, 2004) provides a limited sense of the make-up of these motives from the fan perspective.
Moreover, the broad nature of motives as expressed in the literature highlights the opportunity for a more focused look at
motives as experienced by the fan. This is evident in the case of camaraderie. While camaraderie clearly is related to social
afliation (Wann, 1995), it is also unique both as a motive and the way in which it is experienced, such as group problem
solving, or protecting the team from threat when other supporters are derogatory, and the feeling of solidarity this can
provide (Buford, 1992).
Current research on fan motives also is limited in providing managerial implications (e.g., Dwyer & Kim, 2011). In this
regard a more ne-grained and focused examination of fan motives can offer insights that are particularly valuable to
managers seeking to nurture interactions with their fans, especially in the social media context (see following). Moreover, an
important yet often overlooked element in the discussion of fan motives is the context in which the experience of fandom
takes place and how this impacts the manifestation of motives and associated benets for the fan. This shortcoming is
particularly relevant given that context can have a signicant impact on the nature and tenor of motives (Eastman & Land,
1997) especially in the case of social media.
Social media provide a unique environment for sport fans to extend their sport experiences and identities. Attending a
game provides fans with the opportunity to communicate their association with the team in an outward way. However this
is a short-lived connection and the demonstration of associated motives is not so easily directed at other fans because they
are dispersed, and not easily identied (for example many do not wear team colors). Also, fans may choose to highlight their
connection to the game and the distinctiveness of their support, for example by wearing team clothing or purchasing season
tickets, as this adds credibility to their claim of being a highly identied supporter. However such actions do not
communicate anything particularly specic about the individual and the intensity of their relationship to the team. In
contrast, it appears from our research that social media afford fans the opportunity to express their connection to the
symbolically valued elements of the experience with a like-minded audience (including those that form part of the broader
imagined community) in a personal, particular and targeted way.
Our work also contributes to our understanding of fan motives in the social media context in other ways. Consumergenerated media are said to provide an honest source of information and engagement (Foux, 2006). We were able to
establish numerous examples of this in the social media context. There were many exchanges where fans expressed their
appreciation with the honesty of the comments they were receiving, or with the opportunity to engage with others who
they felt did not have a vested interest beyond wanting what was best for the team. This opportunity to engage with
other fans as an authentic voice on a range of team, player and sport related issues and identity related meanings, was
clearly important. The level of signicance given to the perceived authenticity of the dialog present on the medium is
consistent with Pronschinske et al.s (2012) nding that authenticity is an important attribute which encourages
participation on Facebook. It also further highlights just how critical it is for sports rms to enable fans to engage in this
way, even if it is simply by providing a forum to facilitate interaction motivated by passion, hope, esteem and
camaraderie.
Our research also contributes to the literature by highlighting the importance of studying interactions (Ramani & Kumar,
2008). Often fan management is discussed at a level of relationships (Buhler & Nufer, 2009), however these relationships are
made up of a series of interactions, particularly in the context of social media where numerous, ongoing interactions form the
basis for exercising motives and determining value. Understanding interactions as expressions of motives also provides a
platform to manage value. Clearly, and as identied in the managerial implications section that follows, the potential to cocreate value with fans on social media will be heavily inuenced by the rms ability to target these motives (and
interactions) in a precise and meaningful way.
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4.3. Managerial implications

Effective management of social media by rms involves providing relevant content that consumers can interact with
to co-create value (Kasavanam et al., 2010). In sport this content should enable fans to exercise primary motives
such as hope, passion, esteem, and camaraderie, as these motives are particularly relevant in the social media context.
With this in mind, these motives provide a number of pertinent implications for sport managers as they form the basis
for strategies which can stimulate the shared meanings and experiences that underpin the very fabric of such
communities.
Firstly, fans seek an opportunity to support or cheer for their team and proclaim their passion. Social media facilitate a
community outside of the stadium that can be readily accessed by sport managers, with the potential for opinion leaders to
be identied and relationships to be nurtured. Facebook in particular, given its large mobile footprint, is an ideal medium for
building relationships as users generally are cognizant of its functionality and are already connected to a network of friends.
Sport managers can assess these networks and identify potential opinion leaders (for example those with numerous active
friends or followers) to be targeted for relationship building and to stimulate interaction. As passion tends to be an
infectious behavior as this study demonstrated with numerous comments supporting the passionate comments of others
Facebook is ideally suited as an outlet for articulating this motive.
Secondly, fan expressions of hope allow an organization to monitor and potentially manage expectations. This data can
assist sport managers in establishing communication initiatives or programs that resonate with fans. As our ndings
indicate, Facebook allows sport managers an avenue to communicate key events, such as the signing of new players. This is
particularly important in the off-season where there are fewer opportunities for highly identied fans to access information
and interact with the team. Pronouncements of hope that follow such announcements can create momentum for the
upcoming season and are often responded to by fellow fans, allowing sport managers to swiftly gauge reaction. Similarly,
sport managers may incorporate forms of content (such as video clips and live chats) that go beyond simple news items to
engender positive responses that motivate hope in a managed context.
Thirdly, fans seek interaction to express their specialist knowledge, frustration and expectations in relation to team
management and tactics. Recognizing these motives can provide organizations with an opportunity to engage with fans
and as a result co-create added value to the fan experience. As ubiquitous as Facebook has become, fans still have to
choose to interact through this medium. When they do so in a considered way, it is imperative that sport managers
listen. Whilst the earlier motivations of passion and hope may be expressed simply and briey, a fan who seeks to
share their knowledge, frustration or expectations is more likely to be seeking a response from the organization and/or
fellow fans. These posts provide an opportunity for sport managers to address any fan concerns or questions directly as
well as to engage fans with activities that can strengthen their identication (such as interactive events). Previous
research has identied the importance of these micro-dialogues that can be facilitated through online media and
allow for free owing conversations between organizations and highly engaged audiences (Fieseler, Fleck, & Meckel,
2010, p. 610).
Finally, fans interact on a community level, sharing a spirit of camaraderie that reinforces their identication with the
team. In general, relationship-building opportunities are afforded to those organizations that proactively interact with the
fan community, using the platform not just to convey marketing messages but to engage with such displays of fan
identication (Gwinner & Swanson, 2003). Sport managers need to recognize the motivations of fans and actively facilitate
meaningful interactions to maximize the level of response and depth of engagement with the team. The opportunity to build
identication and facilitate interaction away from the sporting arena is a powerful benet of social media usage in sport.
Group afliation motivations have long been understood in the sporting context, however social media open up exciting new
dimensions where geographic boundaries are less problematic and may even prove advantageous in allowing a sport
manager to readily segment relational activities. An NBA team could for example use social media to reach geographically
distant fans and build enthusiasm for a tour of Europe. Understanding the camaraderie motivation also makes it possible for
sport managers to more readily build brand personalities for the team thereby seeking differentiation in the marketplace.
For example, a team which positions itself as community-orientated could reinforce this with a Facebook strategy geared
toward maximizing this ambition.
Greater insight into fan motives, and the make-up of such motives, also may be especially valuable for larger teams, as
they appeared less able or willing to engage fans in targeted ways via Facebook. For the more popular teams, the online
relationship can be challenging given the noise created. However, the decision to limit the ability of fans to initiate
comment, must be undertaken with a degree of caution as it can result in frustration, limited interaction and potentially the
emergence of unofcial sites. Whilst the large volume of posts may be a key reason for this organizational reluctance to
engage with fans, our research highlights the opportunity for interactions that are theme based and highly purposeful, which
may also make them more manageable.
4.4. Limitations and future research
As with all research, this work has its caveats. In particular, we are not suggesting that the ndings allow for
generalization across contexts. In this regard further quantitative work needs to be undertaken. However it is worth pointing
out that the motives revealed are fundamental in nature and their relevance to the social media context also appears
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13
intuitive. It also is important to recognize that this study was undertaken during a two-week off-season period of a single
North American sport using a selected range of teams. Given this timing, additional categories of motivation may emerge
during the season. In addition, different sports may engender other forms of motivation as might different social media
platforms. We have also assumed that participation on a teams social media site, given the off-season timing, was
undertaken by fans of the team.
As noted, the categories of fan motivation in a social media context developed in this study can be explored in the context
of other teams, sports, leagues and countries to determine their generalizability. Given its rich and multi-faceted nature,
much can be learnt by exploring the incidence and nature of hope in a fan engagement context. Further research also could
compare fan interaction during the season with the off-season to examine whether the nature of their engagement and
willingness to participate in relationship-building activities varies. Further, alternative social media platforms could be
explored, in particular those which are not initiated or controlled by the sport team.
Another important research opportunity emerging from our work involves carrying out comprehensive qualitative
research that focuses on identifying the core components (or sub-categories) of these larger motives, for example the notion
of group afliation as identied initially by Wann (1995). This would involve populating and prioritizing their key
component parts and examining how they singularly and collectively help provide a fuller explanation of the larger
construct. More generally speaking, there is also scope for further research given that study into social network sites and
their use in relationship marketing is in its early stages. A netnographic approach would be well placed to provide textually
deep and relevant insights and we encourage the further use of this method as a qualitative technique well suited to
capturing the environment and consumption aspects of sports fans lives.
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