THE ROLE OF ATHLETICS SPORTS STARS ON FANS' BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS: A CASE STUDY OF ATHLETICS ATHLETES

Paper ID : 1462-SPORTCONGRESS

Authors

Siavash Khodaparast *, Mohsen Nazari Shahidani IAURASHT

Abstract

Introduction: Sports stars often transcend athletic performance to become significant cultural figures, profoundly influencing the behavioral characteristics of their fans. This influence stems from factors like fan identification, emotional attachment, and the perception of athletes as role models. While extensive research exists on fan behavior in team sports, the specific impact of athletics (track and field) stars remains relatively under-explored. This review synthesizes existing literature on the role of sports stars across various sports to understand their potential influence on fans' citizenship, emotional, consumptive, normative, and deviant behaviors within the context of athletics. Methods: : This research is a systematic literature review of 14 key articles, using thematic synthesis to examine the antecedents and consequences of sports stars' influence on various dimensions of fan behavior (such as emotional, consumptive, and deviant behaviors). Results: The synthesized literature indicates that sports stars significantly shape fan behavior primarily through fostering strong fan identification. Key antecedents to identification include the athlete's brand image (particularly athletic performance and marketable lifestyle) and the fulfillment of fans' dispositional needs, such as the need for affiliation. High levels of fan identification strongly correlate with positive behavioral outcomes, including increased citizenship behavior, heightened emotional responses and attachment, greater consumptive behavior (e.g., merchandise purchase, attendance), adherence to normative behavior, and decreased deviant behavior. Media, especially social media, significantly amplifies these influences. Conclusion: Findings indicate that sports stars play a pivotal role in shaping fan behavior through mechanisms like fan identification and role modeling. Although most research focuses on team sports, the identified principles (like brand image, performance, and media influence) are highly relevant to individual sports (like athletics). Therefore, cultivating a positive image and strengthening fan identification are key strategies for stars and sports organizations aiming to enhance loyalty and effectively manage fan behavior.

Keywords

Keywords: Athletics, Sports Stars, Fan Behavior, Fan Identification, Role Models

Status: Abstract Accepted (Poster Presentation)