| Studying the psychological connection of existing sport participants is essential for understanding their continued sport involvement. Among several frameworks related to psychological connection (e.g., sport commitment and loyalty), the Psychological Continuum Model (PCM; Funk, 2008), which can segment sport consumers into four psychographic levels (i.e., awareness, attraction, attachment, and allegiance), has provided valuable information through its hierarchical and staging mechanism for both academicians and practitioners. However, the primary challenge of the PCM framework is to identify the differences of each level by testing the framework within various sport contexts.;This study used a multi-level construct framework including the PCM, motivation, the hierarchical model of leisure constraints, and behavioral involvement with active sport participants to provide a better understanding of the sport participation involvement process, especially continued participation. Thus, the purpose of this study was fourfold: first, to identify the level of psychological connection (i.e., awareness, attraction, attachment, and allegiance) of active participants; second, to identify the relationship between the level of psychological connection and behavioral involvement; third, to identify the relationship between the level of psychological connection and motives; and fourth, to identify the relationship between the level of psychological connection and constraints.;Subjects were Korean recreational golfers who had played at 18-hole golf courses. Sampling methods employed strategies quota, judgmental, and convenience strategies. The surveys were collected from December 8th to 11th, 2011, at six outdoor driving ranges in six Korean metropolitan cities. A total of 1,000 surveys were distributed and the total number of returned surveys was 834 (83.4% response rate). Through the four steps of data cleaning process a total of 120 cases were removed from the 834 returned surveys. For data analyses, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) were conducted to examine the research questions.;Normality, validity, and reliability of the three constructs (i.e., PCM, Motivation, and Constraints) were acceptable. A total of 714 participants were classified into four levels: awareness (n = 51), attraction (n = 133), attachment (n = 357), and allegiance (n = 173). There were significant differences in the degree of behavioral involvement (i.e., the total months of golf played, average golf score for 18 holes, and the number of golf rounds played per year) among the four levels. MDA revealed different characteristics for each PCM level based on motives and constraints to sport participation.;Findings contributed to the theories related to continued participation in sport and leisure and provided empirical evidence for the PCM framework. Also, this study provided practical implications to the practitioners to maximize the use of target marketing strategies designed to meet different needs and wants of sport participants. |
