Development and validation of instruments for assessing sport spectator involvement and factors affecting sport spectator involvement (Korea)

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate two instruments to measure sport spectator involvement. One was developed to assess the level of sport spectator involvement. The other was developed to assess underlying factors affecting sport spectator involvement. After validating the questionnaires, the influential factors that affect sport spectator involvement were identified based on socio-demographics of the spectators.; For this research, 511 spectators from eight different games of the Korean Basketball League (KBL) and the Women's Korean Basketball League (WKBL) were used. The findings of this study were as follows. First, a questionnaire measuring the level of sport spectator involvement was developed and validated. It was titled Sport Spectator Involvement Scale (SSIS). The SSIS includes two factors with 19 items. Factor one with 12 items was labeled as behavioral involvement, whereas factor two with seven items was labeled as socio-psychological involvement. Second, a questionnaire measuring the factors affecting the level of sport spectator involvement was developed and validated. It was titled Factors influencing the level of Sport Spectator Involvement (FSSI). The FSSI includes three factors with 18 items. Factor one with nine items was labeled as perceived value, factor two with five items was labeled as involvement opportunity, and factor three with four items was labeled as fan identification.; Third, the level of sport spectator involvement was found to be different among spectators based upon gender, occupations, types of companion and previous season game attendance. Fourth, the factors influencing the level of sport spectator involvement were different among spectators with different occupations and previous season game attendance. By employing a stepwise multiple regression analysis, the most influential factor on the level of sport spectator involvement was identified. The spectators who showed high socio-psychological involvement with low behavior involvement identified involvement opportunity as the most influential factor. The most influential factor on the level of involvement for the spectators with high socio-psychological and high behavioral involvement was identified as perceived value. For the spectators who showed low socio-psychological and low behavioral involvement, fan identification was examined as the most influential factor on their level of involvement.