Understanding Sport Consumption - Case Study Example

I. Context and Problem/ Opportunity A great deal of empirical research supports the assumption regarding the impact of superstition on consumer behaviour. Superstitions have been existent for centuries. There are several superstitious beliefs that are entrenched within our psychological and behavioural framework, and these particular superstitions greatly affect patterns of human consumption. Sport consumers, specifically, are heavily influenced by these superstitious beliefs. A number of sports consumers have pre-game habits such as wearing a lucky dirty shirt, eating a particular food, or wearing a ‘rally cap.’ Hence, one key principle that should be considered by marketers is that every individual has unique perceptions, beliefs and values. In sport marketing, individual as well as group superstitions pose a great challenge in the areas of sport product promotion, pricing strategies, the location of the sport facility, and the sport promotion mix. Funk and associates (2000) examined the link between psychology and sport marketing. Probing into the literature of social psychology, they established that an understanding of the power of attitude allowed the sport manager to become aware of such issues as fan loyalty. They then proposed a model for examining attitudes that facilitated a better understanding of fan loyalty to specific sport teams. Undeniably, specific factors are relevant to the decision-making processes of consumers, and the application of such provides a paradigm for understanding the effect of superstitious beliefs on the attitudes of sport consumers and its implication in sports marketing. The social feature, such as irrational beliefs, has long been considered as a significant component of the decision-making process of consumers. The study of Armstrong (2001) on the involvement of black women in sport and its repercussions for sport marketing speculated that, as a normal development from the recognition of women as potential sport consumers, cultural consumers who have different beliefs and values must be the core of improved awareness. McCarthy (1998) had studied sport marketing in the Hispanic population, but the investigation of Armstrong was exceptional as she divided it along gender and cultural affinity. Armstrong (2001, 18) assumed that “marketing strategies designed for the mainstream market may not be effective in reaching ethnically diverse sections of the population.” Questionably, in a society as culturally diverse as Australia it is just practical to search for marketing strategies for ethnically diverse populations. This argument is pertinent to the issue of superstition as a primary determinant of sport consumption. Culturally diverse societies are more likely burdened by superstitious beliefs than homogeneous ones, hence sport marketing confronts a bigger challenge in countries such as Australia. It is difficult to understand the sport consumer. The sport marketer has to understand not only the obvious factors affecting consumer behaviour but also those that are not easily discernable such as superstitious beliefs that influence consumer decision-making. While understanding the intricacy of the decision-making process of the sport consumer is one of the more difficult missions confronting the sport marketer, undoubtedly it has turn out to be an essential component of marketing management strategy. Even though it is not constantly possible to completely comprehend how this process transpires, diligent interest to the unique beliefs and values of particular consumers, along with an extensive knowledge of how decisions are made, will grant the sport marketer a concrete model within which marketing techniques can be enhanced. II. Theory/Model/Framework Stages in the decision-making process of sport consumers can be influenced by superstition. Beliefs play a part in building the framework from which the decision to buy or consume is reached. The figure below shows the key stages in the decision-making process (Shilbury & Quick, 2003, 44): Provided that sport consumption is not exclusive to any of the major steps, the possible starting point for a particular decision-making process is virtually unclear. Nevertheless, these six major steps characterise the key elements in the way the process of sport consumption takes place. The first step, problem recognition, is normally an outcome of the change in belief, which could be interpersonal or the outcome of mass communication; second, information search refers to the recollection of stored knowledge, such as superstitious beliefs, in the memory, or a pursuit for supplementary information; third, some information sources, such as irrational beliefs, are more influential than others, hence it is important for the sport marketer to find out which among the information sources are most influential; fourth, an evaluation of alternatives is performed in relation to a group of product selection standards, which could be of particular importance to a consumer’s beliefs; fifth, the decision to buy a specific product or service is characterised by choice which resulted from unexpected situations and intention; and the last is the post-purchase evaluation or outcome (Mullin et al., 2000). Identification of the process by which consumers make decisions to purchase a specific product or service does not essentially indicate that each stage in the process is consistently followed. Consumers who have superstitious beliefs in buying may allocate a large amount of time and effort to the process of reaching a decision, or may make an impulsive decision. III. Recommendations Since internal motivation, or the set of beliefs that a consumer embraces, is quite influential in sport consumption it is imperative for sport marketers to continuously innovate in terms of their product, pricing strategies, the location of the sport facility, and their sport promotion mix. An effective use of these components of the marketing mix in sport marketing could improve the satisfaction of consumer’s internal motivation. Thus, this section will present some recommendation that may help sport marketers in confronting challenges related to consumers’ beliefs. A. Sport Product It is strategically imperative to position the sport product in the marketplace as it fulfils an essential function in marketing strategy. Significantly, product success within a targeted market rests upon the effectiveness of the product positioning (Paley, 2006). The sport product, similar to other products, is greatly influenced by the beliefs, whether rational or irrational, and preferences of consumers. With this, the sport marketer could employ a perceptual map to identify positioning. The perceptual map is accomplished by asking sport consumers to grade specific product qualities that satisfy their beliefs. In much the same way as beliefs are evaluated, major qualities of the sport product are determined. In this strategy, problem recognition and information search will dominate in the decision-making process. The preference of a sport consumer may change because of change in personal beliefs, such as superstition, which could significantly affect the result of the perceptual map. Thus, the sport marketer should be vigilant with problem recognition. Likewise, the perceptual map will be dictated by the consumer’s ability to recall particular beliefs about a particular sport product. A perceptive sport marketer should realize that the sport product must be positioned within a broader competitive structure than merely sport, as the sport industry is also significantly affected by individual beliefs and values. It is also essential to remember that under normal situations the sport marketer would ask the sport consumer about the features applied in the perceptual map in order to ascertain the validity of the tool in identifying individual superstitious beliefs that affect sport consumption. B. Pricing Strategies If a sport marketer desires to be innovative, the pricing objective could be to scan the targeted market. The marketer could set a price reasonably high for a small sector of superstitious sport consumer to purchase its products. Once competitors bring in identical products, the sport marketer could reduce the price to sell to the sector below the previous consumers. The sport marketer should implement this strategy for it guarantees that the sport product will be purchased by those superstitious consumers who believe in ‘lucky charms.’ Non-price variables affect buying conditions and lessen the significance of price in the process of purchasing. Non-price variables involve an intangible belief about the product, such as that believed to possess luck, leading to an assume value (Funk et al., 2000). The decision to buy stage is then manifested in this process. Some sport consumers may be eager to buy expensive product just to satisfy their superstitious beliefs. For sport marketers, it is thus imperative to understand major product qualities so as to improve the assumed value and hence set a favourable price. In this strategy, it is important for sport marketers to take into account post-purchase outcome or evaluation of consumers. Through perceptual mapping, marketers can discern if the product attributes satisfied the superstitious beliefs of the consumers. C. Location of the Sport Facility Due to the fact that the sport product is commonly bought and consumed simultaneously, and normally demands direct human interaction, employees and consumers relate with one another within the physical facility of the organisation (Baker, 2000). Advisably, therefore, the context of the organisation should address the needs and beliefs of customers and employees concurrently. Even prior to the decision to purchase, consumers normally search for cues about the capacities and qualities of the organisation. The physical setting is abundant in such cues and could be quite helpful in communicating the image and value of the sport product to its consumers. The facility itself could have a significant effect on the satisfaction of the superstitious beliefs of the customer, and thus will play an essential role on identifying whether the customer will become loyal to the sporting organisation. The sport marketer should be aware that the functionality and spatial layout of the facility and the components associated to aesthetic presentation are all vital to the satisfaction of consumers’ beliefs. A sport marketer should follow or monitor the flow and behaviour of sport customers inside the facility and should determine various corners of the sport facility where customer and personnel interaction occurs. The accrual of these interactions adds to the general service satisfaction of the customer. Physical information and facility planning directly influence all evident activities. The layout of the facility identifies how convenient it is for sport customers to move about in their seats, especially for those who believe that transferring from one seat to another increases the likelihood of their sport team winning. Physical information such as posters not just informs customers about the right locations and the events taking place in the facility throughout their visit, but can also be utilised to publicise upcoming events; this information is important because some superstitious sport customers schedule their sport viewing because they believe that their presence in the sport venue will contribute to the outcome of the game. This particular decision-making process is under the information search and information source stages. D. Sport Promotion Mix In the face of irrational beliefs influencing consumer behaviour, marketers could adopt a controlled promotion technique. Marketers may position sport alternative to the conventional sports. The process will make use of the premium athletes and will radically change the tone of the game by generating stylistic modifications in the production and presentation of the game. In other words, the sport can be reconstructed as a television show to satisfy the superstitious beliefs of those home viewers about the role of time and location in the success of their favourite sport teams. Other promotion techniques could be adopted, live, on television, in printed media, and in supermarkets, that may result in increased sport consumption. Sport marketers could sell books, apparel, bags, and other sport products that have the capability to captivate the imaginations of sport customers. In this way, the promotional strategy would produce anticipation, fascination, and unrelenting entertainment that could rouse the tendencies of sport consumers to believe in superstitions. References Armstrong, K. (2001). 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