Symbiotic Relationship Between Sport Media Consumption and Spectatorship: The Role of Flow Experience and Hedonic Need Fulfillment

When it comes to the relationship between sport media consumption (SMC) and sporting event attendance, two contradicting notions have been dominant: symbiosis vs. competition. With a focus on consumers’ hedonic need fulfillment and the psychological concept of flow experience, the current study examined whether SMC stimulates spectatorship (symbiotic relationship). Specifically, we aimed to examine the impact of a personal factor (team identification) and a situational factor (perceived team performance) on flow experience and how the flow experience drives attendance intention through hedonic need fulfillment. Data on 386 sport media consumers who watched a 2014 World Cup match on television were collected and analyzed for the study. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that both team identification and perceived team performance positively influenced flow experience, which in turn significantly influenced future spectatorship intention through hedonic need fulfillment. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.