Creating Value Through Membership and Participation in Sport Fan Consumption Communities

Creating Value Through Membership and Participation in Sport Fan Consumption Communities

David P. Hedlund, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Sport Management
St. John’s University

ABSTRACT

While marketers increasingly acknowledge the critical role of developing long-term strategies that enhance the value of the organization, collaborative and co-creation service and marketing activities are gaining importance. As organizations shift their focus from creating value for consumers to creating value with consumers, collaboration between organizations and consumers is increasing. At sporting events, sport personnel (e.g., managers, coaches, players, and event staff) collaborate with sport consumers to create the event experience (Woratschek, Horbel, & Popp, 2014). Sport consumers, however, rarely attend sporting events alone (Crawford, 2004). Instead, sport consumers join and participate in networks of like-minded fans and engage in collaborative consumption activities. While sport marketers recognize the importance of collaborative consumption, their understanding of the process is not yet well-developed (Woratschek et al., 2014).