The Influence of Superstars on Organizational Identification of External Stakeholders: Empirical Findings from Professional Soccer

This paper examines the effect of superstars on external stakeholdersâ€™ organizational identification through the lens of sport. Drawing on social identity theory and the concept of organizational identification, as well as on role model theories and superstar economics, we develop several hypotheses regarding the influence of soccer stars on their fansâ€™ degree of team identification. Using a proprietary dataset including archival data on professional German soccer players and clubs as well as survey data of more than 1,400 soccer fans, we find evidence for a positive effect of superstar characteristics and role model perception. We further find that players who measure up to the definition of a superstar are more important to fans of established teams than to fans of unsuccessful teams. The playerâ€™s club tenure, however, seems to have no influence on fansâ€™ team identification. We argue that the effect of soccer stars on their fans is comparable to that of CEOs on their organizationsâ€™ external stakeholders and consequently apply our results to the business domain. Our results contribute to organizational identification research by extending the list of determinants related to individual persons.

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abstract: The current study tested three predictions generated from Wann's (2004) Team Identification--(Social) Psychological Health Model. Specifically, it was hypothesized that social well-being would be a) positively related to identification with a local sport team, b) not related to identification with a distant team, and c) not related to mere sport fandom. The current investigation expanded on previous research by assessing social well-being through participants' satisfaction with their social life (and their collective self-esteem) and by using regression analyses simultaneously examining the impact of the three predictor variables on social psychological health. Results from 155 university students confirmed expectations and substantiated Wann's model. Discussion includes suggestions for future research. Sport team identification concerns the extent to which a fan feels a psychological connection to a team or player (see Wann, Melnick, Russell, & Pease, 2001). In recent years, Wann and his associates have presented evidence that level of identification with a local team is positively related to psychological health. For instance, Branscombe and Wann (1991) found a positive relationship between identification and personal self-esteem (i.e., one's critical evaluations of his or her personal characteristics) and the frequency of experiencing positive emotions while identification was negatively correlated with depression, alienation, and frequency of experiencing negative emotions. Wann (1994) extended these findings by demonstrating that identification was positively correlated with collective (i.e., social) self-esteem (i.e., one's critical evaluations of his or her groups). Additional findings are reported by Wann, Inman, Ensor, Gates, and Caldwell (1999) and Wann, Dunham, Byrd, and Keenan (2004). Wann et al. (1999) found that identification was positively correlated with self-esteem and vigor (i.e., energy) and negatively related to fatigue, anger, tension, confusion, and depression. Wann et al. (2004) examined the relationship between team identification and well-being through scores on the NEO PI-R questionnaire (Costa & MaCrae, 1992). They found that identification with a local team was positively related to extroversion, openness, and conscientiousness, a pattern consistent with psychological health. This body of literature led Wann (2004) to develop the Team Identification--Psychological Health Model. This model offers three predictions. First, psychological well-being is predicted to be positively related to identification with a local sport team. This prediction, supported by the aforementioned literature, is based on the notion that identifying with a local team will result in valued social relationships and a sense of connectedness with society. Certainly, it is well-established that social connections via group memberships are important for well-being (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Hogg & Abrams, 1990; Mael & Ashforth, 2001) and sport fandom may serve as one such group (Melnick, 1993; Smith, 1988, 1989). The second prediction derived from the model is that identification with a distant team will not result in well-being benefits because they do not readily result in connections with others. Third, mere sport fandom will not be related to psychological health because this will also fail to result in meaningful relationships. Similar to prediction 1, these latter two hypotheses have strong empirical support (e.g., Wann et al., 2004; Wann et al., 1999). Wann, Dimmock, and Grove (in press) were able to extend the generalizability of the Team Identification--Psychological Health Model by examining fans from a different culture (i.e., non North American). In this research investigating the well-being of Australian sport fans, support was found for each of the three predictions. However, Wann and his associates concluded that, consistent with previous work (e.g., Wann et al., 2004) identification with a local sport team appears to be more strongly related to social aspects of well-being (such as loneliness) than personal components of psychological health (such as stress). …

title: The Relationship between Team Identification and Willingness of Sport Fans to Consider Illegally Assisting Their Team
abstract: Previous researchers have indicated that a sizeable minority of sport fans admit a willingness to anonymously injure a star player or coach of a rival team. Highly identified fans were particularly likely to consider these acts. In the current investigation we aimed to extend the previous work by examining the frequency with which individuals would consider, under the protection of anonymity, engaging in antisocial acts of cheating that are either illegal or violate societal norms. A sizeable minority of the college student sample admitted a willingness to consider a number of such acts and, as hypothesized, there was a significant positive correlation between team identification and reports of willingness.

title: Social identity effects in a belief–attitude–intentions hierarchy: Implications for corporate sponsorship
abstract: Companies have increasingly turned to sponsorship as a marketing communications vehicle in the hopes that the goodwill that consumers feel toward an event, cause, or sports team will rub off on their brands. The current study tests a beliefs–attitude–intentions hierarchy in the context of the corporate sponsorship of a major university's sports teams. The direct and indirect effects of social identity with the university's teams (i.e., team identification) on intentions to purchase products from a corporate sponsor are also considered. A random-digit dialing methodology was used to collect data from 368 individuals. In general, the results supported the hypotheses. Of special interest was team identification's ability to moderate the effect of attitude on purchase intentions. As predicted, attitude toward purchasing a sponsor's products was more highly related to purchase intentions for low identifiers than for high identifiers. Specifically, among those with an unfavorable attitude, high identifiers had significantly more positive intentions to purchase than did low identifiers. For high identifiers, it appears that team identification acts as a heuristic that favorably predisposes them to want to buy products from a sponsor in spite of their evaluation of that action. Marketing implications are discussed.

title: Perceived external prestige and internal respect: New insights into the organizational identification process
abstract: The group engagement model (Tyler & Blader, 2003) suggests that identification with one's organization is based not only on the individual's evaluation of the status of the organization (i.e. perceived external prestige), but also the individual's evaluation of their own status within the organization (i.e. perceived internal respect). Using data drawn from three different sources (subordinates, supervisors, and company records), results from a sample of healthcare employees (n = 205) provide support for the core relationships proposed in the group engagement model and extend the model by showing that prestige and respect have different antecedents. The perceived status of the organization's employees, the organization's perceived success in achieving its goals, the visibility of the organization, and the status level of the individual employee were all associated with perceived external prestige. The results also indicate that visibility within the organization, perceived opportunities for growth, and participation in decision-making were all related to perceived respect. Further, prestige and respect were directly related to organizational identification, but only indirectly related to organization-supportive behavior. These results extend the group engagement model in that we utilize a form of supportive behavior that focuses upon constructive change (i.e. voice behavior; Van Dyne & LePine, 1998), rather than the helpful, but status quo maintaining behavior.

title: An Identification and Examination of Influences That Shape the Creation of a Professional Team Fan
abstract: Team Loyalty, Fan Socialization, Team Fans, Professional Football, Sport Fans Executive Summary Sport organizations recognize the importance of a strong fan base, yet little research has been done to help organizations understand how to build and maintain such a group of fans. There is ample evidence that people are readily able to form deep attachments to sports teams. A body of research has examined the level of attachment (i.e. identification) that fans have with a team (Branscombe and Wann, 1991, Wann and Branscombe, 1993, 1995; Wann and Dolan, 1994), and also the relationship between level of identification with a team and different types of fan responses. Fans' emotions, perceptions of influence on team performance and game outcomes, objective knowledge and subjective beliefs about their team, and enjoyment of sports events have all been related to identification levels among United States collegiate sport fans (e.g. Murrell and Dietz, 1992; Wann and Branscombe, 1995; Wann, Dolan, McGeorge and Allison, 1994). The small amount of work that has been done on building and maintaining a fall base has focused primarily on maintenance issues. Sutton, McDonald, Milne and Cimperman (1997) suggested that a sport franchise could foster fan relationships by having a successful team and a good organizational reputation, creating some connection with the community, and by providing as many consumption opportunities as possible for people. Mahony, Madrigal and Howard (1999) found that loyalty to professional teams in the National Football League (NFL) in the United States could be largely determined by knowing a fan's specific personality characteristic. To date, however, research has not adequately examined what factors incipiently influence a person to become a team fan. Knowing what influences people to become team fans is important because these factors are the corner stones for creating, building, and maintaining a base of loyal team fans. The current study was designed to explore a/Id identify: (1) when in their life span individuals became team fans; and (2) what people and things affect this process. A survey was conducted with long-term season ticket holders (N = 518) of a professional National Football League (NFL) team in the United States to address these issues. The results suggested that fathers were very influential in shaping team preferences, particularly among those who became fans in their preteen years and, to a somewhat lesser extent, among adolescents. The majority of respondents stated that they had become a team fan prior to age 15. Players and coaches of the team wee important influences for those who became fails as adolescents or adults. The emotional hometown connection fans made between the city in which the team plays and the team itself was influential in shaping team loyalty. Attending and experiencing the excitement of games was also a catalyst for becoming a team fan. Respondents valued being part of a "community" of fans (i.e. a group of people sharing a common bond -- the team). Sports marketers who wish to build the next generation of fans need to create opportunities for fathers to spend time with their children at team-related activities. Developing and promoting linkages between a team and the city in which the team is located has value in building team loyalty as well. Such linkages help fans attribute positive characteristics to both the team and city, thereby reinforcing strong feelings held about each entity. The community of fans concept can be used to build linkages to the teams. One means for creating esprit de corps among fans is to use e-mail and other team-sponsored Internet forums to encourage fans to discuss among themselves their feelings about the team. Team personnel can monitor this information to identify trends and other issues important to team fans. An Identification and Examination of Influences That Shape the Creation of a Professional Team Fan While we often speak of the interest in sports among the collective population, it is the individual fan who invests her/his time, money and self in sports. …

title: The Assessment: The Economics of Sport
abstract: The study of sports economics has expanded rapidly in recent years in response to significantly increased demand--for sport itself, for economic analysis relevant to commercial litigation in sport, for lively teaching material in schools and universities, and for research into the incentive properties of sporting contests. While much of the literature has focused on the issue of competitive balance and how to achieve it, there have still been relatively few studies that apply the lessons of the economic theory of contests to the analysis of sports. There remain huge opportunities both to develop our theoretical understanding of incentive mechanisms in sport and to conduct empirical research in the operation of incentives in sporting contests.

title: I Would Like to be Like Her/Him: Are Athletes Role-Models for Boys and Girls?
abstract: The first part of this contribution deals with theoretical considerations of the meaning of role-models and idols in general and for young people in particular. Then the results of existing studies are discussed. As research shows, the huge majority of idols, especially of sport heroes, are men, and it is boys who admire sport stars. In the second part of the article a pilot study is presented in which we asked female and male pupils about their role-models. A high percentage of boys named sporting heroes or ‘action stars’ whom they admired because of their strength, aggression and their ability to get things done. In contrast, for the girls interviewed, sport stars did not have the function of role-models. They admired the stars and starlets of the movie and music scene. At the end, the potential effects of these orientations are discussed, and the question is asked what kind of answers pedagogy can offer.

title: Do role models influence teenagers’ purchase intentions and behavior?
abstract: Attempts to determine which individual, or group of individuals, has the strongest influence on adolescent consumer purchase intentions and purchase behavior. By introducing the concepts of direct (fathers and mothers) and vicarious (favorite entertainers and favorite athletes) role models into the consumer behavior literature, the study allows greater understanding of the socialization patterns of young adult consumers. Results from this study provide significant contributions for marketing and advertising managers seeking to improve their understanding of the ever‐growing adolescent consumer market.

title: Sports Celebrity Influence On The Behavioral Intentions Of Generation Y
abstract: Teenagers currently spend an estimated $153 billion a year on everything from computers to cars to clothes (Brand, 2000). Trend conscious teens are very active in utilizing the media and advertising in seeking out the latest products, services, and fashions (Zollo, 1995). A greater understanding of teens' role model influences can help organizations and their advertising agencies more effectively target and communicate to this growing market. In this study, we examine the effect of athlete role models on teenagers' purchase intentions and behaviors. Results from a survey of 218 adolescents are discussed with implications and future research directions for advertising and sports marketing researchers.

title: The Effect of Role Model Influence on Adolescents’ Materialism and Marketplace Knowledge
abstract: The goal of the present research was to analyze the consumer socialization process of adolescents, utilizing social learning theory as a conceptual guide to understand how role models influence adolescents’ materialism and marketplace knowledge. A convenience sample of 175 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18 were surveyed in a major metropolitan area. Direct role models included in this study were mothers, fathers and teachers. Vicarious role models included athletes and entertainers. Results at the .05 level of significance show that materialism and marketplace knowledge are associated with members of both direct and vicarious role model groups. Specifically for materialism, athletes and fathers were found to have the greatest impact. Teachers and athlete role models were found to have the greatest impact on adolescents’ marketplace knowledge. Implications from the empirical analysis of these proposed relationships are provided for marketing managers and practitioners.

title: Superstars and me: predicting the impact of role models on the self
abstract: Why do superstars exist? Talent, fame and power. An economic theory behind the superstars' phenomenon. Hypothesis development. Overview through the most popular sports in the world.

title: Villains, fools or heroes? Sports stars as role models for young people
abstract: Sporting texts are designed to prioritize, personalize and sensationalize characters in an attempt to capture audience attention. The sporting hero has traditionally been perceived of as epitomizing social ideals and masculine virtues, and as embodying values that learnt on the playing fields will readily transfer into everyday life. However, growing media intrusion signifies the contemporary sports star as a ‘damaged hero’ – the male sports celebrity exemplifying contemporary laddishness, drunken exploits, wife and girlfriend beatings and gay relationships, all of which influence the image of the modern day sports hero. In contrast, female sport stars are well documented as marginalized, trivialized and objectified, to the extent which sports heroines are both invisible and questionable as role models for young girls. This article discusses ways in which sport stars are constructed as role models for young people. It cites instancing examples from the sports calendar of the ‘summer of sport’ 1996, in its discussion of the media construction of sports stars as villains, fools or heroes. It identifies the gender differentiated readings of sports stars as heroes and heroines and concludes that the ways in which media critics accord hero and role model status does not necessarily reflect the opinions of young people.

title: Superstars in the National Basketball Association: Economic Value and Policy
abstract: An econometric analysis demonstrates that television ratings for NBA games are substantially higher when certain players (“superstars”) are involved. Thus, these superstars are quite important for generating revenue, not only for their own teams but for other teams as well. Using the econometric analysis and additional information on attendance and paraphernalia sales, we estimate the value of Michael Jordan to the other NBA teams to be approximately $53 million. The positive externality superstars have on other teams can lead to an inefficient distribution of player talent. We examine several league policies that might be used to address the externality.

title: Linking sports sponsorship with purchase intentions: Team performance, stars, and the moderating role of team identification
abstract: It is common for companies to sponsor sports teams. The aim of this paper is to examine experimentally the impact of two team attributes (team performance and the presence of a star in the team) on consumers' intention to purchase the sponsor's product. The moderating role of team identification on the relationship between these two team attributes and intention to purchase is also to be studied. An experiment was conducted in Hong Kong. A series of hypotheses relating to team performance, presence of stars in the team, and team identification were tested. Team performance significantly influenced consumers' intention to purchase the sponsor's product, and this influence was more pronounced for casual than for avid fans and more pronounced when the team contained a star. A winning team with a star generated the strongest purchase intention. A losing team with a star produced the lowest purchase intention. The trade‐off bet...

title: Who Is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of the Endorsement Process
abstract: This article offers a new approach to celebrity endorsement. Previous explanations, especially the source credibility and source attractiveness models are criticized, and an alternative meaning transfer model is proposed. According to this model, celebrities' effectiveness as endorsers stems from the cultural meanings with which they are endowed. The model shows how meanings pass from celebrity to product and from product to consumer. The implications of this model for our understanding of the consumer society are considered. Research avenues suggested by the model are also discussed.

title: Organizational identification: A meta-analysis
abstract: The last two decades have witnessed a surge in interest in research on organizational identification (OI). This paper presents a comprehensive meta-analysis of this research ( k  = 96). Results indicate that (a) OI is correlated with a wide range of work-related attitudes, behaviors, and context variables, (b) OI is empirically distinct from its closest conceptual neighbor, attitudinal organizational commitment (AOC), and (c) the two most common OI measures (the Mael scale and the Organizational Identification Questionnaire) produce very different results. It is argued that OI scales, especially the Mael scale, may be preferable over AOC scales for studies aimed at explaining, and partly also for studies aimed at predicting, work behavior.

title: The sales manager as a Role model: Effects on trust, job satisfaction, and performance of salespeople
abstract: This study develops a conceptual framework that relates role-modeling behavior of sales managers to a set of key outcome variables and assesses the validity of the framework using a cross-sectional sample of salespeople and sales managers drawn from a variety of business-to-business sales organizations. Findings indicate that salespeople’s perceptions of their managers’ role-modeling behavior relate positively to trust in the sales manager and relate indirectly, through trust, to both job satisfaction and overall performance of salespeople. The study provides empirical validity for practitioner suggestions that sales managers should lead by example, and thus should provide a model of the behavior managers desire their salespeople to enact.

title: Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies.
abstract: Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.

title: A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs
abstract: A critical element in the evolution of a fundamental body of knowledge in marketing, as well as for improved marketing practice, is the development of better measures of the variables with which ma...

title: The Labour Market in Association Football: Who Gets Transferred and For How Much?
abstract: This paper employs data for the 1993-94 season to estimate a hedonic equation representing the determination of the price structure in the transfer market for professional players in the English football leagues. Player transfer proneness is modelled, and the Heckman two-step procedure is employed to take account of selection bias. The paper identifies those player attributes which affect either the probability of transfer or the transfer fee and evaluates the relative influence of such variables.

title: The determination of player transfer fees in English professional soccer
abstract: Unlike most major U.S. sport teams, it is common for professional soccer clubs around the world to trade players for cash. This article develops a model of the player-transfer market in soccer in which observed transfer fees are determined by player characteristics, selling-club characteristics, buying-club characteristics, and time effects. The model is based on data on 1,350 transfer fees in English professional soccer from June 1990 to August 1996. The estimated model is used to investigate the rate of inflation in transfer fees. In addition, the determination of transfer fees is considered within different segments of the transfer market. It is found that the determination of transfer fees differs markedly among segments.

title: The determination of transfer fees in English nonleague football
abstract: In recent years a number of studies have analysed the player transfer market in English professional football. This paper examines whether similar factors operate to determine transfer fees in the semiprofessional, or nonleague, game. An empirical model of the nonleague player transfer market is developed in which observed transfer fees are determined by player characteristics, time effects, selling-club characteristics and buying-club characteristics. Using data on 114 transfer fees covering the period 1988 to 1997, we find evidence that the data generating process for transfer fees is broadly similar in both professional and nonleague football.

title: Local Heroes and Superstars
abstract: Recent studies of the demand for sports clearly indicate that stars play an important role in promoting fan interest. However, on theoretical grounds it is controversial if a star's talent superiority and/or a star's popularity drive match attendance and hence increase gate revenues. Using longitudinal match attendance data of all clubs in the first German soccer league in a 9-year period, the authors analyze star attraction of national superstars and of so-called ``local heroes'' defined as the most valued players of teams without national superstars. The authors find empirical evidence that these groups differ in the way they attract fans: whereas superstars enhance attendance both at home and on the road, the star attraction of local heroes is limited to home games. In addition, superstars attract fans by outstanding field performances, whereas local heroes facilitate fan support by mere popularity.

title: Multiple Regression: A Primer

title: A Stakeholder Approach to Organizational Identity
abstract: We develop a model of organizational identity construction that reframes organizational identity within the broader context of manager-stakeholder relationships and more effectively integrates theory on organizational identity and organizational identification. We describe organizational identity as emerging from complex, dynamic, and reciprocal interactions among managers, organizational members, and other stakeholders. The model draws attention to organizational identity as negotiated cognitive images and to the embeddedness of organizational identity within different systems of organizational membership and meaning. Viewing organizational identity from the perspective of manager-stakeholder relationships provides a more parsimonious but more complete theory of organizational identity management.

title: EXECUTIVE SUCCESSION: ORGANIZATIONAL ANTECEDENTS OF CEO CHARACTERISTICS
abstract: Based on 195 succession events in Business Week 1000 firms, this study examines the organizational antecedents of CEO demographic characteristics. Study findings suggest that antecedent conditions of lower firm profits and firm growth are associated with the selection of outsider CEOs. Additionally, R&D intensity is associated with the selection of CEOs having technical functional backgrounds and higher levels of education.

title: CEO SUCCESSION AND STOCKHOLDER REACTION: THE INFLUENCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT AND EVENT CONTENT
abstract: In this article, we construe chief executive officer (CEO) succession events as instances of organizational change. Predictions of positive, negative, or inconsequential outcomes of succession events are contingent on two features of organizational context-presuccession organizational performance and organizational size-and three elements of the content of a succession event: the force initiating the change in CEO, the predecessor's disposition, and the origin of the new CEO. We found that poor presuccession performance was associated with boardinitiation and predecessor departure. Stockholder reactions were positive when presuccession performance was poor and either boards or, to a lesser extent, CEOs initiated successions. Successions that occurred when performance had been good resulted in negative consequences, as did those caused by CEO disability. However, most successions studied were customary retirements associated with no significant stockholder reaction. CEO succession events are of central concern in organization theory. They are universal-if organizations survive long enough, they must experience succession-and they have provided a means for assessing the efficacy of leaders in shaping organizational fortunes by demarcating eras of stewardship. After some decades of research, however, scholars have not reached consensus on the general question of whether leaders make a difference. Instead, the literature on succession has led to a focus on specifying conditions under which it is more or less possible for individuals newly placed in the seat of legitimate authority to influence important organizational outcomes. Under certain circumstances, new CEOs can have palpable effects on

title: On making causal claims: A review and recommendations
abstract: Social scientists often estimate models from correlational data, where the independent variable has not been exogenously manipulated; they also make implicit or explicit causal claims based on these models. When can these claims be made? We answer this question by first discussing design and estimation conditions under which model estimates can be interpreted, using the randomized experiment as the gold standard. We show how endogeneity – which includes omitted variables, omitted selection, simultaneity, common-method variance, and measurement error – renders estimates causally uninterpretable. Second, we present methods that allow researchers to test causal claims in situations where randomization is not possible or when causal interpretation could be confounded; these methods include fixed-effects panel, sample selection, instrumental variable, regression discontinuity, and difference-in-differences models. Third, we take stock of the methodological rigor with which causal claims are being made in a social sciences discipline by reviewing a representative sample of 110 articles on leadership published in the previous 10 years in top-tier journals. Our key finding is that researchers fail to address at least 66% and up to 90% of design and estimation conditions that make causal claims invalid. We conclude by offering 10 suggestions on how to improve non-experimental research.