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When the future of Chinese soccer is at stake: Chinese youth’s attention, involvement and satisfaction

Tyreal Yizhou Qian (Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China)
Jerred Junqi Wang (Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA)
Winston Wen-hao Chou (Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA)
Euisoo Kim (Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA)
James J. Zhang (Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA)
Bo Gong (College of Physical Education and Training, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China)

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship

ISSN: 1464-6668

Article publication date: 6 February 2017

781

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Chinese youth’s attention to and involvement with Chinese soccer and its professional league, the Chinese Super League (CSL), on their level of satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey study was employed to test the hypotheses. Research participants (n=948) were students from five major universities that represented each of the five main geographic regions of China. Data were randomly assigned into two halves: one half for CFA (n=474) and the other half for structural equation modeling (SEM) (n=474). Mplus 7.0 was used to conduct both the CFA and SEM.

Findings

The findings of this study indicated an overall lack of attention to and involvement with Chinese soccer and CSL among Chinese youths. Discussions have been presented on the causes of the lack of youth passion for Chinese soccer and suggestions have been articulated to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of policy formulation, business operation and marketing strategy.

Originality/value

The present study built on the extant sport management literature, demonstrated the complexity of consumers’ cognition and conation in the professional soccer setting, and revealed counter-intuitive relationship between attitudinal traits and behavioral patterns, which in turn provided unique insights for Chinese professional soccer marketers, managers and administrators.

Keywords

Citation

Qian, T.Y., Wang, J.J., Chou, W.W.-h., Kim, E., Zhang, J.J. and Gong, B. (2017), "When the future of Chinese soccer is at stake: Chinese youth’s attention, involvement and satisfaction", International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 29-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-09-2016-0065

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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