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Previous research has focused on the antecedents of fan loyalty or the link between fans and the team on sponsorship reactions, but no comprehensive framework has been developed to combine these perspectives. The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated framework of how team brand experience during the season impacts sponsorship brand experience.

To create the conceptual model, a comprehensive search of peer-reviewed articles was conducted in electronic databases and journal reference lists. The authors identified constructs from prior research aimed at understanding sponsorship effectiveness. These constructs not only included aspects of the sponsorship brand experience, but also aspects within the team brand experience that form the link between consumers’ responses derived from team-related stimuli and the responses evoked by sponsor-related stimuli.

This conceptual framework yields a set of 11 propositions regarding fans’ interactions with both team and sponsorship brands highlighting how to strengthen the bond between fans, teams, and sponsors. It provides a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon and identifies opportunities to increase fan support and the appeal of professional teams to potential sponsors.

This study extends previous research by providing a unique conceptual framework that highlights the importance of understanding how fans view both the team brand and the sponsor brand. Several suggestions for future studies and strategies to increase the benefits for both teams and sponsors can be drawn from this framework.

Integrating several streams of theoretical reasoning such as social identity theory, congruity theory and the customer gratitude approach, the purpose of this paper is to develop a model of the antecedents and consequences of sponsor-stadium fit and examine the hypothesised relationships.

Data were collected from professional football spectators in a non-historic stadium context (n=342). Through a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling, the authors assessed the antecedents and consequences of sponsor-stadium fit.

Based on the results, team identification and prior sponsor attitude were found to be the dominant factors in enhancing sponsor-stadium fit. Furthermore, the indirect effects of team identification on purchase intentions through sponsor-stadium fit and gratitude towards the sponsor were positive and significant.

When renaming non-historic stadiums of relatively new sport teams, sponsors that present a team-related brand identity can create a preference and image fit with stadiums. The findings serve to advance the literature on stadium sponsorship particularly at non-historic stadiums.

In its conceptualisation of sponsor-stadium fit, the current study extends previous research that has focused primarily on sponsor-event fit.

This paper aims to assess service quality in professional football and to examine the effects of service quality and ticket pricing on satisfaction and behavioural intention. Data were collected among football fans and the results of a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the psychometric properties of the service quality model. A structural equation model (SEM) revealed that the service quality construct impacts both satisfaction and behavioural intention. Also, behavioural intention is influenced by ticket pricing and satisfaction. Managerial implications of these results are discussed and guidelines for future research are suggested.

Throughout this study, the authors sought to identify the antecedents and consequences of a multi-dimensional consumption-value construct. Data were collected from sports spectators in Japan (n=372) and the United States (n=396). The results indicate that three quality dimensions (functional, technical and aesthetic quality) have a significant impact on their respective value dimensions in the context of sporting events. Moreover, the constructs of entertainment and community prestige have positive effects on customers' behavioural intentions.

The purpose of this paper is to create a fabric retrieval system for designers that is based on a database that includes designers’ criteria and Kansei (sense and feeling) information, designed for the selection of a fabric from a wide range in e-commerce.

The database included sensory expressions for each type of fabric taken from fashion journals and values of smoothness, softness, luster and thinness (referred to as Kansei values) for each fabric. The Kansei values were determined by a Japanese expert designer using standard fabric samples of a fabric type. The system uses two search methods to find the desired type of fabric: a category search method and a free word search method. After finding appropriate types of fabric, the user further narrows down the fabrics of the selected type to more suitable fabrics using the Kansei values. The validity of the Kansei values and the effectiveness of the system were verified by 11 professional designers from Japan and Sweden.

The Japanese and Swedish designers were satisfied with the fabrics retrieved for specific items and found that the system was effective. The Kansei values were similar among fashion designers and shown to be effective for fabric retrieval.

The system will allow designers to find appropriate types of fabric and to narrow their search for fabrics among selected types to find candidate fabrics easily and quickly with their Kansei values and experience without technical knowledge of fabrics.

The purpose of this paper is to differentiate sport spectators’ attitudes, specifically team loyalty and attitude towards spectating behaviour by investigating the reliability and validity of the proposed model, and the influence of the attitudinal factors on intention to re-attend sporting events.

In this quantitative study, data were longitudinally collected from five professional soccer teams of the Japanese professional soccer league official surveys of 2008. The study was analysed in two phases by first examining the reliability and validity of the measurements and then the appropriateness of the model. Finally, a multiple group analysis was conducted to examine the applicability across the aforementioned five teams.

Team loyalty conceptually and empirically differed from attitudes towards spectating behaviour. The proposed model indicated how attitudes have impacts on spectators’ future attendance at professional sports events, but the model significantly changed when parameters of the model were progressively constrained, suggesting that each team's uniqueness may influence spectators’ intention to attend future games.

Sport spectators’ attitudes play a significant role in the decision-making process of deciding to attend an event, and an understanding of how spectators’ attitudes influence their intention to re-attend events could be of value to both scholars and sports team managers. Spectators of each team have their own characteristics and although this makes it difficult to generalise the results, this study contributes to an understanding of spectators’ attitudes.

The purpose of this study is to investigate a four-year mentorship program for Japanese graduate students at a private university in Tokyo, Japan. The following research questions were investigated: First, does mentorship provide effective and adequate preparation needed for graduate students to perform competitively (e.g. attending conferences, publishing in journals, etc.) in academic forums? Second, what kinds of benefits are gained by the mentees? Third, what factors are conducive to the benefits accrued by the mentees? Fourth, what are the obstacles to providing an effective mentorship program?

Adopting narrative approach as its research method, this study collected and analyzed reflective essays from 13 Japanese students in a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) program.

Particular types of mentoring which encouraged active participation in scholarly activities through appropriately scaffolded inductions into academia led to increased mentee confidence in terms of making the transition from student to scholar.

The students should not remain assistants on the periphery of academia, but rather play active roles to extend their knowledge and expertise to something that they can attain only with appropriate scaffolding (Vygotsky, 1981). In order to promote such mentorship, it is emphasized that institutional support is indispensable, and that the significance of solid mentorship programs should be re-acknowledged and discussed on an official level.

The study of mentoring within a Japanese context, in particular from the perspectives of sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1981) and Bandura's (1994, 1995) self-efficacy theory, is an under-researched area.

The purpose of this paper is to examine spectator perceptions of service quality at the Formula One (F-1) event in Shanghai by means of Martilla and James’ Importance and Performance Analysis (IPA).

The items were plotted on the four IPA dimensions, including: Concentrate Here; Keep Up the Good Work; Lower Priority; and Possible Overkill.

The results indicated that staff courtesy seems to be the strength of the event. However, concession quality, food prices, and arena accessibility, including restrooms at the Shanghai F-1 event, did not meet spectators’ expectations. In addition, the results suggested that in any spectator sporting event, food consumption helps to create a positive experience. Therefore, IPA revealed that service quality related to concessions, food pricing, and arena accessibility at the Shanghai F-1 are in need of immediate improvement, whereas staff courtesy and race visuals were satisfactory.

The findings will help marketers prioritize certain services and offer strategic direction in effective service provision by highlighting management problems.

The paper aims to describe the design and manufacturing process of a tele‐operative urban search and rescue tracked robot and discuss the advantages of a proposed novel track arrangement and other additional mechanisms, which help the robot to gain high manoeuverability on rough terrains.

Using a simplified static model, required torques are calculated and appropriate mechanisms and geometric dimensions are chosen. Next, stress distribution is analyzed in the parts, deploying both classic and numerical methods and to complete the procedure parts are fabricated and assembled together. The architecture of control system and the user interface is introduced. Finally, the robot is tested on a standard test arena and the results are compared with another similar search robot.

A tele‐operated rescue robot with considerable capabilities is designed and manufactured. The novel track arrangement and new rear arm's mechanism are tested and compared with a robot in the same class and higher performance is achieved on the evaluation.

Although the implemented locomotion mechanism is the common tracked type, adding the center tracks and arrangement of arms are original ideas which help the robot to gain high manoeuverability. The proposed rear arm's linkage mechanism generates a limited rotational path and has an acceptable strength for a robot working in rescue missions.