The Effect of Web Cohesion, Web Commitment, and Attitude toward the Website on Intentions to Use NFL Teams’ Websites

Sport Managemen?Review, 2007,10,23 1-252 0 2007 SMAANZ

The Effect of Web Cohesion, Web Commitment, and Attitude toward the Website on Intentions to Use NFL Teams' Websites KEYWORDS: website, cohesion, commitment, purchase intentions, NFL

Won Jae Seo and B. Christine Green University of Texas

Yong Jae KO University of Florida

Seunghwan Lee and Jarrod Schenewark University of Texas

Sport teams are increasingly using their websites to create and nurture relationships with their fans. Like other leisure-based products and services, sport brands have a capacity to facilitate the development of brand communities. Websites can be a key context for the expression of brand community. This study examines the effects of perceived cohesion, commitment, and attitude toward the website on intent to use the website via a web survey of NFL team website users (N=144). Structural equation modelling was used to confirm a model in which commitment and attitude toward the website directly increased intention to use the website; cohesion and commitment directly enhance attitude toward the website; and, cohesion has a strong, positive association with commitment. Implications and practical applications for building web community are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested. All authors except Yong Jae KOare with the Sport Management Program at The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, D3700, Austin, Texas 78712, USA. Yong Jae KO is with the Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management at the University of Florida. Email for Won Jae Seo is [email protected]

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The number of Internet users has grown significantly over the last few years, from virtually nothing to an estimated 1.04 billion world wide users that are 16% of the world's population. In fact, 52.6% of the Oceania/Australia population is using the Internet (Miniwatts Marketing Group, 2006). This rapid growth in the number of Internet users has promoted a belief in many business circles that the Web represents a huge marketing opportunity (Hoffian, 2000). Recently, businesses in all sectors are increasingly exploiting the Internet as a medium to market products and services and to communicate with their consumers ( Fenech & O'Cass, 2001; Pitta & Fowler, 2005). With increasing interest in the Internet's role for business marketing, sport marketers throughout the world and at all levels of the sport industry are rapidly working to incorporate emerging technologies into their marketing strategies (Gillentine, 2003). Not surprisingly, the Internet has become a significant marketing tool for many sport organisations, including professional sports teams (Auty, 2002; Caskey & Deply, 1999; Kahle & Meeske, 1999). Unlike most sport media, websites provide teams with a controllable medium by which to communicate with fans, the community, and potential consumers of their products and services. In consideration of the increasing online presence of sport organisations, and the importance ofthat presence, researchers have examinedthe content ofprofessional teams' websites. Several have analysed websites by categorising the site features into elements of the marketing mix (Carlson, Roserberger 111, & Muthaly, 2003; Seo & Hong, 2001). Brown (2003) conducted an analysis of online sport marketing activities in terms of communication objectives and perceived benefits. Others have studied the importance of the Internet for supporters of sports clubs (Auty, 2002), and to identie characteristics of successful website management (Pope & Forrest, 1997). Although these studies provide sport organisations with useful catalogs of website features, they have done little to increase our understanding of web users' behaviour or the psychology underlying that behaviour. While website features are important to web design, understanding the use of the features by fans (and potential fans) can contribute to the increasing body of knowledge examining the place of technology in peoples' lives and the ways in which technology can facilitate or hinder community. From a practical standpoint, understanding the psychological constructs underlying web users' behaviours can assist marketers to better integrate web-based marketing into their overall marketing strategy. In particular, marketers can use these insights about web consumers to better develop a relationship strategy via their electronic marketing communications. Marketers are increasingly concerned with creating relationships with their customers (Cronin, Brady, & Hult, 2000; Reynolds & Beatty, 1999). This is particularly true of services. Services marketing researchers have shown that intangible core products rely heavily on positive consumer experiences to drive repeat business and ultimately, consumer loyalty (Chen & Guester, 2006; Ganesh, Arnold, & Reynolds, 2000; McDougall & Levesque, 2000). Sport is a prime example. Fans' consumption of professional sport is intimately connected to their

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experiences as part of a community of fans (Derbaix, Decrop, & Cabossart, 2002; Lewis, 2001; Meir, 2000). A community requires interaction to define itself, and members of fan communities establish their identity through interaction with others (Sutton, McDonald, Milne, & Gimperman, 1997; Quick, 2000). Sport marketers are well aware of the benefits ofhaving a loyal and committed fan base (Judson & Carpenter, 2005; Stoldt, Dittmore, & Branvold, 2006). These fan communities are an example of what marketers have termed "brand communities." McAlexander, Schouten, and Koenig (2002) define brand community as "a fabric of relationships in which the customer is situated. Crucial relationships include those between the customer and the brand, between the customer and the firm, between the customer and the product in use, and among fellow customers" (p. 38). Unlike traditional communities that are based almost exclusively on personal relations, brand communities in general, and virtual communities more specifically, are based on looser, more impersonal links. They are "bound by reference to common objects or goals, not by personal relations" (Memmi, 2006, p. 288). Brand communities have been studied by marketers both inside and outside of the sport context (e.g., Algesheimer, Dholakia, & Herrmann, 2005; Muniz & O'Guinn, 2001; Rosenbaum, 2005). In each context, the strength of the community and members' identification with the community are associated with consumers' consumption of the core product and any product augmentations or brand extensions (Apostolopoulou, 2002; Stoldt et al., 2006). Brand communities can be concentrated in a particular geographic area, but are more likely to be geographically dispersed, and often have a virtual component. Consequently, the Internet has become an important tool for the creation and maintenance of these communities (Auty, 2002; Ballantine & Martin, 2005; Fenech & O'Cass, 2001; Pitta & Fowler, 2005). Consumers can easily find others with a similar brand preference via a basic Internet search. Websites such as hog.com, the website for Harley-Davidson enthusiasts (Harley-Davidson, 2006), provide members of the brand community with information about the brand, information about new products, and in most cases, purchase opportunities. These sites provide opportunities for interaction with other members of the community. It is through these interactions that community members learn to identify with the community, and to express their community membership (i.e., fan identification). Fan identification illustrates the web of relationships that characterise brand communities. Fans identify with the team, the organisation, the sport, and other fans. These psychological relationships form, to a large degree, the fan's attachment to the community. Unsurprisingly, fan identificationhas been shown to be positively related to sport consumption (Kwon & Armstrong, 2002; Laverie & Amett, 2000; Madrigal, 2000). In short, fan identification has-been highly associated with fan loyalty and fan-related consumption. However, sport marketing researchers have focused their examinations of fan community, identification, and loyalty on traditional marketing contexts such as game attendance (e.g., Hill & Green, 2000),

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television viewing (e.g., Mahony & Moorman, 1999), and travel (e.g., Kim & Chalip, 2004). Rarely have sport teams' websites been considered in terms of their community building elements. However, researchers outside of sport have studied the use of the Internet for community building around life experiences, health issues, fantasy, and work projects (Armstrong & Hagel, 1996; Memmi, 2006). No matter the context, online communities share a number of features (cf. Matei, 2005; Memmi, 2006). They encourage interaction among website users, with users sometimes developing strong personal relationships either online or off-line. These relationships are almost always focused around a common object, product, or issue with which the user identifies. Sport teams can be powerful objects of identification for fans. Indeed, fans use their fan identity to connect with other fans at games, bars, and other places in the community. Given the unitary focus of a sport team's website, a focus that is also the shared object of the fan identity, sport team websites seem to provide an ideal medium through which to build fan community. Yet, we know little about the key constructs which may enhance sport online community. We know even less about the relationships among these constructs. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship among the key constructs and their role in the sport online context, particularly their effect on use of the team website. In order to examine sport fans' online consumer behaviour, the investigation focused on cohesion, commitment, attitude toward the website, and intention to use the website, which have frequently been studied in consumer behaviour research (Anderson & Martin, 2002; Chen & Wells, 1999; Simons & Ridder, 2004), and media and communication research (Burke, Aytes, & Chidambaram, 2001).

Theoretical Background Sport websites are a key component of sport teams' integrated marketing communications. Building fanship is an important objective for team marketers, as fanship leads to increased consumption of sport media and sport products; increased attendance and viewership; and enhanced loyalty and customer retention. Sport team websites can be powerful sites for the development of fan communities to enhance fanship. However, a strong virtual community would be expected to exhibit cohesion among its members. Further, a cohesive online community should be associated with increased commitment to the team website. The more committed to the website users are, the more likely they are to use the website. Users' attitudes toward the website could be expected to mediate the effects of cohesion and commitment on consumption. Thus, the key constructs expected to impact online consumption are: (1) cohesion among team website users, (2) commitment to the website, (3) attitude to the website, and (4) intention to use the website.

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Cohesion Cohesion is defined in terms of the attractions among members of a group plus the attraction of group members to the group itself (McGrath, 1984). Cohesion is based on each member's desire to stay a group member (Cartwright, 1968). In the organisational behaviour literature, cohesion has been viewed as a crucial component that has been shown to be related to group members' commitment to the organisation's goals and values (King & Ehrhard, 1997), task satisfaction of sport team players (Sprink, Nickel, Wilson, & Odnokon, 2005), quality of performance (Burke et. al, 2001; King & Ehrhard, 1997), the effectiveness of organisations (Shelton, McKenna, & Darling, 2002), and relationship building (Keyton, 2000). Interestingly, studies concerned with media enrichment (Burke et al., 2001; Pitta & Fowler, 2005) have reported the development of significant cohesion through electronic media. They suggested that group cohesion is developed by frequent interactions over time via computer mediated communication (CMC) such as electronic bulletin boards. The importance of communication to develop cohesion is demonstrated by looking at interaction issues (Burke et al., 2001). For example, interaction frequency is positively correlated with interpersonal attraction - a major component of cohesion (Zaccaro & Lowe, 1988). Hence, fiequent communication among members facilitates development of members' cohesion that assists them to internalise the goals and values of the organisation (King & Ehrhard, 1997; Sprink et al., 2005). In order to understand group cohesion formation and its development via the Internet, it is necessary to understand the features of online community that provide users with the opportunity for interactions via virtual forums. Online forums support communities formed around a specific interest (Pitta & Fowler, 2005; Zinkhan, Kwak, Morrison, & Peters, 2003). In these forums, based on individual experiences, individuals share their thoughts and gain the insight of other knowledgeable persons (Pitta & Fowler, 2005). Over time, as people learn more about each other and about the subject, deep relationships may form through interaction with each other. The primary value ofonline community is that it gives people the chance to come together and share personal experiences. These features of online communities help to foster cohesion by facilitating interactions among users. Recently, sport organisations have become interested in enhancing relationships and interactionswith their team's fans via fan communities within their own websites (Carlson et al., 2003; Turner, 1999). Each team's website can play a role as information and service provider, and also as a fan fonun with sub-topic areas (e.g., fanzone, kidszone, fan forum, fan blogs) by which members can communicate with other fans. Studies of sport on the Internet support the potential of sport websites to build and maintain cohesion among users of sport teams' website (Caskey & Deply, 1999; Kahle & Meeske, 1999). Although these studies do not address cohesion, per se, they suggest that professional sport organisations can now provide rich information content which can establish a dialogue with fans through the site's interactive

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features. Interactive content on sport teams' websites has the ability to foster longterm relationships with users, which enhances the connection between a sport or team and its fans (Kahle & Meeske, 1999). Indeed, interpersonal communication and fan expression were identified as key motives for usage of sport teams' websites (Seo & Green, in press). Interactive attributes of sport teams' websites are likely to facilitate the development of members' cohesion which can solidify their relationship with the team over time. This phenomenon mirrors those in the organisational behaviour and communication literatures where cohesion is increased through interpersonal communication (Burke et. al., 2001; King & Ehrhard, 1997; Shelton et al., 2002). In spite of the potential significance of cohesion among sport website users and its potential impact on sport consumer behaviour, little empirical research has been conducted of cohesion among sport website users. Hence, in order to identify the role of cohesion in sport online communities, and its influence on sport consumer behaviour, this study examines cohesion and its relationship to key consumer behaviour variables.

Commitment Sport commitment has been defined as "a psychological construct representing the desire and resolve to continue participation" (Scanlan, Simons, Carpenter, Schmidt & Keeler, 1993, p. 7). Commitment is sometimes discussed as the force of psychological attachment to an organisation (O'Reilly & Chatman, 1986). The conceptualisation of commitment stems from the organisational behaviour literature, and has been viewed as an intention to continue a course of action or activity, such as maintaining a relationship with a business partner (Fehr, 1988). Because of its significant affect on relational intentions and behaviour, commitment has been viewed as a central construct in marketing and business studies (Fullerton, 2005; Hess & Story, 2005; Mattila, 2006). In addition, commitment has been an important component for designing effective customer retention strategies (Alexandris, Zahariadis, Tsorbatzoudis, & Grouios, 2002; Fullerton, 2005), and has been shown to be an antecedent to both attitudes (Zanna & Rempel, 1988), and future purchase intentions (Wetzels, Ruyter, & Birgelen, 1998). The same is true in the e-context (Luarn & Lin, 2003; Thatcher & George, 2004). Thus, commitment is expected to positively affect users' attitudes toward the website and their intentions to continue using the website.

Attitude toward a Website Attitude is "an index of the degree to which a person likes or dislikes an object" (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980, p. 28) and it is typically based on "the consumer's summary evaluation of both positive and negative components about a stimulus" (Priester & Petty, 1996, p. 431). Attitude has been shown to significantly influence subsequent behavioural intentions, consumer choice, and consumption satisfaction (Chen & Wells, 1999; Nowlis, Kahn, & Dhar, 2002).

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A number of studies have suggested that attitudes are significant predictors of behavioural intention (Aaker & Stayman, 1990; Shimp, 1981). In fact, early work suggested that attitude toward the advertisement is the single most effective index to influence brand attitudes and purchase intentions (Aaker & Stayman, 1990; MacKenzie, Lutz, & Belch, 1986; Shavitt, Lowrey, & Han,1992; Shimp, 1981). Studies of sport sponsorship (Kinney & McDaniel, 2004; Madrigal, 200 1; Speed & Thompson, 2000), retail marketing (Alpert, Kamins, Sakano, Onzo, & Graham, 2000), and Internet marketing (Chen & Wells, 1999; Fenech & O'Cass, 2001; Karjaluoto, Mattila, & Pento, 2002; Wu, 2003) have all shown the positive impact of attitudes on purchase intentions. As demonstrated in the studies listed above, consumers' attitudes toward online businesses and e-marketing have a pivotal impact on their consumption intentions. Consequently, users' attitudes toward sport teams' websites are expected to positively impact their intentions to use the website.

Relationships among Cohesion, Commitment, Attitude toward the Website, and Intention to Use the Website Cohesion, commitment, and attitude toward the website have been identified as key variables affecting sport fans' intentions to use their team's website. Yet the three seem inextricably related. This section examines potential relationships among the constructs, and derives a conceptual model of their impact on sport consumers' intentions to use sport teams' websites. According to Cartwright (1968), cohesion refers to each member's desire to stay a group member. Keyton (2000) viewed cohesion as a feeling that members have concerning the task, relationship, and the group itself. Satisfaction with the group process and performance is often linked to group cohesion (Keyton, 2000). That is, satisfaction with group performance causes group members to enhance group cohesion, and members perceiving high cohesion are likely to form positive attitudes toward group activities. Since all group activities take place in the context of the sport team's website, it is believed that members reporting strong perceptions of cohesion among the site's users will also have positive attitudes toward the team's website, the source of the group's interactions. Although one could argue that attitude toward the website could affect one's sense of cohesion with other website users, personal interactions have been shown to powerfully influence one's attitudes (Treviiio, Webster, & Stein, 2000). Therefore, it is expected that: H,: NFL team website users' perceptions of the cohesion of website users

positively influences their attitudes toward the website. Web commitment can be defined as users' desire to continue one's association with a team's website. A number of studies have suggested that commitment is an important psychological construct in consumer behaviour, and that it can be a precursor to attitude formation (e.g., Zanna & Rempel, 1988). Commitment has also been shown to enhance the success of customer retention strategies (Alexandris

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et al., 2002; Fullerton, 2005). Hence, the proposed model predicts a positive effect of commitment on attitude toward the website and intention to use the website. H,: NFL team website users' commitment to the website positively influences their attitude toward the website. H,: NFL team website users' commitment to the website positively influences

their intention to use the website. Cohesion has been viewed as encompassing both cooperation (e.g., Weinberg, 1979), and commitment to goals (e.g., Mudrack, 1989). One would expect that cohesive groups would be more committed to the groups' efforts than would noncohesive groups. On the other hand, commitment could lead to the development of cohesion. Thus, these two constructs -commitment and cohesion seem to be related, but there is no clear evidence of the directionality of their effect on one another. As a result, the proposed research model postulates that cohesion and commitment are associated with one another. H,: There is positive correlation between cohesion and commitment to the

website. A significant number of studies have shown that attitudes are significant predictors of behavioural intentions (e.g., Aaker & Stayman, 1990; Shimp, 1981). In addition, Shimp (1981) and MacKenzie et al. (1986) found that attitudes directly influence purchase intentions. Hence, the research model hypothesises a positive effect of attitude toward the teams' website on intentions to use the site. H,: NFL teams' website users' attitudes toward the website positively influence

their intentions to use the website. The five hypotheses have been combined to form a conceptual model specifLing the expected relationships among the variables. The variables and the relationships among them are depicted in Figure 1.

Intention to use NFL websites

Figure 1: Research model for sport online consumption

Method Participants The population of interest for this study consists of existing sport website users. Thus, the necessary sample would have experience with at least one sport website. The sample for this study consisted of 144 students and their friends and family who had experience with NFL teams' websites. The sample consisted of more males (73.6%) than females (26.4%). Participants' Internet experience and use varied widely. Years of Internet use ranged from less than 1 year to 21 years (mean=7.40; SD=3.05). The Internet use per week ranged from less than 1 hour to 80 hours per week (mean=12.85; SD=15.44). Participants reported NFL team website use ranging fiom 1 hour to 20 hours per week (mean=2.93; mode=l.O SD=5.5 1). They reported using the Internet for: email (59.7%), information search (19.4%), surfing (15.3%), chat (2.8%), downloading (1.4%), visiting a friend's homepage (0.7%), and creating their own homepage (0.7%).

Data Collection Data were collected via an online survey with a convenience sample. Students in four Universities (1 in the Northwest and 3 in the Southwest United States) were provided access to the survey via a web-link or email, and asked to share the link with fiiends and family who had experience of at least one NFL team website. Completed surveys were received from 144 respondents. There were no significant differences in the responses of students and nonstudents on any variables, therefore, data were aggregated for further analyses.

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Measurement Previously developed measures ofcohesion(Anderson & Martin, 2002), commitment (Scanlan et al. 1993), and attitude toward the website (Chen & Wells, 1999) were employed in this study. A single-item measure of consumption was used. Web cohesion. Web cohesion was measured using a 5-item scale from Anderson and Martin (2002). Items were measured on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree. Items measured respondents' sense of unity and cohesion among the team's website users. For example, respondents were asked to assess how much they felt a feeling of unity and cohesion among the team's website users. Anderson and Martin (2002) report that the scale is reliable (Cronbach's alpha = .93). Convergent validity was established. Cohesion was shown to relate to satisfaction with the group process, communicating for pleasure, and involvement. Web commitment. Web commitment was assessed using a 3-item scale adapted from Scanlan et al. (1993). The original scale was designed for a sport participation context. Items were changed to reflect the sport website context. Web commitment was assessed through questions such as "I am determined to remain a user of the teams' website." Items were measured via a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree. Scanlan et al. report that the scale is reliable and shows internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=.89). The measure has been shown to predict which gymnasts want to participate and which gymnasts feel that they have to participate (Weiss & Weiss, 2003), thus establishing predictive validity of the scale. Attitude toward the website. We adapted Chen and Wells' (1999) 5-item measure to gauge users' attitudes toward their favourite NFL teams' websites by dropping one item, "This website makes it easy for me to build a relationship with this company." Web attitude was asked to assess how much the respondents like to use the team's website. For example, the respondents were asked to rate the degree to which they felt comfortable and satisfied with their use of the team's website. Other items asked respondents to rate the degree to which they felt that surfing the teams' website was a good way to spend their time, and to rate the website compared to others. Chen and Wells' (1999) study reports satisfactory reliability for the scale, with an internal consistency of Cronbach's alpha = .92. Convergent validity was established by Chen and Wells who reported that attitude to website was correlated with respondents' perceptions that the website was entertaining, informative, and organised ( .44 < r < .68). Intention to use the website. Respondents were asked to provide their intention to use the team's website in the future. The item for Intention to Use the Website was, "how often do you intend to use the team's website in the future?'The item was measured using a 7-point frequency scale anchored by 1 = not very often to 7 = very often.

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Data Analysis Cronbach's alpha was calculated for each subscale used in the study, to assess the internal consistency of the modified measures. All scales were deemed reliable, with Cronbach's alpha scores ranging from .89 (web commitment) to .91 (web cohesion). In order to test the relationships among web cohesion, web commitment, attitude to the website, and intention to use the website; the investigators performed structural equation modelling using AMOS version 5. Parameters were estimated within the structural model by using the maximum likelihood method of parameter estimation. The researchers used a two-step process to test the proposed research model. First, a measurement model was tested to denote the conceptual distinctions among latent variables and to establish construct validity. Second, a structural model was tested to examine the overall model, including the relationships among web cohesion, web commitment, attitude to the website, and intention to use the website. Furthermore, in order to see the effect of web cohesion, commitment, and attitude to the website on consumption, direct and indirect effects were calculated for all pathways among the latent variables.

Measurement Model The measurement model was tested to examine how well each set of items measures the latent construct. This work is known as confirmatory factor analysis because a primary reason that items correlate highly with one another is that they measure the same construct (Keith, 2006). The final measurement model showed very strong construct validity (Figure 2). All loadings were significant and loaded highly on their expected conceptual constructs. The standardised loadings ranged from .71 (web cohesion 1) to .95 (web commitment 2). Two items (web cohesion 2 and web attitude 1) shared significant error variance with other items within their respective scales (.24 to .57). These items were deleted fiom the model for reasons of parsimony.

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Figure 2 : Standardized estimates from final measurement model of sport online consumption

Discriminant validity is established when the estimated correlations between the latent factors are not excessively high (e.g., >.85; Kline, 1998). All correlations were significant but they are less than .78. Hence, evidence of discriminant validity of scales exists. The final measurement model is a reasonably good fit to the data as shown by the fit indices provided in Figure 2. Chi-squareldf ratio (2.06) was lower than the suggested standard (i.e., less than 3.0; Kline, 1998). Comparative Fit Index (.957) was good and satisfied the cutoff for good fit of .95 (Hu & Bentler, 1999). The Tucker-Lewis Index (.943) was slightly below the cutoff for a good fit of .95. SRMR (.0476) was within an acceptable range. The root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA=.086) was slightly greater than the suggested threshold (i.e., less than .O8; Hu & Bentler, 1999).

Final Structural Model In order to test the research hypotheses, the investigators examined the structural model by using the items and structure of the final measurement model. The structural portion of the model is shown in Figure 3, a figural representation of the hypotheses of the effects of one latent variable on another, and includes the disturbances for the endogenous latent variables in the model (Keith, 2006). The model examines the research hypotheses regarding the effect of web cohesion and web commitment on intention to use the website, indirectly or directly through the web attitude of NFL teams users.

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Figure 3: Standardized estimates from final structural model of sport online comsumption

Figure 3 shows fit statistics and estimates. The model fit is adequate. The root-mean-square error of approximation (.086, 90% confidence interval =.062 to .109) was moderate. The standardised root-mean-square was .048, well below the recommended cutoff of .08 (Hu & Bentler, 1999). The CFI (.957) and TLI (.943) suggested a moderate fit to the data. In summary, intention to use a sport team's website is a function of perceived cohesion among users, commitment to the site, and attitude toward the website. Unsurprisingly, attitude toward the website is the strongest predictor of intentions. Commitment has both direct and indirect effects on intention, and has a strong direct effect on attitude toward the website. Cohesion has only an indirect effect on intention, through its impact on attitude toward the website. As expected, it is strongly associated with commitment to the website. Thus, all variables impact on intention to use a website. Table 1. Unstandardised and Standardised Paths and Loadings, Standard Errors, and Critical Ranges of Final Structural Model. p-value

Std loading

2.344

,019

.253

4.557

< ,001

,508

.I11

6.882

< ,001

,646

,090

2.383

,017

,200

Estimate

S.E.

C.R

Attitude to Website < Web cohesion

,199

,085

Attitude to Website < Web commitment

,457

,100

Intent to Use Website
,764

Intent to Use Website
,213

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Table 2. Standardized Total Effects of Web Cohesion, Web Commitment, and Attitude toward Website on Web Consumption. Model Final structural model

I Web cohesion I Web commitment ,163

,537

I Attitude to Website ,646

Discussion One of the primary roles of sport team marketers has been to develop their fanbase. A strong fanbase has been shown to lead to increased attendance, viewership, and licensed product sales (Bristow & Sebastian, 2001; Gladden & Milne, 1999; Hill & Green, 2000; Hunt, Bristol, & Bashaw, 1999; Rivers & DeSchriver, 2002; Robinson & Miller, 2003). Consequently, sport marketers have worked hard to find ways to build their own fan communities. A strong fan community is a fimction of the relationships among the fans, and between the fans and the sport organisation itself. Yet websites have often been seen more as a source of information about the team than as a place for fans to connect with other fans. Yet, sport websites often include features that allow fans to interact with one another (e.g., chat rooms, fanzones, free boards), thus they have the capacity to build fan community through these interactive features. However, the existence of interactive features does not necessarily lead to a cohesive online fan community. This study demonstrates that sport teams' website users can and do find community on their team's website. Importantly, the cohesiveness of that community is a significant driver of further website use. Indeed, cohesion is highly associated with a user's commitment to the website. Commitment and cohesion together explain a significant portion of users' attitudes toward the website. This is important to marketers since attitude toward the website explains nearly two thirds ofthe variance in users' intentions to use the website. The model tested in this study was a fairly simplistic one, yet it provides significant insight into the place of sport teams' websites in building and maintaining fanship. It has often been asserted that sport teams' websites are an important tool in marketing to fans, and in fact, many website features seem intended to foster fan interaction (e.g., chat rooms, fanzones, free boards). This study is the first to empirically test the validity of that assumption. Cohesion, built and maintained via a website, is clearly related to fans' intentions to use the site. Perhaps cohesion has not previously been identified as a significant predictor of this type of consumption because its impact is not direct. Its impact happens via users' attitudes and commitment to the website, variables that are already well established as precursors to intentions. In any case, the inclusion and subsequent confirmation of cohesion in the model may prove useful to sport marketers and web designers. Yet, the confirmation of cohesion as an integral part of the model raises almost as many questions as it answers.

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Future research should extend the model tested in this study in two ways. One, while it is useful to know that sport teams' website users can and do experience cohesion with other fans via the website, we do not yet know how that cohesion occurs. Future research should seek to identify the antecedents of cohesion and determine potential strategies that sport marketers can use to build cohesion. Two, this study examined a single outcome measure, intention to use a website. Intention to use a website is an important indicator of continued website use; and the web has been shown to be an important marketing tool for sport teams (Beech, Chadwick, & Tapp, 2000). However, it is still only one potential outcome of interest. Future research should extend the model to explore the relationship among web cohesion, commitment, attitudes and intentions, and online behaviours such as web purchasing, frequency of use, and participation in interactive content areas. In addition, the model should be extended to identify relationships with key offline outcomes such as attendance, television viewership, and other offline teamrelated purchases. Lastly, the model could be extended to include an examination of the influence of web cohesion and commitment on other key sport consumer behaviour constructs such as fan identification, loyalty, and attachment to the team. Cohesion would be expected to enhance the likelihood of deeper connections among fans which, in turn, could enhance team identification and ultimately, team-related consumption.

Implications for Practice The model highlights the ability of sport team websites to build a cohesive and committed fan community online. Sport marketers should work with sport website designers to enhance the interactivity of their websites in order to provide users with opportunities to interact with other users and to build cohesion among the users of the website. Although the antecedents to cohesion have not yet been identified, it is reasonable to assume that cohesion is at least in part a function of the interactions among users of sport teams' websites. Team marketers can begin by increasing the use of existing interaction features such as fanzones and other chat room features. First, marketers could provide incentives not only to attract casual visitors into fan forums, but also to enhance retention of frequent visitors. For example, users could earn points based on the frequency of their message writing, and can then exchange online points for beneficial items such as ticket discount coupons, small gifts, and so on. Another example is a message contest. Web marketers could host message contests (opinion contest) about specific issues such as a strategy for big game, starting players, and opinions about why they should start. The winners would be identified by the most creative postings. The winners and their posting could then appear on the main page of the team website with a link to the fanzone. Message contests can attract users' interest and encourage them to participate more in the fan forum, which is central for frequent interaction. Consequently, one could expect web cohesion to be enhanced.

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Second, teams can attract new users and increase existing users' continued involvement with incentive programs such as a "Raising the Mascot" program. This is a program that is a fun and exciting way to promote fan interaction and possibly increase visits as well as online purchases. "Raising the Mascot" is a program that will encourage online users to visit the website more frequently in order to take care of their own mascot. Customers would register on the team's website, and would be electronically given a newborn Baby Mascot. Each time the user signs on to the fanzone, they receive food and drinks for their mascot. As they feed their mascot, they watch it grow from a baby into a full grown mascot. When their mascot reaches maturity, depending on the frequency of their interactions on the website, the 111 grown mascot can be exchanged for an online gift card, discounts on tickets, or other incentives. This program encourages fan interactions, and may be particularly usehl in attracting nontraditional users such as women and children. This type of promotion may also attract those who do not have a strong affiliation with the team. It may also provide an additional topic of discussion among fans. Third, marketers could hire users who produce attractive and creative messages in the fan forum. This idea stems from Katz and Lazarsfeld's (2006) model that linked interpersonal dynamics to mass communication via the concept of opinion leaders. In order to create interesting messages and opinions, some users (opinion leaders) are employed as part time workers. For example, most virtual communities have leaders with the ability to create funny issues and messages. Sport marketers could employ some of them to play a role in creating narratives that attract users into the fan forum. Creative narratives (messages and stories) showing different views is a useful way to attract users to the message board because schemainconsistent information stimulates users' curiositv and makes them more likelv to respond to new information that is different from their own opinion (Rojahn & Pettigrew, 1992). In conclusion, this study highlights the value of perceived cohesion among sport teams' website users. Cohesion was shown to be indirectly related to intentions to use a website via direct relationships with commitment and attitude toward the website. Perceptions of cohesion among website users supports the often argued, but rarely tested assumption that sport team websites are important sites for building and maintaining fan community.

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