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Consumer Behaviour in Sport and Events

Article  in  European Sport Management Quarterly · April 2011

DOI: 10.1080/16184740903554181

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European Sport Management Quarterly

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Consumer Behaviour in Sport and Events

Guillaume Bodet

Online publication date: 04 May 2011

To cite this Article Bodet, Guillaume(2011) 'Consumer Behaviour in Sport and Events', European Sport Management
Quarterly, 11: 2, 193 — 195
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/16184740903554181
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16184740903554181

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 European Sport Management Quarterly,
Vol. 11, No. 2, 193
195, April 2011

BOOK REVIEW

Consumer Behaviour in Sport and Events

Daniel C. Funk
Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008, 247 pp., j29.40, ISBN 978-0-
7506-8666-2
Downloaded By: [Bodet, Guillaume][Loughborough University] At: 08:22 4 May 2011

This book is part of a Sport Marketing Series and focuses on the understanding
of consumer behaviour in sport and events and related adapted marketing
strategies and actions.
The book comprises three parts articulated around 12 chapters. The first
part opens with an introduction and a definition of Sport and Event
Consumer Behaviour (SECB), which may represent the first attempt to
define, bound and give unity to this research object. It then emphasizes the
uniqueness of the sport and event product which appeals to specific
marketing strategies and actions. In chapter 2, the author describes the
sport consumer motivation process and introduces the SportWay motives
which represents a set of five core needs and benefits provided by sport and
are labelled with the acronym SPEED (Socialisation, Performance, Excite-
ment, Esteem, Diversion). In chapter 3, the author analyses the sport
decision-making sequence which provides the foundations for understanding
why individuals initially choose and continually engage in sport consump-
tion activities. This description of the decision-making sequence is a
necessary step to development of an understanding of the Psychological
Continuum Model (PCM) (Funk & James, 2001, 2006), a larger framework
for understanding a consumer’s psychological connection to a sport object,
also presented in this chapter. The first section of the book ends with a
fourth chapter which identifies the four marketing actions defined by the
author as: (1) strategic use of marketing mix, (2) selection of key target
markets, (3) study and evaluation of the market and (4) selection of
information systems. In the discussion of consumer segmentation (second
marketing action), the author provides a way to practically categorize sport
consumers according to the four stages of the PCM framework based on the
measure of the different facets of consumer involvement.
The second section of the book identifies the features of each stage of the
PCM framework and provides adapted marketing actions for each of them.
In chapter five, the author analyzes the drivers, processes and outcomes of
sport object awareness and identifies sport-related marketing actions in
relation to life-cycle positioning. Chapter six focuses on an analysis of the
attraction stage and specific marketing triggers, such as social, cause-related,
sponsorship and Internet levers. The following chapter describes the

ISSN 1618-4742 Print/ISSN 1746-031X Online

DOI: 10.1080/16184740903554181
 194 BOOK REVIEW

attachment stage, which is the next level of commitment in the PCM and
identifies, for instance, personalization, self-concept and customized bond-
ing as appropriate marketing concerns for this stage. Chapter eight cor-
responds to the last stage of the PCM framework and deals with the
characteristics and specific marketing actions of the allegiance stage. Finally,
chapter nine identifies the main constraints to sport event consumption in
general and moves to a next stage in the PCM framework in particular, and
provides some elements to minimize these constraints through marketing
actions.
The third and final section of the book comprises chapters 10
12, which
provide an extensive practical checklist articulated around three areas (i.e.,
administration services, facilities and support services, and special events
and services) to organize a sport event.
Downloaded By: [Bodet, Guillaume][Loughborough University] At: 08:22 4 May 2011

As the author suggests, this book targets industry professionals and

advanced students interested in the delivery of sport and event products and
services. The reader might require a minimal knowledge of sport consumer
behaviour and/or marketing because it is largely based on academic
knowledge and research publications in this field, which is one of its major
positive qualities. It refers to a range of seminal and cutting-edge publica-
tions, which makes the book a great source for those wishing to develop a
grasp of the sport consumer area. Moreover, the strong research basis is not
an obstacle to non-specialists. The quality of the writing, the numerous
figures and concrete and ongoing examples help the reader to make links
between concrete sport consumer examples, theory and the practical
marketing actions required for implementation. In this regard, the identifi-
cation of numerous marketing levers in relation to the sport consumer’s level
of commitment in the second section of the book, as well as the sport event
organization guide in the final section, constitute accurate orientations and
tools for sport managers.
Despite the fact that this attempt to comprehend sport consumer
behaviour as a whole is laudable, nevertheless this type of approach has
some limitations. Indeed, as acknowledged by the author himself, sport
consumer behaviour is a complex phenomenon due to the wide scope and
the heterogeneity of sport as a consumption object, and the cultural and
contextual differences between various forms and sites of consumption. One
might wonder, therefore, whether a single framework can accurately
embrace all or most of the forms of sport consumer behaviour. From a
theoretical point of view, the allocation of consumers to the four stages of
the Psychological Continuum Model may be subject to discussion, but its
relevance from a managerial point of view can easily be seen. A final
observation is that the concepts of consumer satisfaction and value could
have received greater attention with regard to their place in the marketing
literature in general and the sport marketing literature in particular.
Overall, this book is well written and structured, with a clear attempt to
make its contents accessible to the reader. It is generally successful in
meeting the difficult challenge of simultaneously satisfying academics and
students, by providing an extensive and well-referenced account of sport
 BOOK REVIEW 195

consumer behaviour, and practitioners by linking this knowledge to

appropriately specified marketing strategies and operations. For these
reasons, it represents an excellent resource to tackle the complexity of sport
consumption and achieve managerial objectives.

References
Funk, D. C., & James, J. (2001). The psychological continuum model: A conceptual framework for
understanding an individual’s psychological connection to sport. Sport Management Review, 2,
119
150.
Funk, D. C., & James, J. (2006). Consumer loyalty: The meaning of attachment in the development of
sport team allegiance. Journal of Sport Management, 20, 189
217.
Downloaded By: [Bodet, Guillaume][Loughborough University] At: 08:22 4 May 2011

# 2011 Guillaume Bodet

Loughborough, UK

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