The Development of NBA in China: A Glocalization Perspective

The growing sport industry and 1.3 billion potential consumers in China have been garnering tremendous attention from more and more overseas professional sport leagues. Comparatively, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has had remarkable success in the Chinese market. From the perspective of sport competition or marketing operations, the NBA’s achievement in China provides a model for other overseas sport leagues. This case study was organized by summarizing the developmental history of NBA in China, analyzing its current promotional practices, investigating into its marketing strategies, and extrapolating practical references for other sport leagues aiming to penetrating into the Chinese marketplace. In the perspective of glocalization, multinational corporations should combine both standardized and adapted elements to conceptualize globally and act locally (Tanahashi, 2008). By taking this approach, marketers can meet the needs of local consumers effectively while still maintaining some extent of global standardization (Singh, Kumar, & Baack, 2005). To obtain in-depth understanding about NBA globalization and localization in China, we conducted one-on-one interviews with Chinese academic scholars in sport management and practitioners in Chinese basketball industry and NBA China. Two focus groups with six participants in each group were conducted to learn the perception of NBA products from the perspective of Chinese consumer. The qualitative data analysis was organized around four major aspects: products, media, management and public relations, which were highlighted in the glocalization of transnational corporations (Yang, 2003; Zhang, 2007) The current case study concluded that although NBA has achieved huge successes in the areas of building a large fan base, increasing media exposure, and garnering net income after its entry to China, it still faces many challenges. One viable solution for the NBA is to bring authentic American cultural commodities while adding Chinese characteristics to accommodate local fans. Combining global heroes such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant and local hero such as Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, and Jeremy Lin, NBA games will continue to appeal to millions of Chinese fans. Meantime, NBA management needs to continue seeking ways to work out and through the differences in government models and cultural contexts between China and United States. Some viable actions include the promotion of Chinese youth basketball, the training service for elite basketball players, and government-level public relations. In addition, this study suggested that the research framework of glocalization would be an ever intriguing inquiry needed for other sport organizations or leagues seeking expansion to overseas markets

Community Sport Service Provision, Resident Satisfaction, and Participation

Advocating for the “gold medal strategy”, China has made great advancements in elite sports; however, the significant achievement in elite sports has not translated into the development of mass sport participations. To form a stronger foundation of a sport pyramid, more attention should be directed to community sports and promoting healthy lifestyles. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of community sport service provisions on participants’ satisfaction and in turn on their sport participation behavior. In the current study, the public sport service in community includes sport facilities, sport organizations, sport programs, fitness test, and volunteer services (fitness guide). According to the hierarchy of effects model of Lavidge and Steiner (1961), both hard services and soft services were hypothesized to exert positive influences on consumer satisfaction and participation behavior in community sport (i.e., payment and participation frequency). Of the 750 copies distributed in Guangdong, China, 576 valid questionnaires were completed and returned, yielding a usable response rate of 76.8%. The first half of the sample was used to conduct exploratory factor analyses (EFA) for the provision items; the second half was used to conduct confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) of these two measures and also conduct a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis to examine the relationships among public service provision, consumer satisfaction, and consumption behavior in community sports. The results of EFA and CFA indicated that five aspects of community sport service provision could be categorized into hard service and soft services. Specifically, hard refers to sport facility, organization building and organizing activity which can be seen and touched while soft service refers to fitness test, fitness instruction and sport information which sometimes are intangible. The results of SEM suggested that hard service provision positively influenced consumer satisfaction (β = .685, p \u3c .01), whereas soft service provision did not exert significant influence on consumer satisfaction (β = .210, p \u3e .05). Satisfaction would positively impact the frequency of participation was supported (β = .212, p \u3c .01). Consumer satisfaction would positively impact the level of payment for participating in sport organizations was rejected (β = -.298, p \u3c .01). In conclusion, the present study provided empirical evidence that hard sport service in community, as measured by the sport facility, grassroots sport organization and sport activity program, is an important element of the public sport service construct in the context of community sports. Furthermore, it highlighted that these programs have had a strong influence on resident satisfaction and participation behavior. The resulting theoretical framework is therefore applicable in this context. Lastly, the results revealed the important role of satisfaction in the prediction of residents’ future behaviors. By understanding the major drivers of residents’ behaviors, local sport councils, community managers, grassroots organizations, and residents could work together to establish a nonhierarchical and cooperative mechanism that facilitates sport participation

Push and Pull Factors in E-Sports Livestreaming: A Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Shifting from a player-oriented approach, e-sports has increasingly positioned itself as emerging spectator entertainment. In the wake of the growing online viewer market, the industry has made tremendous efforts to innovate marketing strategies and build up a base of passionate fans across the globe. To augment this endeavor, the current study investigated push and pull factors that influence e-sports online viewers’ consumption behaviors (N = 1,309) using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The authors proposed a new way to operationalize push and pull factors that have been relatively overlooked in the literature. The findings indicated that, while push and pull factors had different effects on e-sports consumption behaviors, they should be considered equally important in e-sports livestreaming. The study expanded our understanding of the attractiveness and desirability of e-sports and shed some critical light on management and marketing issues within and beyond the e-sports space

When the future of Chinese soccer is at stake

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

When the future of Chinese soccer is at stake

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