Fan Motivation and Behavior in Soccer

Biscaia, R., Correia, A., Rosado, A., Maroco, J., & Ross, S. (2012). The effects of emotions on football spectators’ satisfaction and behavioral intentions, European Sport Management Quarterly, 12(3), 227-242

The Authors Credentials

The article is written by four authors that include Rui Biscaia, Abel Correia, António Rosado, João Maroco and Stephen Ross. The article however failed to give the information about the authors. Hence the credibility and qualification of the authors can not be ascertained. Lack of details regarding the authors’ qualification and authority make readers to be unable to justify precisely the competencies of the authors in the study.

Research Objectives

The purpose of the research study was to investigate the relationship that exists between fans satisfaction, emotions and behavioral intentions during football games (Biscaia et al, 2012). The research study was conducted in Portugal using top football league in the country. The research question is clearly stated in the article. This gives the readers to be able to identify the research question with ease. The authors also defined the research question properly and adequately making it to be understandable and clear to the readers.

Effective research study should reflect on the past research work having similar topics. In this article, the authors ensured that they reviewed the past studies on the topic and build the study based on the previous studies conducted on the research problem. This makes the study to be relevant and able to address the problems that might have not been adequately addressed in the past studies. It also shows the readers that the authors are aware of other studies on the topic hence will contribute to the improvement of the previous studies.

Language Used

The language used in a research study should be understandable to the targeted audience. When evaluating the appropriateness of language used in a research study, there should be a consideration of the targeted audience of the study. This study targeted the general public especially the sports spectators. The language used in this study should therefore be understandable to the public. The authors of the article used simple language that is understandable to ordinary people. This makes the article to be unbiased and suitable for large number of audience. The choices of words are appropriate to the targeted audience and do not include elements of biasness towards gender, race or age.

Sources

The sources used in a research study can determine the credibility and reliability of the study. Recent sources are appropriate for research studies since they provide the most current information about the study. The authors used sources that are recent with majority of the sources being published between 2000 and 2010. Only a few of the sources were published between 1994 and 1999. This makes the study to use the most recent information on the topic hence improves its credibility. The authors also used large number of sources in the study. The total number of sources used in the study was 62 (Biscaia et al, 2012). Sources were also diversified and taken from different journals, books and online sources. This makes the information obtained to be reliable and credible.

Illustration

The article used illustrations in form of diagrams. The main diagrams used in the study were graphs and charts. The use of diagrams makes the article to be more informative as it facilitates readers understanding of various observations and concepts. However some of the statistical illustrations used were biased since people without statistical background could not be able to understand them. The variety of diagrams used for illustration is also insufficient. The authors should have used a variety of illustration to ensure that all the targeted audience could be able to understand the concepts illustrated. Some of the illustrations such as statically illustration are not necessary since the article targeted not only readers with statistical background but also readers without statistical knowledge. In this case, the authors should have used simple words to explain the concepts illustrated using statistical symbols.

Methodology

Since the article is a research study, the methodology used should be in accordance the requirements of the study. The authors used a sample of 466 participants (Biscaia et al, 2012). The participants selected for the study was adequate to reflect the entire population in the study. The participants were also randomly and voluntarily selected from the spectators of Portuguese football league. This enabled the sample to be unbiased making the results to be reliable. All ages were represented in the sample and ranged between 13 to 65 years old. This age bracket reflect majority of spectators of football matches.

The sample was also made of both male and female. The number of male was more than the number of female in the sample. Although the composition of gender in the study sample can be regarded as biased, various research indicates that more male attend football matches as compared to women. Hence the composition of the sample represents gender distribution in football matches. The method used to collect data was appropriate since the research used questionnaire which is an important instrument for collecting primary sources of data. The analysis of the results was also clearly explained using all the parameters that the study used in analyzing and investigating the results.

The Findings and Conclusion

The findings of the results were clearly outlined in the article. The major finding was that negative emotions were different from each other (Biscaia et al, 2012). This findings is supported by various literatures review that the author clearly stated such as the research conducted by Zeelenberg and Pieters in 1999. The findings of the study indicate that there was difficulty in obtaining measurements of emotion. This is because emotions can be caused by various factors hence it is not obvious that emotions of the spectators were as a result of the satisfaction or dissatisfaction in the football matches. The findings also come up with clear recommendation for the future studies based on the study limitations. One of the recommendations was to include a number of football matches in the sample. This study only included a single football matches hence it was not appropriate representation of all the football matches.

Reference

Biscaia, R., Correia, A., Rosado, A., Maroco, J., & Ross, S. (2012). The effects of emotions on

football spectators’ satisfaction and behavioural intentions, European Sport Management Quarterly, 12(3), 227-242