The Sport Product

The basis for using person-situation segmentation in a sport marketing context is found in the sport product itself. Researchers in the field of sport marketing have identified several characteristics of sport that are generally unlike other forms of business.

Unique Aspects of Sport

Unlike most products available in the marketplace, sport cannot be sampled; the customer cannot touch, taste, or view it before the competition. Mullin, et al. (2000) identified at least seven unique characteristics of sport, which are situational in nature.

Sport Demand Tends to Fluctuate Widely. Most sport organizations face special problems in balancing a supply of the product with consumer demand. Because sport is seasonal, it is natural that the demand for products relating to baseball will increase in the spring and decrease during the off-season. The seasonal demand concept also manifests itself on opening day, when the excitement for the team is typically high at the beginning of the season and either wanes or increases as the season progresses, depending on the team's fortunes in the division and league.

Sport Is Intangible and Subjective. Few businesses are faced with the dilemma of such a variety of opinion regarding the performance and output of the organization. Each spectator and participant develops a singular personal assessment of the activity each time it is consumed. The athletes involved in the competition and the spectators watching it are important sources of their own satisfaction.

Consumers Personally Identify With Sport. Cialdini, Borden, Thorne, Walker, Freeman, and Sloan (1976) coined the term basking-in-reflected-glory (BIRGing), a concept illustrative of sports fans vicariously living through sports when "our" team does well and distancing themselves from it when "they" fail. Cialdini et al. found that team apparel sales increased after wins and decreased following losses.

The personal identification of sport was further developed by Sutton, McDonald, Milne, and Cimperman (1997), who identified a "conceptual framework of fan identification and the levels, motivations and benefits of such identification" (p. 15).

The Sport Competition or Event Is Manufactured and Consumed Onsite, Resulting in an Inconsistent and Unpredictable Product. People produce sport, and people are inconsistent. Although most businesses would fail quickly if the consumer could not rely on a consistent product, sport organizations use this characteristic to attract fans. Next weekend's football game will not be identical to the last one. Even though fans want their team to win, sport consumers thrive on not knowing what the outcome of the competition will be. Because of the skill level of the home and opposing teams, injury status of key players, even the weather, each event results in a different competitive outcome and a different response by fans.

Sport Marketers Have No Control Over the Composition of the Core Product. Because of this reality, sport marketers concentrate on product extensions. The use of a situational segmentation model would not offer control of the core product, but it would allow the marketer to adjust the product extensions for various segments of fans.

Social Facilitation Is a Key Aspect of Sport Consumption. With few exceptions, sport is generally enjoyed in groups of two or more people in a public setting. Hence, the interaction between individuals at the event often determines the level of satisfaction each time the event is consumed.

Prices Are Determined by the Marketer's Sense of Consumers' Wants.

It is difficult to price the individual sport product using traditional cost-benefit approaches. Additionally, because there are numerous variables involved with satisfying the sport consumer (e.g., seat location, parking ease and proximity to the stadium, in-arena services, quality and variety of food, and so on), and the sport marketer has no control over many of these variables, it is difficult for sport marketers to price the product offerings to consistently satisfy all consumers.

Elements of the Sport Product

To properly identify the situations applicable for each of the seven unique aspects of sport, these characteristics must first be connected to the specific elements of the sport product. Several sport marketing experts (Brooks, 1994; Mullin et al., 2000) have developed specific domains of the sport product to better explain its nature.

Brooks (1994) divided the sport product into tangible and intangible elements. The tangible elements include (a) sport, (b) participants, and (c) team.

The intangible elements are the psychic qualities of (a) emotions, (b) experiences, and (c) feelings. The tangible element of sport defines what game is being played. Participants include athletes, coaches, and environment. Team refers to the participants in the game and the level of competition that is involved. The intangible elements are illustrated through such things as "the high we get . . . the thrill of winning ... the satisfaction (we derive) . . . (and) the pride we feel when our team wins" (Brooks, 1994, p. 88).

Mullin et al. (2000) outlined seven specific elements that constitute the sport product: (a) the game form itself; (b) the event and its stars; (c) the ticket; (d) the organization; (e) the facility; (f) equipment, clothing, and novelties; and (g) personnel and processes. The game form is explained as the generation of winners and losers, which accounts primarily for the popularity of sport. The event and its stars represents the idea that human drama is central to any sporting event. The ticket element recognizes the promotional opportunities that can be provided via the ticket stub. Of particular importance to the community is the reputation of another element of the sport product—the organization. The facility is a tangible aspect of sport that can be controlled by managers. Onsite vendors generate the element of equipment, clothing, and novelties, or in other words, all merchandise that is offered at the event related to the sport. Personnel and processes refers to the level of service that sport customers receive while attending or participating in sport.

Continue reading here: The Sport Atmosphere

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