Using Optimal Distinctiveness Theory to Understand Identification with a Nonlocal Professional Hockey Team

Andre M. Andrijiw · Craig G. Hyatt

55 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Sport Management

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Sports, Gender, and Society Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification Sports Analytics and Performance

Abstract

In an attempt to understand the lived experiences of those individuals who grew up within the fan region of one professional hockey team yet chose instead to identify with a nonlocal alternative, the authors interviewed 20 Ontario (Canada) based fans of distant National Hockey League teams. Utilizing Brewer’s (1991, 2003) theory of optimal distinctiveness to examine the stories of participants, it was found that these fans maintained their team allegiances over time because doing so allowed them to achieve feelings of both uniqueness and belongingness. Sport managers can help facilitate feelings of belongingness by utilizing various communication and marketing strategies to better recognize and include their distant fans. Such strategies should ultimately result in the strengthening of the fan-team bond.

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References

1980Qualitative research and evaluation methods 1998Qualitative research and case study applications in education 2004The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behavior 1969The Handbook of Social Psychology 2000An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict 1987Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists 1986Psychology of intergroup relations 1989Social Identity Theory and the Organization

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