Through the somewhat novel use of conjoint analysis, this work gains insight into fans’ initial preference formations, the weights given to team attributes, and the complexity of the decision task. Two separate studies investigate various team preference factors, including: winning percentage, presence of high-profile “all-star” players, geographic association, social affiliation, and team history within a league. Sport-category differences, gender differences, and fan identification-level differences are explored. Findings suggest fans, in general, appear to view the big three sports of...Read more
