Consumerism in sport organizations: conceptualizing and constructing a research scale

Abstract

The rising influence of consumer culture on sport participation is arguably one of the most influential trends in sport participation in the last decades. However, little is known about how such an attitude can be understood and what its consequences for everyday life in sport organizations are. This article asks how a research scale for consumerism in sport organizations could be conceptualized and constructed. Using a mixed methods approach, a research scale consisting of five sub-dimensions was developed to measure consumerist attitudes in sport organizations. The scale was tested on 303 sport participants in various sport organizations. The resulting 25-item research scale for consumerism in sport organizations can be of use to sport scholars, sport policy makers and sport administrators and managers who want to gain a better understanding of the relationship between sport participants and sport organizations.