Stadium visitors' smartphone usage and digital resource integration

Abstract

Purpose

Smartphones have become ubiquitous devices that enable individuals to integrate digital resources in virtually all value co-creation processes, including visiting sport events. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to understand smartphone-enabled digital resource integration in the context of sport events from an individual intra-perspective. It thereby connects the perspectives of Service Dominant Logic and Experiential Computing.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual model was developed and empirically tested utilizing a survey of 707 visitors of eight first and second league soccer, handball and basketball matches in Germany. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The results reveal that stadium visitors integrate sport event-related and unrelated digital resources to co-create value at sport events. While event-unrelated digital resources generally have more influence on visitors' perceived value, their importance is decreasing with higher team identification. Digital resources in the form of sports betting opportunities are only relevant in some specific contexts. Hence, both individual and contextual characteristics determine digital resource integration.

Originality/value

This study integrates the perspectives of value co-creation at sport events and experiential computing and proposes a conceptual model exploring how sport event visitors enrich their experience through the integration of sport event-related and unrelated smartphone-enabled digital resources. By illuminating the intra-level perspective of sport event visitors' resource integration, it provides the basis for future studies on digital resource integration on higher levels of aggregation including engagement platforms and entire sport event ecosystems.

Citation

Horbel, C., Buck, C., Diel, S., Reith, R. and Walter, Y. (2021), "Stadium visitors' smartphone usage and digital resource integration", Sport, Business and Management, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 10-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-10-2019-0099