WHY ARE AMERICANS ADDICTED TO BASEBALL? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF FANDOM IN KOREA AND THE UNITED STATES

Theories of rational addiction posit that certain habit‐forming goods—characterized by an increasing marginal utility of consumption—generate predictable dynamic patterns of consumer behavior. It has been suggested that attendance at sporting events represents an example of such a good, as evidenced...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contemporary economic policy 2008-01, Vol.26 (1), p.32-48
Main Authors: LEE, YOUNG H., SMITH, TRENTON G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictions
Analysis
Appreciation
Baseball
Behavior
Commercialization
Comparative analysis
Consumer behavior
Consumer behaviour
Consumption
Cultural differences
Economic aspects
Economic policy
Economics of sport
Expected utility
Expenditures
Generalized method of moments
Habits
Human behaviour
Korean Professional Baseball League
Major League Baseball
Price elasticity
Professional baseball
Profit maximization
Profits
South Korea
Sports
Sports associations
Sports fans
Sports spectators
Studies
U.S.A
United States
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Summary:Theories of rational addiction posit that certain habit‐forming goods—characterized by an increasing marginal utility of consumption—generate predictable dynamic patterns of consumer behavior. It has been suggested that attendance at sporting events represents an example of such a good, as evidenced by the pricing strategies of commercial sports interests. In this essay, we provide new evidence in support of rational addiction for the case of Major League Baseball but fail to find such support in data from the Korean Professional Baseball League. We then review the scientific literature on sports fans from the perspective of human behavioral ecology and propose a theory of endogenous habit formation among sports fans that could explain our findings. (JEL C32, D83, D87, D91, L83)
ISSN:1074-3529
1465-7287
DOI:10.1111/j.1465-7287.2007.00052.x