Fan-Team Relationship Quality Scale

What it measures

Measures the quality of the relationship between a sports fan and a sports team, encompassing satisfaction with game experiences, happiness with team efforts toward loyal fans, perceived relationship quality, team integrity, trustworthiness, honesty, care, and worthiness of fan support. Authors referred to this as relationship quality, drawing on Garbarino and Johnson's (1999) customer relationship framework. Validated across three consecutive NBA seasons with large community samples.

Response format

7-point Likert-type

Scale items

• In general, I am satisfied with the experiences I get from attending this team's games.
• I am happy with the efforts this [league] team is making towards loyal fans like me.
• As a loyal fan, I have a high quality relationship with this [league] team.
• This [league] team has high integrity.
• This [league] team can be trusted by fans.
• This [league] team is honest and truthful to fans.
• I really care about this [league] team.
• It is worthwhile for me to support this [league] team.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Authors labelled this 'relationship quality', not attitude. Adapted from Garbarino and Johnson (1999), Journal of Marketing, 63(April), 70-87. CFA confirmed acceptable model fit across all three seasons. Convergent and discriminant validity supported. AVEs: .70 (2009-10), .71 (2010-11), .73 (2011-12). Composite reliability used rather than Cronbach's alpha. Scale blends satisfaction, trust, commitment, and caring sub-dimensions into a single factor. Originally used in NBA context but applicable to other sports with minor wording adjustments.

Citation

Lacey, R., Kennett-Hensel, P.A., & Manolis, C. (2015). Is corporate social responsibility a motivator or hygiene factor? Insights into its bivalent nature. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(3), 315-332.

Keywords