Trail and James (2001) were the first authors who attempted to understand the motivation of spectators in sport. These researchers’ interest was sparked by the notion of gaining a deeper understanding of the psychological affinity and deep level of meaningfulness gained by spectators when following sport (Cottingham, Phillips, Hall, Gearity & Carroll, 2014; de Burca et al., 2015; Trail & James, 2001). Spectators, in this instance, refer to more than passive viewers of a sports match, but imply those individuals who, according to Sloan (1989), are persistent, engaged and active followers of the sport and who willingly invest resources in such sport over a prolonged period of time. Monfarde, Tojari and Nikbakhsh (2014) state that spectators may share a basic psychological affinity to their preferred sport, but that such affinity is influenced fundamentally by unique attributes, shaped by the individual characteristics of the different spectators. It is also important to fully comprehend such attributes as it would enable more directed efforts towards targeted communication to engaged and involved sport spectators (Wang, Zhang, & Tsuji, 2011).

According to the motivation for sport consumption theory, spectators of a specific sport have different underlying psychological motives as to why they follow and consume such sport (Cottingham et al., 2014; Karakaya, Yannopoulos & Kefalaki, 2015; Trail & James, 2001). Because people are unique, their motives for following sport will differ (Karakaya et al., 2015; Shank & Lyberger, 2014). Thus, fundamentally stated, sport spectators will have different reasons as to why a particular sport attracts them. This may include, according to Trail and James (2001):

Some authors, such as Choi, Martin, Park and Yoh (2009) have divided such motives into two categories, being psycho-sociological (personal or individual) and behavioural (game) related factors. From this perspective, personal or individual factors were associated with motives of vicarious achievement, aesthetics, the experience of drama or eustress and escape from daily life problems. Similarly, game-related motivational factors related to the spectator’s acquisition of game-related knowledge, the appreciation of the physical skill of the athletes, the physical attractiveness of players and the social interaction amongst spectators. The differentiation between personal or individual and game-related consumption factors provide a structured means through which to understand the psychological attachment of spectators to the sport (Baller, 2015; Choi et al., 2009).

As a collective, these factors primarily influence the decision of the spectator to consume sport and are directly related to buying behaviours (Cottingham et al., 2014; Izzo et al., 2014). In order to leverage the intentions of sport spectators to invest monetary resources in their preferred sport, these factors must be comprehended and adequately serviced (Kim, Greenwell, Andrew, Lee & Mahoney, 2008; Shank & Lyberger, 2014). This is also true of the South African football context. Considering the unprecedented growth that the sport has enjoyed with regards to its commercial positioning, a clearer fundamental understanding of its key stakeholder, the paying spectator, becomes paramount (Cornelissen et al., 2011). By servicing this stakeholder on the basis of one’s specific motives, direct consumer spend in the sport will increase, sustainable investment through sponsorship will be enhanced and the general economic value of the sport to the South African economy will be bolstered (Saayman & Rossouw, 2008). This will ensure that the vast economic potential of sport comes to fruition in South African football specifically (Vasilescu, Pirvu & Mehedintu, 2008).

Although the value of investigating these factors is clear, no research within the South African context pertaining to these factors, its impact or the measurement thereof could be found. The measurement of motivations relating to sports consumption is imperative to understanding these factors and to empirically link it to other individual or economic performance factors. The Motivation Scale for Sports Consumption (MSSC) is one such measure. Developed by Trail and James (2001), the MSSC has been used to assess the motivation for sport consumption of spectators in various sport contexts during the past decade. The instrument has been applied in various international contexts and has revealed valuable information about the motives that facilitate consumption of different types of sports (Shank & Lyberger, 2014).

It has contributed significantly to service those spectators in a way that is directed and specific (Kim, 2010; Wang & Matsuoka, 2015). However, the MSSC has never been used in a sample of South African sport spectators. This represents a significant research gap. By investigating the underlying motives of consumption of South Africa’s foremost sport, football, a directed marketing and engagement effort can be launched to leverage the growth potential of the sport and stimulate economic growth. Further, understanding how motivational factors associated with sports consumption link to individual positive psychological processes (such as intrinsic psychological reward) could provide valuable information for structuring football experiences to stimulate these positive experiences (sense of meaning and life satisfaction) for the spectator, which in return may enhance consumer spending (Baller, 2015; Guttmann, 2013).

Literature is rife with information about the deeply meaningful experiences sport spectators enjoy as a result of their sport consumption (Karakaya et al., 2015; Samra & Wos, 2014). For example, Potter and Keene (2012) state that sport spectators experience their consumption of sport as intrinsically rewarding and meaningful which leads to the experience of positive emotional experiences. The consumer of sport often forms a deeply cultural and ritualistic affinity to one’s preferred sport or sports team, providing such consumer with a clear sense of identity and meaning or ‘purpose’ (Chun, Gentry & McGinnis, 2005; de Burca et al., 2015; Shank & Lyberger, 2014) through the generation of positive psychological experiences (e.g. experience of life satisfaction, or happiness). This acts as a self-sustaining behaviouristic positive reinforcement for its consumption (Guttmann, 2013; Wann, Melnick, Russell & Pease, 2001). The sense of meaning or purpose evokes positive emotions in the spectator as it creates belonging to a broader community and hence often predicts aspects of well-being such as social and psychological health as well as life satisfaction (Guttmann, 2013; Wann et al., 2001; Wann, 2006). This meaning or purpose and experiences of positive emotions and life satisfaction culminate in an individualised experience of intrinsic psychological reward associated with engagement in the sports activity (Wann et al., 2001).

It is this intrinsic psychological reward that was established to be a significant driver of buying behaviour, in other words purchasing of the product or service (Mpinganjira & Dos Santos, 2013). Botha (2013) articulates that the intrinsic psychological reward a consumer experiences as the result of a particular purchase is a sustainable driver of repeated consumption and will motivate such consumer to more readily invest in consuming the product over an extended period.

Explanation for this is offered through the perspective of the attachment theory of Ainsworth and Bowlby (1991). This theory argues that people develop an intense emotional attachment to only a few products, brands or services that they regularly consume (Schouten & McAlexander, 1995). According to Bowlby (1979), the extent of that emotional attachment will determine the regularity to which the consumer will seek interaction with that product or brand. When such emotional attachment is significant and deeply rewarding, the consumer will actively look towards investing repeatedly in that product. That emotional attachment is a significant predictor of the extent to which the consumer will make a financial sacrifice and pay a premium price to consume the product or service (Thomson, MacInnes & Park, 2005). The intensity relating to the experience of life satisfaction and personal meaning, as components of intrinsic psychological reward, is a major predictor for financial investment and repeated consumption of a service (Guttmann, 2013). Further, Shuv-Ami (2014) has argued that passionate sport spectators derive life satisfaction and meaning from supporting their favourite teams through the happiness and joy they experience through their interactions with such teams. Applied within the South African football environment, it is possible to argue that a deep intrinsic psychological reward (i.e. experiences of life satisfaction and meaning), which is associated with the consumption of the sport, will harness the affinity required to stimulate repeated investment in the product.

From this perspective, intrinsic psychological reward is defined as the deeply significant experiences of purpose and meaningfulness as well as the internal positive emotional experience of overall life satisfaction and gratification sport spectators derive through their motives of consuming sport. Although various factors attribute to the experience of intrinsic psychological reward, both the presence of meaning or purpose and the experience of life satisfaction seem to be the strongest predictors (Park, Park & Peterson, 2010). Applied within this study, the intrinsic psychological reward experienced by football spectators is composed of the presence of meaning and life satisfaction. The former refers to the perception a person has that one’s life has a clear purpose, direction and significance (Steger, Frazier, Oishi & Kaler, 2006). The latter describes the extent to which an individual evaluates one’s life conditions and find those conditions as favourable, thus reflecting the status of such a person’s overall happiness (Diener, Oishi & Lucas, 2003; Van Zyl & Rothmann, 2012; Van Zyl & Stander, 2014). Both constructs are concerned with inherent reward and personal growth (Ryff & Singer, 1998; Van Zyl & Rothmann, 2014). Santos, Magramo, Oguan, Paat, and Barnachea (2012) established meaning and life satisfaction to be highly related constructs. Park et al. (2010) comment that meaning and life satisfaction cannot be separated as both are required for the well-being of people.

In the context of the attachment theory, it is possible to postulate that these deeply intrinsically psychological rewarding experiences associated with the consumption of football will lead South African spectators to repetitively engage in cyclical financial investment in products and services associated with the sport (Thomson et al., 2005). To investigate the relationship between motivation for sport consumption and intrinsic reward of South African football spectators, a breakdown of the different motives for sport consumption in relation to inherent psychological reward experiences is required.

The various motives for sport consumption as identified by Trail and James (2001) reveal close linkages with the intrinsic psychological reward factors of meaning and life satisfaction. As described in the MSSC Manual developed by Trail (2012), several dimensions of motivation for sport consumption are closely related to these constructs.

Firstly, vicarious achievement describes the motive that an individual has for social prestige, self-esteem and empowerment that come through the association with a particular sport team. This is directly related to both the eudemonic dimensions that are meaning and satisfaction (Ryff & Singer, 1998; Van Zyl & Rothmann, 2014), as this motive fundamentally influences how the sport consumer views oneself through the sport team that one identifies with. According to Sari, Eskiler and Soyer (2011), the identity which sport spectators find within their teams, as a result of the positively meaningful experiences derived from consumption, significantly impact their self-esteem, as they view the successes and failures of that team as a reflection of their own worth as people. Resultantly, the extent towards which the spectators’ identities are tied to the given sport or team influences their experiences of overall life satisfaction and meaning (Guttmann, 2013). Thus, a spectator who has the motive of vicarious achievement is likely to seek a team that is successful and as such will positively respond, on a personal level, to the achievement of such team (Sari, Eskiler & Soyer, 2011).

Secondly, acquisition of knowledge reflects the extent to which the sport consumer has a need to learn about the players and the particular sport team through various interactions. With regards to its link with intrinsic reward, we learn from the love of learning character strength as put forward by Peterson and Seligman (2004). These authors describe this character strength as the inherent willingness to acquire new knowledge and attribute it as an important element of personal resourcefulness and well-being as applied within a given context (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). This psychological strength is a strong predictor of life satisfaction and the presence of meaning as components of intrinsic psychological reward (Lee, Foo, Adams, Morgan & Frewen, 2015).

Thirdly, aesthetics refer to the appreciation for the artistic beauty of sport as a motive some consumers have that move them to consume such particular sport. Aesthetics is closely related to the character strength ‘appreciation of beauty and excellence’ as conceptualised by Peterson and Seligman (2004). Appreciation of beauty is a character strength that defines people’s ability to appreciate, recognise and take pleasure in beauty in both physical and social contexts (Allan & Duffy, 2014; Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Zhang et al., 2015). It has been argued that this character strength is regularly manifested in physical bodily reactions to the emotion of being in awe, such as experiencing goosebumps or shedding a tear in appreciation of something with high aesthetic value. These physical experiences are indicative of deeply rewarding internal emotive states pertaining to the presence of meaning and life satisfaction (Lee et al., 2015; Peterson & Seligman, 2003; Peterson & Seligman, 2004).

Fourthly, the dimension of drama or eustress reflects the motive some sport spectators exhibit to experience positive stress and arousal from the uncertainty in the outcome that some sport events bring. It has been described by Trail and James (2001) as the motive that attracts people to the edge of their seat whilst watching a closely contested sport game. Pham (1992) describes this motive as the arousal that some spectators derive from the pleasurable stress that comes from watching sport that leads such fans to experience pleasure. Pleasure is a major component in the experience of overall happiness, which directly relates to both meaning and satisfaction in life (Grimm, Kemp & Jose, 2015; Van Zyl & Rothmann, 2014).

Fifthly, escape as a motive for sport consumption reflects spectators’ need to find emission from the monotonous activity of their everyday lives, workplaces or realities towards a space which provides them with fulfilment and excitement. This is captured through the work of Sonnentag and Zijlstra (2006), who in their well-being research have highlighted that those active resources should be available to people to escape from their working lives in order to recover from strain and buffer themselves against stress. In this regard, Segrave (2000) offers an enlightening perspective: ‘one of the sources of sport’s enormous contemporary appeal is that it provides an escape, a brief and often intoxicating respite from the complexities and confusions of everyday life’ (p. 61). Therefore, the experiences associated with psychological and emotional detachment from current life–related stressors through sports consumption provides experiences of life satisfaction (Branscombe & Wann, 1991; Sonnentag, 2012).

Sixthly, physical attractiveness of athletes is a major contributing factor associated with the motivation to consume a sport. They argue that some spectators make the decision to consume sport because they find the sex appeal and athleticism of the sport participants appealing. In the domain of advertising, appealing physical attributes have long been used in marketing, as it is perceived that it will help to sell product (Klug & Vigar-Ellis, 2012). Ouwersloot and Duncan (2008) argue that sex appeal in marketing has the ability to ‘grab’ the consumers’ attention through stimulating positive emotional experiences. Physical attraction towards the athletes may in effect predict experiences of life satisfaction as it stimulates sexual desire within the spectator (Knoppers & Anthonissen, 2008).

The seventh motive for sport consumption relates to the physical skills of the players, where the spectator appreciates the level of physical superiority athletes have and enjoy the great execution of certain sport actions or tasks. Smith and Stewart (2007) stated that sport spectators develop a deep sense of pride in the superior abilities of their favourite team’s athletes and relate this to their own identity. Kupfer (1988) refer to the ‘great moments in sport’ that sport spectators crave, to which they look forward to and which provides them with a deep sense of personal reward and internal satisfaction if they are realised. These great moments may refer to a beautifully executed move, an innovative scoring opportunity or a rarely seen act of brilliance from a player (Kupfer, 1988). Jacobsen (2003) argued that the often perceived superior ability of professional athletes assists the sport spectator to develop a deep sense of self-worth as such spectator will relate such superiority to one’s own self-concept. Social identity theory dictates that, when the spectator establishes congruence between one’s definition of self and the perceived physical abundance of potential in the athletes of one’s chosen sport team, that spectator will be left with feelings of inherent satisfaction and purpose should these athletes perform well (Fink, Parker, Brett & Higgens, 2009).

Finally, social interaction as a motive refers to the need to interact with others and interact with people who share the same interests as oneself. Sport consumption has long played a pivotal role in satisfying people’s need for social interaction. It provides a powerful generic platform where people from diverse backgrounds can unite in their shared interest and exchange ideas (Cornelissen, 2007). It is this relatedness need that shape individuals’ well-being, as healthy, enjoyable relationships with others play a critical role in whether a person flourishes (Keyes, 2005). Sport provides a universal platform of engagement, where social exchanges can be made between like-minded people, who experience these exchanges as deeply meaningful and pleasurable, offering them meaning and positive emotional experiences attributing to life satisfaction in those exchanges (Funk & James, 2001).

The dimensions delineated above contribute collectively to intrinsic psychological reward as it is directly associated with the experience of meaning and life satisfaction, two closely related well-being constructs that leave people with an heightened perception of purpose and internal gratification (Park et al., 2010).

A cross-sectional survey-based research design was used to explore the relationships amongst the variables. The design is appropriate for exploratory research as it highlights the prevalence of conditions, relationships and associations of factors at a given time stamp within a specific population (Van Zyl, 2013). However, no causal factors, relationships or associations can be inferred (Graziano & Raulin, 2004).

A census-based sampling strategy was used to gather data from a diverse group of football spectators (n = 806) at a number of South African Premier League football matches in Soweto (see Table 1). The majority of the sample were black (85%), Sesotho speaking (26.2%) men (67.4%) between the ages of 31 and 40 years (30.6%) with a Grade 12 level of education (37.7%). Participants were members of the local football team’s branch (57.6%) who attended four or more games per year (70.1%) and spent less than R1000 on official football merchandise a year (32.6%). The majority of the participants accessed their favourite football team’s official digital platforms (social media, websites) three or more times a week (42.6%).

The following measuring instruments were used as part of the study:

A self-developed biographic questionnaire was developed to gather biographic and demographic information relating to participants gender, race, age, home language, level of education, membership of local football branch, physical game attendance per annum, annual spending on official football merchandise as well as digital media engagement.

MSSC, developed by Trail and James (2001), was used to measure the motivational factors associated with sports consumption. The MSSC is a multi-dimensional self-report measure consisting of 24 items measuring factors associated with individual (‘It increases my self-esteem’; ‘It provides me with an opportunity to escape the reality of my daily life for a while’) and game-related (‘I can increase my understanding of the strategy by watching the game’) motivational factors associated with sports consumption. Self-reported data on items are captured on a seven-point Likert-type rating scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree). The internal consistency of the measure is represented by Cronbach’s alpha values ranging between α = 0.75 and α = 0.91 (Trail, 2012).

The Intrinsic Psychological Reward Scale comprised two factors (life satisfaction and meaning) measured by six items taken from the satisfaction with life scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985) and the meaning in life questionnaire (Steger et al., 2006). Three items of each original questionnaire (Satisfaction with life: ‘In most ways my life is close to my ideal’, ‘The conditions of my life are excellent’ and ‘I am satisfied with life’. Meaning in Life: ‘My life has a clear sense of purpose’; ‘I have a clear sense of what makes my life meaningful’; ‘I have discovered a satisfying life purpose’) which showed the highest level of internal consistency across population groups (Diener et al., 1985; Pavot, Diener, Colvin & Sandvik, 1991; Steger et al., 2006; Temane, Khumalo & Wissing, 2014) were used to measure intrinsic psychological reward. A seven-point Likert-type rating scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree) was used to capture self-report data. The internal consistencies of the measures are represented by Cronbach’s alpha values of higher than 0.70 (Diener et al., 1985; Pavot et al., 1991; Steger et al., 2006; Temane et al.,2014)

Permission to conduct the research was obtained through the football association’s management team. Pen-on-paper self-report questionnaires were administered to participants at the stadium. Each questionnaire included a cover page explaining the purpose of the study, highlighting the rights, roles or responsibilities of all stakeholders and inviting voluntary participation in the project. No personally identifiable information was captured as part of the project. The data were then captured in a Microsoft Excel worksheet and imported into SPSS 22, whereby the dataset was cleaned and coded. Thereafter, an Mplus data file was generated.

Both the SPSS 22 (IBM SPSS Statistics, 2013) and Mplus version 7.3 (Muthén & Muthén 2014) statistical analysis software packages were used to process the data. Firstly, descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, skewness and kurtosis) and Spearman correlations were used to describe the data and to determine relationships amongst the variables. The confidence interval of statistical significance was set at 99% (p ≤ 0.01) in accordance with the guidelines of Steyn and Swanepoel (2008). Cohen’s (1988) promulgated effect sizes were used as indicators of practical significance, whereby 0.30 (medium effect) and 0.50 (large effect) were set as cut-off points.

In order to determine the internal consistency of the constructs, both Cronbach’s alpha values (lower bound limit for composite reliability) (Allen & Yen, 2002; Olckers & Van Zyl., 2015; Van Zyl, 2013) and composite reliabilities were used (Hair, Black, Babin & Anderson, 2010; Raykov, 2009; Wang & Wang, 2012). As Cronbach’s alpha has been shown to be a serious underestimate for scale reliability (Raykov, 2009), phi was used to determine the upper limit (bound) level of internal consistency or ‘composite reliability’. Colwell’s (2015) composite reliability calculator was used to estimate composite reliability in Mplus.

Structural equation modelling was used to develop a predictive model (Hair et al., 2010; Wang & Wang, 2012) for intrinsic psychological reward through motivational factors for sports consumption. Observed variables were classified as continuous variables. The maximum likelihood parameter estimate with standard errors (SEs) and the Satorra-Bentler χ² test statistic for robust skewed data (non-normality) was used as an estimator for model construction (MLM; Muthén & Muthén 2014). The Satorra-Bentler (Satorra & Bentler, 2010) method was used to determine, compare and evaluate χ² changes between different measurement models.

The following fit indices were used in the analysis:

Table 2 provides an overview of the acceptable values and cut-off points for the various fit indices as suggested by Hair et al. (2010), Muthén and Muthén (2014) as well as Wang and Wang (2012).

As such, three measurement models were evaluated and the best-fit model was used as the foundation for the structural model. Measurement models deal with the relationships between the observed and latent variables, whilst a structural model deals with the associations between the latent variables (Hair et al., 2010).

The descriptive statistics, the alpha coefficients (α), composite reliabilities (ρ) and Spearman correlations of all the measured constructs are presented in Table 3.

Table 3 shows that the composite coefficients (ρ > 0.70: Wang et al., 2008; Wang & Wang 2012) and the alpha coefficients of the scales used were acceptable (α > 0.70: Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). The results indicated that all factors are not normally distributed.

The results further showed that game-related motivational factors (r = 0.65; p ≤ 0.01; large effect) as well as both the components of intrinsic psychological reward, Life Satisfaction (r = 0.40; p ≤ 0.01; medium effect) and Meaning (r = 0.40; p ≤ 0.01; medium effect), correlated significantly positively with individual motivational factors. Further, both components of intrinsic psychological reward, Life Satisfaction (r = 0.50; p ≤ 0.01; medium effect) and Meaning (r = 0.40; p ≤ 0.01; medium effect) correlated significantly positively with game-related motivational factors but with a medium practical effect. Finally, both factors of intrinsic psychological reward related positively to one another (r = 0.58; p ≤ 0.01; large effect).

Competing theoretical measurement models were systematically compared through structural equation modelling in order to determine which fitted the data best. Only one item of the MSSC (item 1) was removed in the final model because of a poor factor loading (≤0.40) (Muthén & Muthén, 2014). No other items were removed, correlated or parcelled. Error terms were left uncorrelated. Further, continuous observed variables (responses on items) were used as indicators of first-order latent variables within the competing measurement models.

A series of confirmatory factor analyses was used in order to determine which factor structure fitted the data best. Three competing measurement models were assessed and the fit statistics are shown in Table 4:

The results indicated that the hypothesised model (Model 1), distinguishing two components of motivation for sports consumption (individual and game-related motivational factors) as well as two components of intrinsic reward (life satisfaction and meaning), fit the data well on all of the proposed fit indices: χ²_{(375, N = 806)} = 637.50 (p < 0.001; TLI = 0.95; CFI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.03; SRMR 0.05). This model estimates better model fit than any of the alternative measurement models.

Further, the Satorra-Bentler scaled χ² correction (Satorra & Bentler, 2010) was used to estimate and compare differences in the χ² as the data were non-normally distributed. The following formula was used: S-B χ² = (F₀c₀ - F₁c₁)(d₀ - d₁)/(c₀d₀ - c₁d₁).

Table 5 indicates the Satorra-Bentler (2010) differences in χ² between competing models. The results showed a large comparative discrepancy between Model 1 versus Model 2 or Model 3 in the S-B χ². Through the change in S-B χ2 between these models further evidence for support of best fit for Model 1 is presented.

The standardised regression coefficients (β-values) for the motivational factors for sports consumption as represented by individual-related motivational (β: 0.74; SE: 0.04) and game-related motivational factors (β: 0.94; SE: 0.01) as well as for the components of intrinsic psychological reward through life satisfaction (β: 0.97; SE: 0.06) and meaning (β: 0.95; SE: 0.01) in Model 1 were all significant (p ≤ 0.01).

The structural model was estimated based on the best-fitting measurement Model 1 (c.f. Table 5). Measurement Model 1 was indicative of best fit and most parsimonious. The structural model showed acceptable fit: χ²_{(375, N = 806)} = 637.49 (p < 0.001; TLI = 0.95; CFI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.03; SRMR = 0.05). The structural model is presented in Figure 1. The model predicting internal psychological reward through motivational factors associated with sports consumption (β: 0.72; SE: 0.04) was statistically significant. In the MLM-estimated equation for the structural model, motivational factors associated with sports consumption declared 52% of the variance in intrinsic psychological reward.

The results from the study suggested that the motivational dimensions that drive consumer behaviour amongst football spectators could be related to the experience of intrinsic psychological reward. This puts forward two practical considerations. From a moral point of view, the research suggested that these motivational dimensions may be related to the well-being of football spectators. Thus, by targeting particular motivational dimensions for football consumption through informed interventions, the professional football leadership fraternity can leverage of the collective potential offered through the generic platform of the sport. This can serve substantially in the quest to use sport as a platform for societal development in South Africa (Cornelissen et al., 2011). Equally important, when considering the attachment theory of Ainsworth and Bowlby (1991), it is possible to argue that the inherent psychological reward that spectators experience through their motivations to invest in football should lead to repeated and enhanced consumption of the sport. This is because a deep emotive bond is formed between a consumer and one’s chosen product or service offering when such product or service provides the consumer with deeply rewarding feelings (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991).

The football leadership fraternity is thus advised to examine closely which motivational factors are most correlated and associated with intrinsic psychological reward, in particular demographic segments of football spectators, in an effort to leverage the social and economic potential the sport yields. This can only be achieved by exploring the motives of specific and different portions of the overall football spectator community and designing marketing and engagement interventions that service those specific portions of spectators’ needs.

As is the case with all cross-sectional research designs, the study runs the risk of common method bias (Stander, De Beer & Stander, 2015). Exploring the effect of the motivational dimensions on psychological reward experienced by football spectators longitudinally may provide contextualisation for the identification of causal factors influencing the relationship, not only in South Africa but also in the wider sport marketing and consumer context. The study was further only conducted in football. Future studies can also be piloted in some of the country’s other major consumer sport codes, such as rugby or cricket. This should serve as a validation of the results presented here and establish whether different motivations exist for sport consumption in different types of sport.

Further, in order to serve the South African football spectator fraternity, it is important to cluster the motivation needs that inspire consumption, dividing it into various football spectator segments. For example, it may be that a certain part of the demographic of spectators of the sport in South Africa is moved to consumption based on varying motivational dimensions. These dimensions must be further researched to gain an understanding of their relevance to the different segments of spectators and in terms of their inherent potential to predict psychological reward of those spectators. Through a robust understanding of which of the motivation dimensions most strongly predict psychological reward in a particular part of the football spectator community, we are able to best advise the sport’s administration and leadership teams to direct targeted interventions geared towards leveraging of these dimensions. This should lead to enhanced investment, which will ultimately grow the commercial potential of the sector in total.

In the realm of football, which remains South Africa’s foremost sport from a commercial perspective (Department of Sport and Recreation, 2014), the insights produced from the study prove to be particularly relevant. Through investigating the motivational dimensions that drive sport consumption of South African football spectators within the study, a more comprehensive understanding on how to serve those spectators’ unique needs may have been established. Through addressing these needs, sports-based enterprises could focus on enhancing the intrinsic psychological reward associated with spectator sport consumption, which may in turn stimulate greater levels of emotional and financial investment from consumers. According to Smith and Stewart (2007), this may further grow this buoyant part of the South African sport tourism and leisure sector and directly contribute to economic growth through enhanced retail, merchandising and general hospitality enterprise.

Further, the study was the first to explore motivational factors that drive sports consumption amongst any sample of South African sport spectators. Secondly, it was also the first study to relate the established dimensions of motivation for sport consumption theory to the experience of intrinsic psychological reward. This is significant, particularly from an economic perspective, as the experience of psychological reward is a key prerequisite for repeated and enhanced investment of resources by consumers. The study revealed a direct relation between the motivational dimensions and psychological reward experienced by South African football spectators. This stimulates the need for future research and investigation into the specific motivational factors associated with sports consumption in order to develop business development initiatives to better provide in the need of spectators and enhance the value proposition of sports-related initiatives.