Segmenting Motivation: An Analysis of Fantasy Baseball Motives and Mediated Sport Consumption

Fantasy sport consumer behavior research is a burgeoning area of inquiry as this growing segment of sport fans exhibits unconventional, yet robust media consumption habits. In addition, consumer motivation and market segmentation represent core principles within the study of marketing, yet the integration of these two essential concepts with regard to sport consumers is limited. The purpose of this study was to explore fantasy baseball motives, develop a motive-based taxonomy of users, and quantify the differences between segments through an examination of mediated sport consumption. An exploratory hierarchal cluster analysis with a subsequent K-means analysis was conducted to determine the number of segments. Additionally, a MANOVA was performed to ascertain behavioral differences between the motive-based clusters. Four distinct segments emerged with statistically significant differences between each with regard to mediated consumption intentions. The following paper addresses theoretical and practical implications for academics and practitioners. Future research is also suggested. Fantasy sport participation is one of the fastest growing and most immersive activities on the Internet. Research estimates participants spend an average of five to seven hours per week engaged in activities related to their fantasy team (Weiss, 2007). In addition, the average fantasy sport participant represents corporate America’s most-coveted demographic with regard to consumption habits and discretionary income (Dwyer & Drayer, 2010; Fisher, 2008). As a result, professional leagues and teams, media companies, and corporate partners are aggressively looking for effective strategies to extend this online behavior to other forms of consumption. However, two challenges are associated with the fantasy sport market—its size (≈30 million participants) and its demographic homogeneity (Fantasy Sport Trade Association, 2008b). Therefore, in order to extrapolate differences in this population to create more effective and streamlined marketing communications, there is a need for additional and creative means of market segmentation. One way to gain insight into this market is to quantify why fantasy sport participants engage in the activity and understand how their consumption of the general sport product is related. In other words, exploring motivational theory and consumption habits related to fantasy sport will offer sport marketers and managers valuable information to more properly package products and services to meet the unique needs and wants of this lucrative population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore fantasy baseball motives and mediated sport consumption as a means of advanced, psychographic sport market segmentation. Market Segmentation in Sport Market segmentation is the process of dividing a large population into smaller, more uniform groups based on unique similarities. For marketers, segmentation is required in addition to product differentiation as a means to achieve successful marketing objectives (Smith, 1956). It is also a fundamental process for