When Passion Meets Belonging: A Study on the Influence of Event Identification and Urban Identification on Fans’ Consumption Behavior

Abstract

Grounded in Social Identity Theory, this study develops a dual framework of event and urban identification to investigate their synergistic effects on sports event fans’ consumption behavior. It also examines the heterogeneous effects of fan origin (local vs. non-local) and companionship (solo vs. accompanied viewing). Using on-site survey data from the 2024 Chengdu Thomas & Uber Cup, hierarchical regression analysis and t-tests yielded the following results. Both event and urban identification positively influenced fans’ consumption behavior, with urban identification showing a stronger effect. Local fans demonstrated a more pronounced impact of urban identification on consumption, while non-local fans exhibited a stronger role of event identification. Soloviewing fans had higher event identification, resulting in greater ticket consumption, whereas accompanied-viewing fans showed stronger urban identification, leading to increased peripheral licensed merchandise consumption. These findings extend Social Identity Theory’s application to sports consumption and clarify the dynamic mechanisms of event-city integration. Theoretical contributions involve quantifying the synergistic effects of dual identification and incorporating Person-Positivity Bias Theory to explain companions’ moderating role. Practical implications include stratified marketing strategies for event organizers, such as enhancing city cultural integration for local fans and highlighting event uniqueness for non-local fans.