Year: 2013 Volume: 11 Issue: d

Abstract: Due to the ever-increasing popularity of the Internet, ethnic minority individuals living in a host country can freely follow sports in their native countries through the Internet without any geographic restrictions. In this regard, this study examined differences in online sport consumption motives of South Koreans living in the U.S. between when they consume sports in a native country (South Korea in this study) and when they consume those in a host country (the U.S. in this study). Furthermore, the study attempted to examine the relationship between the online motives and actual usage of sport-related websites in each of the two situations (i.e., consuming sports in South Korea and consuming sports in the U.S. through the Internet). Based on a review of literature on online sport consumption motives, the following eight motives were included in the survey: socialization, information, entertainment, escape, fan expression, pass time, fanship, and technical knowledge. A total of 212 participants were recruited through online and offline surveys. Results of a repeated MANOVA indicated that mean scores for six motives (i.e., socialization, information, entertainment, escape, fan expression, and pass time) were significantly higher in the context of South Korean than American sports. While fanship, entertainment, and pass time motives were significantly related to actual usage of sport-related websites in South Korean sport context, escape, pass time, information, and entertainment motives were significantly related to actual usage of sport-related websites in the American sport context. Implications and future research are also discussed.