A Study Of CBA League Fans’ Motives For Engagement On Social Media

In the context of "Internet+Sport" in China,the advantages of social media have become increasingly evident.The more participants and their engagement behaviors in professional sports social media,the more managers pay attention to the activities in social media,in order to meet the needs of professional sports development.This study explores the engagement motivations of CBA fans in social media and the impact of these motivations on fans’ engagement behavior.This paper uses literature,interviews,questionnaires,and mathematical and statistical methods to conduct the study.The purpose of this study is to investigate the fan engagement motives in the official social media of the CBA League by understanding why and how fans engage in the CBA League on social media,to understand the impact of these motives on fan engagement behaviors.The study aims to help CBA to develop social media engagement strategies for fan groups,provide social media content that can meet the needs of fans,and thus increase their engagement and commercial revenue.The findings of this paper are as follows:The main components of the engagement motivation of fan in the official social media of CBA league are information,entertainment,star players,interpersonal relationship,passing time,and reward,among which information,reward,interpersonal relationship and entertainment are the more important motivations.Fan engagement behaviors on the official CBA League social media include consumption behaviors(e.g.,watching videos,reading posts and user comments)and contribution behaviors(e.g.,commenting,replying,asking questions),and engagement motivations have a positive effect on both types of fan engagement behaviors,especially contribution behaviors.According to the use and satisfaction theory,this study introduces motivational variables to construct a model based on the characteristics of CBA fans.A series of validation ensures its strong explanatory power and applicability in the official social media of CBA league,expands the consumer research ideas of professional sports social media,and provides a reference for the subsequent research.In addition,by analyzing the internal motivations of fans’ engagement in the official social media of the CBA league and their influence on behavior,this study helps sports managers understand the potential needs of fans more deeply and provides valuable references for them to more effectively develop social media engagement strategies for fan groups,expand social media influence,enhance fan engagement,and achieve marketing goals.