Fan Attitudes and Survey Research

Fandom is an attitude about or emotional connection to a cultural entity like a sports team. These attitudes come from a combination of experiences and psychological needs. The psychological needs are the motivations for fandom. Fandom attitudes also drive numerous fandom behaviors. The challenge in analyzing motivations and fandom attitudes is that these are psychological traits that cannot be measured by observing behavior. This chapter discusses and demonstrates the use of fan surveys to analyze fandom motivations, attitudes, and behaviors.