Multivariate Analysis

Full Answer Section

1. Ticket Price Effect: Higher ticket prices will have a negative impact on fan attendance, independent of social media engagement and opponent strength. (H3)

Data Collection:

• Data on social media engagement metrics (average likes, comments, shares per post) can be collected from the team's official social media pages for a specific period (e.g., one season).
• Fan attendance data can be obtained from the league's official website or the team's website.
• Opponent strength can be measured using a metric like opponent winning percentage.
• Ticket price data can be obtained from the team's website.

Ethical Considerations:

• Publicly available data will be used, ensuring anonymity.
• Informed consent is not required as data is not collected from individuals.

Reliability and Validity:

• Using official sources for data collection enhances reliability.
• The chosen metrics for social media engagement, opponent strength, and ticket price are widely used and considered valid measures.

Multicollinearity:

• A correlation matrix will be used to check for multicollinearity among independent variables (social media engagement, opponent strength, ticket price). High correlations (>0.8) might necessitate variable removal or transformation.

Multiple Regression Analysis:

• Software like SPSS will be used to conduct a multiple regression analysis. Fan attendance will be the dependent variable, and social media engagement, opponent strength, and ticket price will be the independent variables.

Presentation and Interpretation of Findings:

• Regression results will be presented in a table, showing coefficients, standard errors, p-values, and R-squared (coefficient of determination).
• A significant positive coefficient for social media engagement (H1) would indicate that higher engagement leads to higher attendance.
• A significant positive coefficient for opponent strength (H2) would suggest attendance is influenced by the perceived competitiveness of the game.
• A significant negative coefficient for ticket price (H3) would support the idea that high prices deter fans from attending.

Contribution to the Field:

This study will contribute to sports management by:

• Investigating the increasingly important role of social media in fan engagement and its potential impact on attendance.
• Providing data-driven insights for teams to optimize their social media strategies to boost fan engagement and ultimately, attendance.
• Examining the interplay between social media engagement, opponent strength, and ticket price in influencing fan attendance decisions.

Sample Solution

Research Topic: The Impact of Social Media Engagement on Fan Attendance at Sporting Events

Hypotheses:

1. Positive Social Media Engagement Effect: There will be a positive relationship between a sports team's average social media engagement (likes, comments, shares) and fan attendance at home games. (H1)
2. Opponent Strength Effect: Teams playing stronger opponents will see a higher average fan attendance compared to games against weaker opponents, regardless of social media engagement. (H2)