How sport consumers cope with a loss: a multi-group analysis by psychological importance

Purpose This study examines sport consumer coping (after a loss) as a person-environment transaction based on the transactional theory of stress and coping. With psychological importance (of a win) set as a boundary condition, psychological needs (i.e. arousal, achievement, social) unfulfilled after a loss are investigated as predictors of coping strategy selection and key coping strategies' (i.e. positive thinking, emotional venting, emotional support, avoidance) effects on negative affect are assessed to understand coping effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach Targeting supporters of the losing team in Super Bowl LIII, data were collected from a three-wave survey (i.e. before, immediately after, 1-day after a loss) and analyzed with multi-group SEM (high vs. low psychological importance groups) to explore/compare the relations among need unfulfillment, coping strategies and negative affect. Findings Meaningful associations among need unfulfillment, coping strategies and negative affect are reported, with patterns of associations being distinctive based on levels of psychological importance (e.g. more active coping in the high group, distinction more notable for arousal and social unfulfillments). Emotional venting (in the high group) and emotional support (in the low group) are identified as effective, whereas avoidance is counter-productive (in both groups). Originality/value Examining coping as an ongoing, complex and conditional process, this study paints a more holistic picture of sport consumer coping. Novel insights are offered on coping strategy selection/effectiveness and the moderation of psychological importance. Findings inform strategies to facilitate sport consumer coping that can help develop long-term consumer relations based on more positive (or less negative) experiences.