PurposeThis study aims to investigate how message sidedness affects the impact of fake news posted on social media on consumers' emotional responses.Design/methodology/approachThe study involves a face-tracking experiment in which 198 participants were exposed to different fake news messages concerning the COVID-19 vaccine. Specifically, participants were exposed to fake news using (1) a one-sided negative fake news message in which the message was entirely unfavorable and (2) a two-sided fake news message in which the negative message was mixed with favorable information. Noldus FaceReader 7, an automatic facial expression recognition system, was used to recognize participants' emotions as they read fake news. The authors sampled 17,450 observations of participants' emotional responses.FindingsThe results provide evidence of the significant influence of message sidedness on consumers' emotional valence and arousal. Specifically, two-sided fake news positively influences emotional valence, while one-sided fake news positively influences emotional arousal.Originality/valueThe current study demonstrates that research on fake news posted on social media may particularly benefit from insights regarding the potential but often overlooked importance of strategic design choices in fake news messages and their impact on consumers' emotional responses.

Effective digital literacy interventions can positively influence social media users’ ability to identify fake news content. This research aimed to (a) introduce a new experiential training digital literacy intervention strategy, (b) evaluate the effect of different digital literacy interventions (i.e., priming critical thinking and an experiential training exercise) on the perceived accuracy of fake news and individuals’ subsequent online behavioral intentions, and (c) explore the underlying mechanisms that link various digital literacy interventions with the perceived accuracy of fake news and online behavioral intentions. The authors conducted a study, leveraging online experimental data from 609 participants. Participants were randomly assigned to different digital literacy interventions. Next, participants were shown a Tweeter tweet containing fake news story about the housing crisis and asked to evaluate the tweet in terms of its accuracy and self-report their intentions to engage in online activities related to it. They also reported their perceptions of skepticism and content diagnosticity. Both interventions were more effective than a control condition in improving participants’ ability to identify fake news messages. The findings suggest that the digital literacy interventions are associated with intentions to engage in online activities through a serial mediation model with three mediators, namely, skepticism, perceived accuracy and content diagnosticity. The results point to a need for broader application of experiential interventions on social media platforms to promote news consumers’ ability to identify fake news content.

Based on social identity, self-categorization, and optimal distinctiveness theories, this article argues that fans of team sports clubs (TSCs) may position themselves as members of their TSCs or as unique, individual sports fans. To date, no published, validated instrument has been designed to measure differences in sports fans’ personal and social identity orientation. We conducted three studies to test the validity and reliability of the Fan Social–Personal Identity Salience (FSPIS) scale. In the first two, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed. The third study used a structural equation model to test the consequences of the new scale in an extension of the test of its nomological network validity. The data for the current research was collected using three distinct and separate empirical surveys of professional basketball fans in Israel. Our findings show that there is a moderate correlation between social and personal identities, indicating that a low level of social identity is not the same as personal identity. The FSPIS scale predicted fan optimism and satisfaction, which, in turn, partially mediated the effect on involvement. The uniqueness of the proposed scale is that it is a continuous scale that is able to capture mixed identity salience and variations in its magnitude.

While the home environment provides a crucial context for aging, considerable knowledge gaps remain regarding how perceptions of care and sense of security impact older people’s subjective psychological well-being. The current study aimed to assess the attitudes of older people during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel and compared older people living in sheltered housing with those living in independent housing in the community. The participants included 235 respondents living in sheltered housing and 726 participants living in independent housing. Participants living in sheltered housing were more likely to feel that they were being cared for than those living in independent housing in the community. Perception of care received partially mediated the effect of type of housing on the sense of financial security and health security. In addition, a sense of security (both financial and health) partially mediated the effect of perception of care received on the sense of meaning in life, life satisfaction, and optimism.

PurposeThe current study postulated that fans' social identities (derived from the team sport clubs of which they perceive themselves to be members) coexist with their personal identities (derived from views of themselves as unique, individual sport fans). The study examined the relationship between identity salience and both positive and negative aspects of fans' attitudes, emotions and behaviours.Design/methodology/approachSeven hundred and twelve (712) Israeli professional football fans participated in this study. The study employed a survey drawn from an Internet panel with more than fifty thousand members.FindingsUtilizing structural equation modelling (SEM), the authors demonstrated that while social identity salience is related to positive aspects of being a sport fan (love of a favourite team and loyalty), it is also related to negative aspects of being a sport fan (hatred and perceptions of the appropriateness of fan aggression). Personal identity salience was found to be related to the decrease in negative outcomes of being a fan (hatred and perceptions of the appropriateness of fan aggression).Research limitations/implicationsMarketers and sport organizations will benefit from stimulating sport fans' personal identity salience to mitigate possible negative consequences of team affiliation.Originality/valueThe current study expands upon past sport management studies by demonstrating the existence of relationships between sport fans' identity salience and their emotions, attitudes and behaviours. The identity salience of fans is relevant from both academic and applicative perspectives.

Aggression and antisocial behaviour in sport are of significant concern for team sport clubs (TSCs) around the world. Although several types of fan aggression and antisocial behaviour scales that have furthered our understanding of TSC aggression have been used in sport literature, a reliable and valid instrument that measures sport fans' perceptions of both fan base aggression and team aggression in TSCs from a holistic perspective has not previously existed. This study developed and tested a scale that examines TSC aggression through two different measures: fan aggression, which measures fans' perceptions of the behaviour of their favourite team's fan base, and team aggression, which measures fans' perceptions of their favourite team's (i.e., coach's, players', and management's) aggression. The scale was calibrated and validated in three studies, one that used exploratory factor analysis, one that used confirmatory factor analysis, and one that used nomological network validity. Each study was distinct from the others and employed separate and independent samples. The data for all the studies were collected from an internet panel. The participants were Israeli Soccer fans. The findings show that the club aggression scale (CAS) has positive, direct, and significant relationships with self-reported aggression and perceptions of the appropriateness of aggression among sport fans. In addition, fans' hatred of rival teams and depression as a result of their team's performance significantly and positively mediate these relationships. From a managerial perspective, better understanding fans' perception of TSC aggression can assist managers in their attempts to reduce violence.

This study employs the customer-centric model of brand communities (including fan-fan, fan-management, fan-team, and fan-product relationships) to examine sports fans through the two lenses of team identification and fan loyalty and explore the effect of these constructs on fans’ behavior. The study used an online panel-based survey to collect data from 742 football fans. Also, the study utilized exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and nomological network analysis to establish the validity and reliability of a new scale of fan-centric relationships of team sports clubs (TSCs). Utilizing structural equation modelling, it was demonstrated that all four levels of fan relationships significantly predicted both team identification and fan loyalty. Furthermore, both team identification and fan loyalty significantly predicted intention to attend games. Identifying and classifying the different levels of fan-centric relationships may provide TSCs with the potential to strengthen fans’ identification with and loyalty to the team and, consequently, increase consumption.

The current study compares the perceptions of older persons living in sheltered housing to those living independently in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study targeted respondents aged 70+ years in Israel. Nine hundred and sixty-one (961) older adults completed the survey. Respondents living in sheltered accommodation were more satisfied with their lives and more optimistic than those living in independent housing. In addition, they reported more positively on indicators of meaning in life. Moreover, older people living in sheltered housing tended to assess their health status more positively than those living in the community.

Purpose The growing proportion of older fans and their potential economic value have increased the need for an improved understanding of age differences in fan behaviour. Building on socioemotional selectivity theory, the current study examines the impact of age differences on fan hatred as well as on the extent to which fans actually engage in aggressive activities and fans' perceptions of the levels of appropriateness of certain physical and verbal acts of aggression. Design/methodology/approach The study used an online panel-based survey that offered access to a real-world population of sport fans. The participants were 742 fans of professional football (soccer). Findings Results from structural equation modelling indicated that older fans reported lower levels of fan hatred, lower self-reported aggression and lower acceptance of physical and verbal aggression. Moreover, fan hatred partially mediated the relationship between age and levels of aggression and between age and acceptance of verbal aggression. In addition, fan hatred fully mediated the relationship between age and acceptance of physical aggression. Originality/value The current study makes two important contributions. First, it demonstrates that sport clubs may particularly benefit from understanding the potential but often neglected importance of older sport fans in relation to the problematic phenomenon of fan aggression. Second, it offers a thorough theoretical account of the manner in which fan hatred plays a significant role in the relationships between age and fan aggressiveness.

Purpose This study, an empirical research, aims to construct and validate a new love-hate scale for sports fans and tested its antecedents and consequences. Design/methodology/approach The scale was designed and validated in three separate empirical survey studies in the context of Israeli professional basketball. In Phase 1, the authors verified the factorial validity of the proposed scale using exploratory factor analysis. In Phase 2, the authors conducted a confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling. In Phase 3, the authors tested the nomological network validity of the scale. Findings The findings show that fans' involvement, loyalty and fandom significantly predicted their love–hate, which in turn significantly predicted self-reported fan aggression, fans' acceptance of fan aggression, price premium and frequency of watching games. Research limitations/implications The model was tested on a relatively small sample of fans within a single country. This lack of generalizability should be addressed in future studies by examining the model in other sports contexts and countries. Practical implications This study suggests that understanding the properties of the love–hate measure may assist team sports clubs in identifying, preventing and controlling potential fan aggression. Originality/value The study provides three incremental contributions above and beyond existing research: it develops and validates a scale for measuring the phenomenon of sports fans' love and hate as mixed emotions; it makes it possible to capture the variations in the magnitude of fans' love–hate; and it relates fans' love–hate to important attitudinal and behavioral outcomes.

The present study examines the mechanisms of the halo effect and the scepticism effect as alternative explanations for the association between a firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement and consumers' perceptions of its tax behaviour. The authors conduct two experimental studies to examine the impact of a company's CSR domain on consumers' perceptions of its tax practices (Study 1) and the impact of a company's CSR engagement and tax practices on consumers' evaluations of that company (Study 2). It was found that consumers' perceptions of a firm's tax practices critically depend on CSR domains. Specifically, when inferring tax perceptions from CSR engagement, consumers factor in their perceptions of the greater direct reputational benefits that firms derive from external CSR engagement (environmental and philanthropic CSR) compared with those they derive from internal CSR engagement (activities focused on intraorganisational stakeholders). Suggestions for managerial implications and future research are also discussed.

In the current study, the explored the moderating role of ageing in the relationship between team identification/fandom and fan aggression. The authors used an online panel-based survey that offered access to a realworld population of sports fans. Participants were 740 fans of Israeli professional basketball. Results from structural equation modelling demonstrated that older fans reported higher levels of mere sports fandom and lower levels of self-reported aggression and acceptance of aggression. Moreover, age moderated the relationships between team identification (or fandom) and self-reported aggression, such that team identification (or fandom) was more strongly associated with selfreported fan aggression among younger fans than among older fans. The moderating role of age in the relationships between team identification (or fandom) and perceptions of appropriateness of aggression was not supported. The findings contribute to our theoretical understanding of the role of ageing in the relationship between fan identification and fan aggression. Based on these findings, the authors assert that managers might particularly benefit from leveraging the potential, but often neglected, segment of senior fans, since older fans can play a key role in reducing the level of aggression during competitive sports events. Suggestions for future research are also discussed. (C) 2018 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how peer-to-peer word-of-mouth (PPWOM) conversations evolve over time because of the dynamic social nature of the community in which they take place. Design/methodology/approach This study analyzed PPWOM conversations in an online community website for new and expectant mothers. Two data collection phases were undertaken during a four-year period. In phase I, messages were collected for a one-month period from five different bulletin boards (i.e. cross-sectional data) and at two points in time (i.e. semi-longitudinal). In phase II, a full longitudinal study was conducted, and the complete text of all messages of a newly formed bulletin board was captured for a nine-month period. The corpus of messages was examined in line with the basic tools of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. Findings This research developed a typology of PPWOM genres and showed that these genres change over the community lifespan. The findings confirmed that the levels of social cohesiveness and the interaction communicative motives are the main factors that distinguish different PPWOM genres. Research limitations/implications This research has offered a new perspective into the study of PPWOM, and hopefully it will serve as a starting point for a broader dialogue regarding the social context in which PPWOM is exchanged. Originality/value In contrast to traditional word-of-mouth research, this study demonstrated that PPWOM conversations go much beyond the exchange of functional information, and instead serve numerous social and emotional goals.

Previous research has indicated that adopting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities may license unethical tax reporting behavior. By applying the Legitimacy Theory as a framework, this study examined the licensing effect from the consumer’s perspective, exploring whether consumers assume that a company known to invest in CSR activities would engage in aggressive tax avoidance practices. To this end, 331 college students rated their perceptions of major companies drawn from various sectors, regarding their CSR engagements and their tax avoidance practices. Findings demonstrated that consumers perceived companies to be more aggressive in tax avoidance practices when these companies were rated high in investment in extrinsic CSR (environmental protection and community relations). This effect was not found for intrinsic CSR (corporate governance, working environment and business ethics).

Although researchers and practitioners have access to a growing body of evidence on the effects of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) frequency and valence, a more detailed understanding of eWOM content is needed in order to better influence these social media-enabled conversations. Based on an ethnomethodological analysis of community conversations in a popular parenting online forum, we reveal that eWOM is a powerful social act in which consumers use a broad repertoire of eWOM rhetorical methods. The repertoire for advice-seeking talk includes five components: seeker's legitimacy, topic legitimacy, request formulation, solicitation of responders, and requested response framing. The repertoire for advice-giving includes four components: foundation of authority, advice framing, advice focus, and advice scheme. For each of these components in the two repertoires, we identify corresponding rhetorical methods that can be used in the conversation (over 30 methods in total). Preliminary evidence also suggests that rhetorical alignment between advice-seekers and givers drives effectiveness of eWOM advice. The proposed rhetorical framework has relevance and implication for the many areas where social media and marketing meet.