The current study was conducted to examine the relationship among leisure engagement, affective (i.e. attraction, centrality, resistance to change) and cognitive (i.e. equipment, knowledge) leisure involvement, leisure satisfaction, and subjective happiness. From a sample of 493 American scuba divers, we found that (1) the oft-supported leisure engagement-happiness relationship was rejected, and (2) subjective happiness was directly or indirectly associated with affective and cognitive leisure involvement factors. Specifically, leisure engagement did not show any significant relationship with subjective happiness. Rather, subjective happiness was associated with several affective and cognitive leisure involvement factors. Attraction was associated with subjective happiness through leisure satisfaction, while the relationship between subjective happiness and centrality was negative. Equipment was positively and indirectly associated with subjective happiness whereas knowledge was directly linked to subjective happiness. These demonstrated that affective and cognitive involvement rather than leisure engagement are strongly associated with subjective happiness. Detailed theoretical interpretation and useful information for policy makers who develop leisure programmes aimed at enhancing public happiness will be provided.

The current study aimed to examine the relationships among residents’ impact perception of 2019 Rugby World Cup (i.e. economic impact, cultural interests and new opportunity, community pride, and environmental impact), psychological capital (i.e. hope, self-efficacy, optimism, and resilience), and psychological well-being. The two-wave time-lagged data were collected from residents in the host cities (a following week of the event and eight weeks after the event; N = 206). The results indicated that residents’ perceptions of event impacts were positively associated with psychological capital, which influenced psychological well-being over time. Cultural interests and community pride were considered particularly influential in enhancing residents’ psychological well-being. The findings are useful for policy makers, planning to utilize mega events to boost residents’ psychological well-being.

Recently, gamified wearable fitness trackers have received greater attention and usage among sport consumers. Although a moderate amount of aerobic physical activity can significantly reduce the risk of many serious illnesses, physical inactivity issues are still prominent. Although wearable fitness trackers have the potential to contribute to physical activity engagement and sustainable health outcomes, there are dwindling engagement and discontinuance issues. Thus, examining its gamification elements and role in physical activity becomes critical. This study examined the gamification elements in wearable fitness trackers and their role in physical activity and sports engagement. A comprehensive literature review yielded 26 articles that empirically measured a variety of gamification features and the effect of the device on physical activity and sports engagement. The study suggests three key gamification themes: goal-based, social-based, and rewards-based gamification that can be a point of interest for future scholars and practitioners. Based on the review, we propose a conceptual framework that embraces motivational affordances and engagement in physical activity and sports.

Despite the frequent controversies in sport, little research has been conducted to understand sport consumers' emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions to athlete scandals. Drawing from attribution and expectancy–violation theories, this study examines the effects of athlete scandals on emotion (i.e. anger), cognition (i.e. perceived responsibility), and behavioral intention (i.e. negative word-of-mouth; NWOM). The results of an experiment showed that selected characteristics of athlete scandals (i.e. intentionality and performance relatedness) influence NWOM via perceived responsibility. The impact of perceived responsibility that is associated with NWOM intention was critical, while that associated with anger was much less crucial. This study contributes to the existing body of literature in the context of athlete scandals. When minimizing the negative impact is the main concern, managers must contemplate the effects of performance relatedness and intentionality of athlete scandals, and effectively communicate with spectators to reduce the perceived responsibility.