The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on sports participation worldwide, including in Republic of Korea. Due to the restrictions and safety measures implemented to prevent the spread of the virus, many individuals have had to alter their sports participation. Therefore, this study conducted a meta-analysis based on studies applying the Model of Goal-directed Behavior (MGB) in sports participation to compare the pre- and post-COVID-19 eras in Republic of Korea. By analyzing 18 selected studies involving 5772 Korean respondents, the study investigates the relationships between MGB variables and sports consumption behaviors pre- and post-COVID-19. This study found that all correlations with the MGB were significant, indicating the applicability of the MGB in understanding sports participation in Republic of Korea. Moreover, the moderating effect of COVID-19 was identified in the relationships between subjective norms and desire and between perceived behavioral control and desire. The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the factors influencing sports participation in Republic of Korea. Additionally, the study provides valuable insights for sports managers and policymakers in Republic of Korea to develop strategies and interventions that can promote and support sports participation during challenging times.

As livestreaming e-commerce rapidly expands, impulsive buying has become increasingly prominent in online consumption. However, although prior studies have examined impulsive buying in general e-commerce contexts, little attention has been paid to impulsive buying in sports livestreaming e-commerce. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response framework and Dual-System Theory, this study examined the associations among consumer herding tendency, perceived scarcity, hedonic benefits of sales promotion tools, pleasure emotion, trust in seller, and impulsive buying. A cross-sectional self-report survey was conducted with 775 university students in eastern China with prior purchase experience in sports livestreaming e-commerce, and the model was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results showed that consumer herding tendency, perceived scarcity, and hedonic benefits of sales promotion tools were positively associated with pleasure emotion and trust in seller. Perceived scarcity showed the strongest path coefficient with trust in seller. Trust in seller and pleasure emotion were positively associated with impulsive buying, whereas self-control was negatively associated with impulsive buying. Specific indirect associations through trust in seller were generally stronger than those through pleasure emotion. The moderating effect of self-control was not significant, and the gender-based multi-group analysis revealed no significant differences between male and female consumers. Given the cross-sectional self-report design, these findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.

Digital sport platforms increasingly mediate consumer experience through AI-driven interfaces, yet it remains unclear which interactive elements consumers treat as baseline expectations versus genuine engagement drivers. An integrated Kano-SERVQUAL model was applied to evaluate the service quality of virtual cycling platforms in this context. An online survey was conducted with 458 adults who regularly used a virtual cycling platform. Service quality attributes demonstrated a five-dimensional structure: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Twenty service attributes were classified following Kano’s model, and Better–Worse coefficients and a combined impact score were calculated to identify strategic priorities. Twenty attributes clustered into four distinct regions based on Timko’s Better–Worse matrix. One-Dimensional Quality (High Better, High Worse) included technical infrastructure attributes such as content updates, platform composition, data consistency, connection stability, and server stability under large-scale connections. Attractive Quality (High Better, Low Worse) was characterized by differentiating features, including event diversity, reflection of user suggestions, tutorial guide clarity, verified workout programs, and post-ride reports. Must-Be Quality (Low Better, High Worse) comprised graphics quality, UI convenience, and avatar design baseline attributes whose absence triggers high dissatisfaction, along with pedal resistance response (Reverse quality). Indifferent Quality (Low Better, Low Worse) encompassed attributes including technical support, testing tools, competitive systems, reward systems, and personalized recommendations, representing lower priority features. Thus, consumer engagement with AI-mediated digital sport platforms is structurally non-linear, requiring attribute-differentiated management strategies that distinguish trust-critical interface reliability from engagement-driving personalization. These findings offer theoretical implications for consumer decision-making in interactive digital commerce, though trust, engagement, and decision-making were not directly measured as outcome variables in this study.

[목적] 본 연구는 피트니스센터 이용자의 소비자 보호 정책에 대한 선호를 분석하고 제도 개선의 우선순위를 도출하는 데 목적이 있다.[방법] 최근 2년 이내 피트니스센터 이용 경험이 있는 성인 353명을 대상으로 이산선택실험을 실시하였다. 응답자는 현행 제도와 개선된 정책 대안을 비교하는 8개의 선택과제에 참여하였으며, 정책 속성은 휴·폐업 시 고지 및 환불 안내, 선불금 환불 보장, 폐업 전 정산계획 제출, 지방자치단체 개입, 피트니스 지도자 배치 기준, 추가 월비용으로 구성하였다.[결과] 이용자들은 전반적으로 현행 제도보다 개선된 정책 대안을 더 선호하는 것으로 나타났다. 정책 속성 가운데 선불금 환불 보장이 가장 큰 영향을 미쳤으며, 그다음으로 휴·폐업 관련 고지 및 환불 절차의 명확화, 피트니스 지도자 배치 기준의 명확화가 중요한 요인으로 나타났다. 이들 세 속성은 모두 유의한 수준의 추가 지불의사를 유발하였다. 반면 폐업 전 정산계획 제출과 지방자치단체 개입은 평균적으로 통계적 유의성이 확인되지 않았으나 응답자 간 선호의 이질성은 확인되었다.[결론] 피트니스센터 규제의 이용자 중심적 개선을 위해서는 선불금에 대한 재정적 보호장치, 휴·폐업 시 고지 및 환불 절차의 명확화, 피트니스 지도자 배치 관련 운영 기준의 구체화가 우선적으로 고려될 필요가 있다. 본 연구는 정책 구성요소별 소비자 선호를 정량적으로 제시함으로써, 피트니스센터 이용자 보호를 위한 정책 우선순위 설정에 실증적 근거를 제공한다. PURPOSE This study investigated the preferences of users of fitness centers for consumer-protection policies and identified priorities for institutional reform. METHODS A discrete choice experiment was performed with 353 adults who had used a fitness center in the previous two years. The respondents completed eight choice tasks that compared the current system with improved policy packages varying in notification and refund guidance for suspension or closure, refund guarantees for prepaid fees, pre-closure settlement plans, local government intervention, fitness instructor placement standards, and additional monthly cost. RESULTS Users generally preferred having improved policy packages to the status quo. Among the policy attributes, mandatory prepaid-fee refund guarantees were the most influential, and they were followed by preferences for clearer notification and refund procedures and explicit instructor placement standards. These three attributes likewise generated significant positive willingness to pay. In contrast, on average, pre-closure settlement plans and local government intervention were not significant, although preference heterogeneity was observed across all respondents. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that user-centered reform of fitness center regulation should prioritize financial safeguards for prepaid fees, clearer closure and refund procedures, and more explicit operational standards for the placement of instructors. By quantifying consumer preferences for the specific policy components, this study provides empirical evidence for the setting of priorities to strengthen protection for fitness center users.

This study examines the psychological and social processes through which high-involvement sports fandom is associated with the subjective well-being of female spectators in South Korea’s professional KBO baseball league. Utilizing a secondary qualitative analysis informed by grounded-theory coding procedures, we investigate the dynamic processes, interaction strategies, and sociopsychological factors through which female spectators experience high-involvement fandom and how this engagement relates to their well-being. Data originally collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with nine highly involved, long-term female KBO spectators for a prior study on fandom formation were reanalyzed through systematic coding, employing the frameworks of bottom-up, hedonic, social, and eudaimonic well-being as structural guides. Results reveal a multidimensional paradigm of well-being generation: immediate hedonic well-being appears to be associated with dramatic game narratives and collective crowd dynamics, and relationships expand to foster social well-being through regional belonging and community solidarity. These dimensions shape the phenomenon of “fandom as an emotional sanctuary,” marked by collective identity integration and daily behavioral immersion. Despite threats to their well-being, fans employ active restoration strategies to re-engage. This pattern, observed within the bounded context of nine long-term KBO fans, points toward a possible pathway linking sustained fandom involvement to subjective well-being, characterized by emotional maturity and the assimilation of sports fandom into life’s meaning. These findings offer exploratory theoretical insights into the feminization of sports fandom and suggest that sports consumption may be relevant for modern psychological and social well-being.

Fitness influencers increasingly convert follower trust into purchasing behavior through seeding, group-buying, and social selling arrangements within South Korea’s hyperconnected, appearance-oriented digital ecosystem. Yet how they assess brand fit, manage authenticity, and navigate follower expectations remains underexamined. This study uses grounded theory to examine how fitness influencers with 500,000 or more followers navigate brand collaborations across these commercial formats. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 fitness influencers, and open, axial, and selective coding were applied to identify a paradigm model of collaborative decision-making. The findings suggest, from the influencers’ side, that brand-fit assessment is not an influencer–brand dyadic negotiation but a triadic process in which the follower community functions as an active third party, simulated in advance and verified through comments, direct messages, and purchase-verification behavior. Influencers who experienced authenticity crises subsequently institutionalized stricter, measurable disclosure and verification rules, while the deliberate disclosure of product flaws was reported by one participant to coincide with restored trust and better sales. These findings propose a reconceptualization of influencer–brand fit in social commerce as a dynamic, community-mediated negotiation rather than a static dyadic attribute, with implications for how brands and social commerce platforms may design influencer partnerships and disclosure strategies.