Satellite fans’ nostalgia buffers negative emotions and increases well-being and travel intention

Governments’ lockdowns and restrictions during COVID-19 disrupted sports and tourism, creating uncertainty around attendance at large-scale events. When current activities are constrained, people often draw on positive past experiences, evoking nostalgia—a predominantly positive, bittersweet emotion. The study focuses on satellite fans (international supporters who follow teams from abroad) and investigates how perceived COVID-19 risk influences emotions (frustration, depression, nostalgia), psychological well-being, and future travel intention to European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) stadiums. Grounded in the environmental psychology stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework, the research positions perceived pandemic risk as the stimulus, emotions as organismal states, and well-being and travel intention as psychological and behavioral responses. The central research questions ask whether perceived COVID-19 risk elevates negative emotions, whether these emotions relate to nostalgia, and whether nostalgia promotes well-being and travel intention among satellite fans.

Using the SOR framework (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974), the study posits that external stimuli (perceived COVID-19 risk) influence behavioral responses (travel intention) via internal affective states (frustration, depression, nostalgia). Prior research links pandemic-related risk appraisals to negative affect (e.g., frustration, depression). Nostalgia, while bittersweet, is predominantly positive and can buffer negative states, supporting well-being and adaptive intentions. The authors develop hypotheses: H1: Perceived COVID-19 risk → Frustration (+). H2: Perceived COVID-19 risk → Depression (+). H3: Frustration → Depression (+). H4: Perceived COVID-19 risk → Nostalgia (+). H5: Frustration → Nostalgia (+). H6: Depression → Nostalgia (+). Extending beyond behavior, the model incorporates psychological outcomes: H7: Nostalgia → Well-being (+). H8: Nostalgia → Travel intention (+). H9: Well-being → Travel intention (+). The literature on sports consumer behavior and satellite fans suggests media-driven attachment and the role of affect in shaping future behaviors, with nostalgia highlighted as a potential buffer promoting well-being and intentions during pandemic constraints.

Design and participants: Cross-sectional online survey of EPL/EPFL satellite fans in Singapore (age ≥21), administered via Raekut.com with ~S$2 incentive. Informed consent was obtained; anonymity assured. Initial valid responses: N=511 (response rate 23%). After data screening (z-scores for univariate outliers; Mahalanobis distance for multivariate outliers), 47 univariate and 20 multivariate outliers were removed; final N=443. Sample characteristics included 68.6% male, 31.4% female; mean age 41.28 (SD=12.30); majority married (69.4%); highest education mostly university graduates (53.3%). Favorite teams most commonly Liverpool and Manchester United. Measures: (1) Perceived COVID-19 risk: 6 items adapted from COVID-19 risk appraisal scales (e.g., Jaspal et al., 2022). (2) Frustration: Frustration Discomfort Scale (Harrington, 2005), 28 items across four dimensions (emotional intolerance, entitlement, discomfort intolerance, achievement). (3) Depression: CES-D 10-item short form. (4) Nostalgia: 29-item sport tourism nostalgia scale across five factors (team, environment, socialization, personal identity, group identity), preceded by a positive memory check. (5) Well-being: Personal Wellbeing Index (7 items). (6) Travel intention: 3 items (e.g., intention to visit the home ground of favorite EPFL team). All constructs assessed on 5- or 7-point Likert-type scales as appropriate. Analysis: Three-step procedure using SPSS 27 and EQS 6.0: data screening; confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for measurement model; structural equation modeling (SEM) for hypothesis testing. Mardia’s multivariate kurtosis indicated non-normality (coef=38.36), so Satorra–Bentler scaled χ2 and robust SEs were used. Model fit evaluated via SRMR (<0.08), CFI (>0.90), RMSEA (<0.06). Measurement model revisions followed LM tests, removing two items from perceived risk and two from depression to improve convergent validity. Reliability (rho) ranged from 0.818 (perceived risk) to 0.957 (frustration). AVE > 0.50 for all constructs; discriminant validity supported via Fornell–Larcker criterion. Structural model fit was acceptable.

Measurement/structural model fit: Structural model fit indices indicated good fit: S-B χ2(425)=725.38, CFI=0.969, RMSEA=0.040, SRMR=0.058. Key path estimates (standardized β, robust SE, z): • Perceived risk → Frustration: β=0.497, SE=0.056, z=8.72, p<.001. • Perceived risk → Depression: β=0.273, SE=0.041, z=6.56, p<.001. • Frustration → Depression: β=0.640, SE=0.042, z=13.10, p<.001. • Perceived risk → Nostalgia: β=0.000, SE=0.073, z=0.01, ns. • Frustration → Nostalgia: β=0.260, SE=0.086, z=3.02, p<.01. • Depression → Nostalgia: β=−0.019, SE=0.101, z=−0.22, ns. • Nostalgia → Well-being: β=0.698, SE=0.158, z=11.97, p<.001. • Nostalgia → Travel intention: β=0.422, SE=0.110, z=5.77, p<.001. • Well-being → Travel intention: β=0.278, SE=0.114, z=3.68, p<.001. Summary: Perceived COVID-19 risk significantly increased frustration and depression. Frustration elevated both depression and nostalgia. Depression did not significantly predict nostalgia, nor did perceived risk directly. Nostalgia had a strong positive association with well-being and a moderate positive effect on travel intention. Well-being further increased travel intention, indicating both direct and indirect routes from nostalgia to behavioral intentions. Descriptive highlights: Means included perceived risk (M=3.43, SD=0.87), frustration (M=3.08, SD=0.86), depression (M=2.22, SD=0.60), well-being (M=5.34, SD=0.90), travel intention (e.g., intention item M=4.98, SD=1.38).

Findings align with the SOR framework: perceived pandemic risk (stimulus) elevated negative affect (frustration, depression), which in turn influenced organismic states and outcomes. Frustration was a key antecedent, predicting both depression and nostalgia, suggesting that when fans feel blocked or constrained, they may both experience distress and seek solace in positive past experiences. Nostalgia functioned as a psychological buffer, strongly enhancing well-being and encouraging travel intention to visit teams’ home stadiums. The absence of a significant direct link from depression to nostalgia indicates that intense depressive affect may not readily elicit nostalgic coping, whereas frustration does. Practically, the results suggest that evoking sport-related nostalgia among satellite fans can mitigate adverse emotional impacts of perceived COVID-19 risk, improving well-being and restoring behavioral intentions (e.g., travel). Strategically highlighting historic moments, star players, iconic venues, and fostering online fan communities could cultivate nostalgia, thereby supporting psychological recovery and future attendance intentions as the pandemic evolves.

This study extends the environmental psychology SOR framework to satellite sports fans during COVID-19 by demonstrating that nostalgia can buffer negative emotions and promote well-being and travel intentions. Perceived risk increases frustration and depression, but nostalgia—especially when prompted amid frustration—positively influences well-being and subsequent travel intentions. The work contributes theoretically by integrating nostalgia into pandemic-related sport consumer behavior and practically by offering strategies for marketers and stakeholders to evoke nostalgia to support fan well-being and post-pandemic travel demand. Future research should validate these mechanisms across regions and sports, track actual (not just intended) travel behaviors over time, incorporate mixed-methods to capture nuanced emotional processes, and examine subgroup differences (e.g., gender).

• Single-country sample (Singapore) of EPFL/EPL satellite fans limits generalizability; broader, more diverse samples are needed. - Behavioral measures focused on intention rather than actual travel; longitudinal or behavioral tracking is recommended to address the intention–behavior gap. - Sole reliance on SEM may oversimplify complex constructs; mixed-methods designs could capture richer dynamics and interactions. - Gender imbalance (more males than females) may bias results; future studies should balance samples and test gender differences in risk perceptions, emotions, and outcomes.