The impact of digital technology on sports consumption: evidence from Chinese college students
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Background: In an increasingly digitalized world, the impact of digital technology on sports consumption behavior is a pivotal area of study, particularly among college students who are highly engaged with digital platforms. Methods: This study investigates how digital technology use shapes college students’ sports consumption behavior, incorporating emotional experience as a mediator and symbolic perception as a moderator. Guided by the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework and Symbolic Consumption Theory (SCT), data from 861 Chinese college students (511 males and 350 females) were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results: Results reveal that digital technology use significantly enhances sports consumption, not only through a direct effect but also indirectly by improving emotional experience. Furthermore, symbolic perception amplifies the effect of emotional experience on consumption behavior. These findings highlight the dual psychological pathways through which technology influences sports-related decisions. Conclusion: The study offers theoretical contributions by integrating emotional and symbolic mechanisms, and provides practical insights for sports marketers and educators aiming to engage college students in digital-era consumption.
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Compared to the broader university student population, sports science students' competitive orientation and emphasis on team cohesion may intensify the associations between PSMU and DBO.
“Compared to the broader university student population, their competitive orien tation and emphasis on team cohesion may intensify the associations between PSMU and DBO (Zhong et al., 2025).”
From Fear of missing out and psychological well-being: Examining the dual pathways of problematic social media use and digital burnout (2026) · cites this paper as Zhong et al., 2025
The Methods (section 2.1) describe a sample of Chinese college students, and the Results (section 3.6) examine symbolic perception, emotional experience, and sports consumption. Our copy does not address whether sports science students differ from other university students in competitive orientation or team cohesion, or whether those traits intensify a PSMU–DBO association (searched: PSMU, DBO, competitive orientation, team cohesion). (LLM, conf=0.77)
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- Authors
- Zhong, Y.-J., Yang, J.-W., Guo, W.-H., & Wang, Y.-S.
- Affiliations
- Jiangxi University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Xiamen Institute of Technology (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Yang, Jiang-Wei
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2025-05-20
- Volume
- 16
- Pages
- 1501327-1501327
- ISSN
- 1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC12129995
- OpenAlex
- W4410521623
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4
- FWCI
- 12.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sports, Gender, and Society
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Marketing and Social Media
- Keywords
- digital technology use, sports consumption, university students, emotional experience, symbolic perception, stimulus-organism-response model, sports marketing, Chinese university students
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