TV: Conceptualization and Empirical Analysis of a Mobile TV Usage Model

The aim of this research was to explain the importance of sport in the use of digital media services on mobile devices. Relevant factors related to mobile TV usage were identified and the strength of their influence was analyzed to show that sport is a driving force for mobile TV usage. Inspired by service-dominant logic (SDL) and the sport value framework (SVF), an innovative research model was specified and tested empirically among three samples from Australia, Germany, and the U.S.A. SDL and SVF suggest value is always co-created and context dependent. Thus, usage situations were integrated as contextual factors in a structural equation model with interest in sport and other psychological factors as independent variables and mobile TV usage intention as dependent variable. This study is one of the first empirically testing what motives lead to mobile sport viewing and how interest in sport drives mobile TV usage. The empirical findings imply that consumer interest in sport is highly relevant for media technology usage. They further demonstrate that usage context really matters.


introduction and aim of paper
In the past the launch of media innovations in Australia, Germany, and the U.S.A., was often accompanied by sport-themed commercials, sport mega-events, and premium sport content. This could be observed regarding new media technologies and services such as Internet TV, HDTV, or mobile TV. The FIFA World Cup, the National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl and the Olympic Games as well as the German Bundesliga or U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) are examples. Sport is important content for global and local media and telecommunications companies across all digital platforms (Foster et al., 2014;Koronios et al., 2020;Kunz et al., 2016;O'Reilly and Rahinel, 2006;Santomier, 2006;Turner, 2007).
In the context of digital platforms, specifically mobile technologies and services, mobile TV refers to any type of audio-visual content that is transmitted by wireless mobile communications networks (3G, 4G, 5G), wireless Internet access points (Wi-Fi) or digital broadcasting networks (DMB, DVB) and received by mobile devices. Mobile TV enables consumption of content independent of time and space in different situations (Schuurman et al., 2010). For the purpose of this study, the focus was on mobile TV in general, including both linear live broadcasts (TV) and video on demand (VOD).
Regarding sport content with relevance for mobile TV, live coverage of events as well as before and after-event reporting, replays of matches, video highlights and sport news represent content that is available currently in countries such as Australia, Germany, and the U.S.A. In Australia, mobile carriers such as Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone provide various TV channels and videos that often are included in their data packages.
In Germany, mobile carriers Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone provide 3G and 4G-based mobile TV services with live coverage and highlights of DAZN, Eurosport, and other TV channels. With 'sky go', pay TV operator Sky introduced an application (app) for smartphones, tablets, and laptops that enables access to its sports channels, covering Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League, tennis, and golf, as well as other sports. During the initial months of its introduction, the app covered sport exclusively while selected movies and TV series followed later.
In the U.S.A., mobile carriers T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and others provide ESPN Mobile TV and sport-related VOD as well as other TV channels such as NBC and FOX Sports. For example, Verizon Wireless distributes National Football League (NFL) games and T-Mobile distributes National Basketball Association (NBA) games. Major League Baseball (MLB) provides MLB.tv, which is accessible with 4G or 5G web-enabled mobile devices.
In many countries mobile TV has been becoming increasingly successful. Further insights into consumer behavior with respect to mobile media were required (Evens et al., 2011;Ferguson and Greer, 2013). In addition, sport and media managers and marketers should understand the relevant drivers of mobile media usage in order to develop successful marketing strategies and new business models in the digital era. This study addressed several research gaps related to interest in and motives for viewing sport, the relevance of sport for media innovations, and the context of media usage.
Service-dominant logic (SDL) in marketing (Vargo and Lusch, 2004) contributed significantly to the theoretical framework of this study. SDL suggests value is always co-created and value-in-context . In sport management the sport value framework (SVF) builds a bridge to empirical research by defining sport events as platforms where different actors co-create context-dependent value (Woratschek et al., 2014). Thus, the value of sport viewing is always context specific (Horbel et al., 2016). This is particularly relevant for mobile media, which is why context-related factors such as usage situations should be given attention in consumer behavior models.
In addition, the study was based on behavioral theories and approaches of interdisciplinary research related to consumer behavior in sport and new media in general as well as on mobile media usage in particular. These research areas are regarded as independent and will be linked to fill a relevant research gap. Whereas the motivations as to why people view sport on television have been identified and analyzed in many previous studies (e.g., Raney, 2006;Wann et al., 1999;Wenner and Gantz, 1998), except for few limited studies (e.g., Fairley and Tyler 2012;Ha et al., 2015;Kattestaart, 2007;Koronios et al., 2020;Kunz and Santomier, 2020;Turner, 2000Turner, , 2007, the relationship between the consumers' interest in sport viewing and the demand for novel digital media opportunities has not been a key focus. The factors influencing mobile TV usage have been analyzed rudimentarily (e.g., by Cui et al., 2007;Jung et al., 2009;K. H. Kim et al., 2008). Managers and marketers require further insights into consumer behavior with respect to mobile media (Ferguson and Greer, 2013) and reasons underpinning why consumers do or do not adopt and engage in using mobile media (Benigni et al., 2014). Although a variety of different motives have been identified already (e.g., Choi et al., 2009), they require validation and, in addition, further concepts should be conceptualized and tested empirically.
The aim of this paper, therefore, was to develop and empirically test an explanatory model of the intention to use mobile TV. Relevant factors were identified and the special role of sport in this context was clarified. Specifically, the research questions were:

RQ1:
What factors influence mobile TV usage with a special focus on sport? RQ2: How strong is the influence of these relevant factors on mobile TV usage? RQ3: How does the usage context influence these relationships?
This study contributes to sport and media management research primarily by identifying relevant influencing factors of mobile TV usage in the sport context as well as conceptualizing and empirically validating a structural model focused on consumer behavior in sport media. Both positive and negative psychological and contextual factors were integrated in this model, which can be applied easily to other sport mobile media related applications in the future. The interest of consumers in sport appeared as a major driver of mobile TV. This study established an innovative model and provides valuable insights for further research on sport new media. In addition, this study contributes to SDL by empirically identifying the interest in sport as a meaningful driving force of mobile TV usage intention, that we consider a representation of value-in-use, and the importance of context in mobile media usage. theoretical and conceptual background SDL claims value is always "value-in-use" and "value-in-context" Vargo and Lusch, 2008). This approach considers that in addition to the company/service provider as a value creator, customers and other actors are involved as "resource integrators" and as "co-creators" (Vargo and Akaka, 2009). One of the key objectives of this study was to determine the empirical validity of the "value-in-context" concept. The importance of SDL for other disciplines such as the field of sport management is highlighted by the introduction of the SVF (Woratschek et al., 2014). In terms of mobile TV, the usage context is apparent from a theoretical and practical point of view since mobility is a core characteristic of service provision. In previous studies travel and transport situations such as commuting as well as waiting situations, situations of leisure and relaxation, and situations at home or at work had been considered relevant (e.g. Cui et al., 2007;Do et al., 2009;Klein et al., 2009;J. P. Shim et al., 2008).
Regarding innovation-related literature there are two important directions that can contribute to explaining consumer behavior: diffusion of innovations (Rogers, 2003) and technology acceptance (Davis et al., 1989). A core concept of Rogers' diffusion of innovations theory is "innovativeness". Adopters of innovations, for example, consumers of new technologies and technology-driven services, differ in their individual adoption time and process as well as the overall diffusion among the members of a social system. Goldsmith and Hofacker (1991) point out that this characteristic is always domain specific, since the consumer's innovativeness may differ between innovations from different areas (Saaksjarvi, 2003). Thus, for the purpose of this study, innovativeness was considered as it relates to the media domain. Therefore, "media-specific innovativeness" refers to the general interest of consumers in new media technologies and services and their willingness to adopt them. This concept was considered rudimentary in the context of mobile TV (e.g. Kwon and Chon, 2009). Wouters et al. (2007) integrated "technology readiness" within the technology acceptance model (TAM; Davis et al., 1989). They identified a significant mediated influence on consumers' intention to use mobile TV. In the German sample of K. H. Kim et al.'s (2008) study regarding digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) services "innovativeness" had the strongest impact.
Media communication and reception focused research can also contribute to explaining mobile TV usage. With uses and gratifications there is a relevant approach that addresses the audience's motives of media usage and content reception (Katz and Foulkes, 1962). Consumers are assumed to be active, seeking gratifications of their psychological and social needs by using media (Katz et al., 1974). "These needs certainly vary among individuals of different ages, gender, and stages in life, among other factors, as well as within individuals given situational factors such as mood, time of day, and stress" (Raney, 2006, p. 314). This fits well with our assumption that mobile TV usage is always context dependent. A variety of affective (entertainment or mood regulation), cognitive (learning or information seeking), integrative (habit or empathy) and interactive (social relations or conversations) motives have been identified (Ruggiero, 2000). However, there is no consensus on labeling and operationalization of same or similar media-related motives to date. Dependency and multicollinearity among motives and their importance are additional issues addressed in this paper.
With the launch and wide distribution of mobile devices "portability", "mobility", and "permanent access" have become relevant for motivational research in the media industry (Kim et al., 2008;Leung and Wei, 2000;Wei, 2008). Choi et al. (2009) studied the motivators for mobile TV usage and identified "permanent access", that is the mobility of users and their digital devices, to be most important. Moreover, "entertainment" and "fashion and status" appeared to be relevant especially for male users. Cui et al. (2007) identified "pastime", "staying up-to-date", and "novelty" as motivational drivers. Oksman et al. (2007) achieved similar results. In addition, they identified "information" and again "mobility" as key factors. Kalba (2009) discussed the characteristics of mobile TV as an innovation. He also highlighted "portability", "permanent access", and "status" as relative advantages.
In a study by Jung et al. (2009), the high relevance of "content" for mobile TV usage was shown. Content in general was associated with characteristics such as being-up-to-date or providing sufficient content. As an extension to TAM (Davis et al., 1989), content was modeled as an additional antecedent and its effect on the intention to use mobile TV was thus mediated by "perceived usefulness" as well as "cognitive concentration" (flow) and "perceived ease-of-use". However, this study did not refer to particular media content as, for instance, sport content.
Until recently, sport media related literature focused primarily on motives for viewing sport on traditional television (e.g., Raney, 2008;Wenner and Gantz, 1998). Only a few research publications refer to sport on the Internet (e.g., Seo and Green, 2008) or sport on mobile devices (Benigni et al., 2014). One observation of a pilot study focused on mobile TV in Germany was that usage decreased after the 2006 FIFA World Cup (Klein et al., 2009). Other literature emphasized the importance of sport content for mobile TV usage (Evens et al., 2011). Thus, in addition to different motives of media usage, "sport fan identification" may be of relevance for viewing sport and adopting new media technologies. Literature primarily focused on the identification with a team or athlete (e.g., Lock et al., 2012). However, being part of a social group or community is another aspect (Sutton et al., 1997). Although fan identification seems to be related closely with both social and para-social motives, its relationships with viewing motives should be analyzed in more detail, especially within the context of sport and new media.

research model and hypotheses
On the basis of the literature presented, theoretical and conceptual considerations, and practical observations, an innovative research model is proposed. In this model, relationships among and between the conceptualized constructs are hypothesized. The main objective is to explain consumers' intention to use mobile TV as a representation of value in the context of viewing sport content. Behavioral intention and actual or future consumer behavior are closely interrelated (e.g., Davis et al., 1989).
If consumers are generally interested in new trends, technologies, and services in the media nexus, and if they search for information about them and would like to test them, they are more likely to be interested in a particular innovation and may intend to use the innovation in the future (Kim et al., 2008;Kwon and Chon, 2009;Mao et al., 2005;Wouters et al., 2010). Thus, the consumers' media-specific innovativeness could motivate their mobile TV adoption.
Portability of the device as well as continual availability of the service provides consumers with access to media content and communication independent of time and space. As a consequence, media usage has become inherently more flexible with consumers geo-shifting and time-shifting regularly. In many studies portability and permanent access as key characteristics of mobile TV were considered to have a motivational dimension of media usage (e.g., Choi et al., 2009;Peters and ben Allouch, 2005;Shin, 2007). The independent televiewing motive has become relevant for using media technologies and services. Media consumers derive value from the geographical and time-related independence that portable devices as well as permanent access to media content provide.
Moreover, certain media devices can be considered as fashion accessories. A multitude of apps can be used via these devices that may appear trendy to consumers. Previous studies revealed style and status to be a relevant motive for mobile media usage (e.g., Choi et al., 2009;Leung and Wei, 2000;Peters and ben Allouch, 2005). Mobile TV is a relatively unique way of consuming media that can be perceived as prestigious by consumers.
Content in general (Jung et al., 2009) and sport in particular seems to play a certain role when it comes to the diffusion and adoption of media innovations (e.g., Turner, 2000;Kattestaart, 2007). During the last twenty years, many media innovations such as Internet TV (IPTV), HDTV, or mobile TV that enable sport viewing in HD quality, in different situations, and with many additional features were introduced in the context of upcoming or future sport events or sport-related commercials, addressing consumers with a specific interest in sport. Therefore, the consumers' interest in sport viewing may have a significant influence on their adoption and usage of new media technologies. Previous academic studies and empirical observations regarding mobile TV suggest that sport mega-events and premium sport content increase the awareness of and demand for mobile TV (e.g., Klein et al., 2009). Sport, in fact, was expected to be a major driver of mobile TV diffusion (Evens et al., 2011). As an important type of content, it may motivate consumers to use mobile TV.
It was hypothesized that the intention to use mobile TV depends on consumer media-specific innovativeness (H1), an independent televiewing motive, and a style and status motive (H2), and the interest in sport viewing (H3).

H1(+):
The stronger the media-specific innovativeness, the greater the intention to use mobile TV. H2(+): The stronger (a) the independent televiewing motive and (b) the style and status motive, the greater the intention to use mobile TV. H3(+): The stronger the interest in sport viewing, the greater the intention to use mobile TV.
Based on the above, five independent motivational factors were derived: (a) live viewing of current sport events and seeking information about results, teams and players; (b) seeking entertainment and regulating one's mood, that is getting excited or even thrilled on the one side and relaxed on the other side; (c) learning the rules of a sport and improving one's skills; (d) passing time and killing boredom; and (e) escaping from life's everyday problems and one's day-to-day routine. It is hypothesized that the sport-viewing intention depends on five different motives (H4): H4(+): The stronger the (a) live viewing and information seeking motive, (b) entertainment seeking and mood regulation motive, (c) learning motive, (d) pastime motive, and (e) escape motive, the greater the intention of mobile sport viewing.
For consumers, the identification with a sport, team, athlete, or community may cause different actions and behaviors, including those related to media usage (Kwon et al., 2007;Trail et al., 2003;Wann et al., 2001;Yoshida et al., 2014). Sport viewing may be explained by fan identification to some extent (Trail et al., 2000). Fans may follow their preferred athletes and teams and, in this way, express their own identity. Because in previous studies fan identification did not always have a significant impact on media usage (e.g., Beyer, 2006), the direct influence on sport viewing intention is expected to be relatively weak and mediated by sport-viewing motives. Therefore, specific levels of fan identification may activate sport-viewing motives that actually mediate sport new media usage. As a consequence of high levels of fan identification, consumers may choose to view sport on mobile devices in order to gratify different motives. We hypothesize that sport-viewing motives partially mediate the relationship between sport fan identification and sport-viewing intention; however, sport-viewing intention may also be directly affected by fan identification to a certain extent (H5): H5(+): The relationship between the levels of sport fan identification and the intention of mobile sport viewing is mediated by sport-viewing motives.
Furthermore, it was assumed that different usage situations (contexts) such as (a) travelling on a bus or train, (b) waiting away from home at the doctor's office or when queuing up, (c) relaxing at a café, in a park or on the beach, being (d) at home or (e) at work, moderate the relationship between the independent televiewing motive and the intention to use mobile TV (H6 based on, e.g., Do et al., 2009;Klein et al., 2009;Shim, 2008). Therefore, we hypothesized that if one of the situations stated above is perceived to be relevant by a consumer, the influence of the independent televiewing motive on the intention to use mobile TV is strengthened.
H6(+): The usage situations (a) travelling, (b) waiting, (c) relaxing, (d) at home, and (e) at work moderate the influence strength of the independent televiewing motive on the intention to use mobile TV.
On the basis of the introduced hypotheses a research model can be derived presented in figure 1. The aforementioned constructs were operationalized in a standardized English language questionnaire that was designed based on the results of qualitative preliminary studies as well as an extensive literature review and previously validated items and scales. The items selected to measure the behavioral intentions were adapted from Nysveen et al. (2005), Wang et al. (2006), and Choi et al. (2009). We measured both the independent televiewing motive and the style and status motive by items that were validated previously by Leung and Wei (2000), Peters and ben Allouch (2005), and Choi et al. (2009). To measure media-specific innovativeness Goldsmith and Hofacker's (1991) scale was adapted to the media domain. Items measuring live reception and information seeking, entertainment seeking and mood regulation, learning, pastime, and escape, were derived from Gantz (1981), Rubin (1983), Aimiller and Kretzschmar (1995), Wann (1995), Wenner and Gantz (1998), Paparachissi and Rubin (2000), Trail et al. (2003), Ebersole and Woods (2007), Schafmeister (2007), Seo and Green (2008), and Choi et al. (2009). Sport fan identification was operationalized by measures derived from Aimiller and Kretzschmar (1995), Mahony et al. (2002), Trail et al. (2003), Robinson et al. (2004), and Schafmeister (2007).
All context-related items were derived from a qualitative preliminary study. The specification of the items was discussed with experts to ensure content validity of the constructs (Anderson and Gerbing, 1991). All latent variables were operationalized by reflective manifest variables (Jarvis et al., 2003). Except for the five different situations that were measured by single items (Bergkvist and Rossiter, 2007), we used multi-item-measures to assure consistency of the construct estimations (Churchill, 1979). A fully verbalized and numbered 7-point-Likert scale served to measure agreements/disagreements with the presented statements. In addition, we also provided an "I don't know" option.
For data collection, a mixed methods approach was applied (Creswell and Clark, 2011). In order to gain first insights, both actual and potential users from Australia, Germany, and the U.S.A. were interviewed. Since most of the previous research on mobile TV was conducted in Asia, it was decided to focus on Western countries to ensure that the empirical results would only be slightly influenced by cultural impacts. The model was tested in these three countries so that the data would not be limited to one continent. A quantitative study was conducted in Australia (convenience sample in which subjects were approached in public places, about half of them students) and Germany (English-speaking university student sample) with total sample sizes of 120 and 405 subjects respectively. The study was replicated in the U.S.A. with a sample of 150 students. Because of age, education, variety of interests, and potential future income, university students are an attractive sample for sport enterprises, broadcasters, and telecom companies. In addition, students were more likely to have gained mobile TV experience when data were collected in an earlier diffusion stage (cf. O'Doherty et al., 2007). Thus, the statements and implications based on the results of this study will be limited predominantly to students from the three Western countries selected. However, for the purpose of this study, that is the empirical validation of a newly conceptualized research model that attempts to explain mobile TV usage intentions in the sport context rather than to predict diffusion, market shares etc., student/convenience samples are appropriate.
Data analyses followed procedures that were introduced and suggested by Homburg and Giering (1996). Exploratory main component factor analyses with varimax rotation (IBM SPSS Statistics; Fabrigar et al., 1999), confirmatory factor analyses and covariance-based structural equation modeling (LISREL; Jöreskog, 1970), as well as variance-based structural equation modeling (SmartPLS; Ringle, 2005) were used to test the research model empirically and confirm the aforementioned hypotheses. The smaller size of the Australian and U.S. samples required the use of PLS instead of LISREL. However, with this analysis, not only data sets but also the applied methods were triangulated (Denzin, 1989).
In order to address the model's complexity, two sub-models were constructed: a Mobile TV Model and a Sport Media Model. The intention of mobile sport viewing is the linking element between both models (marked in figure 1 in italic). Mediating and moderating effects (Baron and Kenny, 1986) were tested by multiple group analyses (S-B χ²-difference-test: Satorra and Bentler, 2001) and interaction term analyses (product-indicator-approach: Kenny and Judd, 1984;Ping, 1995).
Since the independent and the dependent variables had to be measured using consumers' opinions (self evaluations), common method bias occurs as an issue in general (Bagozzi et al., 1991). However, in order to reduce this bias, anonymity

Construct Indicator Australia
Factor loading was assured ex ante (P.M. Podsakoff et al., 2003) and Harman's (1976) one factor test was used ex post (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986). Moreover, convergent and discriminant validity (Bagozzi and Phillips, 1982) were tested in confirmatory factor analyses. The indicators load significantly on the constructs, and all are reliable, except for items Indip1 and ESMR6_Moo, probably due to the exploratory stage of model design (Hulland, 1999). With values above .7 all factor reliabilities exceeded the threshold established by Nunnally (1978). The values of the constructs' average variance extracted (AVE) were above the critical value of .5. Underlying the criterion by Fornell and Larcker (1981) the modeled constructs converged and discriminated sufficiently. In contrast to the Australian and German studies, a modified model structure, that is an optimized/ reduced Sport Media Model, was tested using the U.S. data.  Global model fit test criteria such as χ², CFI, NNFI, and RMSEA (e.g., Bentler and Bonett, 1980;Hu and Bentler, 1999) were all satisfactory (tested for the German sample in LISREL). Only in the Sport Media Model the SRMR criterion was not valid, probably due to the degrees of freedom (Kenny, 2011). As a consequence of non-normal distributed data in this study, data had to be corrected (S-B scaled χ²) following the procedure introduced by Satorra and Bentler (2001). In total, the analyses revealed highly reliable and valid measurement models (Table  3) and structural models ( Table 4). The following evaluation of the hypotheses was therefore based on reliable and valid results from robust models.

results and discussion
The results of the three separate studies from Australia, Germany, and the U.S.A., referring to the tested hypotheses, the determination coefficients of the Mobile TV Model as well as the Sport Media Model, and the path coefficients of all influencing factors, are depicted in Table 5.

relevance of influencing facTorS for Mobile Tv uSage
Concerning the influencing factors of mobile TV usage (RQ1), different factors have a significant influence on usage intention: In the Australian and the German samples, media-specific innovativeness, independent televiewing motive, style and status motive, and the interest in sport viewing all influence the intention of using mobile TV directly. Innovativeness, independent televiewing, and interest are highly significant. However, the style and status motive is only significant on lower levels. In the U.S. sample, this motive is actually insignificant. Thus, hypotheses H1, H2a, and H3 were completely supported by the data, whereas H2b was only partly supported.
In case of the Mobile TV Model, a considerable part of the variance could be explained in all three samples (R2 AUS = .747; R2 GER = .717; R2 USA = .632). According to Chin (1998) this level of variance explanation can be regarded as substantial. The present findings demonstrate that the intention of mobile TV usage is further determined indirectly through mediated and moderated relationships that contribute to a deeper explanation. In case of the Sport Media Model, approximately half of the interest in sport viewing could be explained by the tested factors (R2 AUS = .519; R2 GER = .480; R2 USA = .513). These values can be regarded as moderate (Chin, 1998).
The level of fan identification by sport consumers, as well as entertainment seeking and mood regulation motive and live reception and information seeking motive determined the interest in sport viewing. Whereas the escape motive had a significant but weak influence in the Australian sample, it was not significant in the German sample. Although it was expected that all sport-viewing motives were to have a positive influence, escape had a negative influence. Other sport media motives identified from the literature such as pastime or learning did not have a significant influence on sport viewing intention. It could be demonstrated that the relationship between the level of fan identification and the intention of mobile sport viewing was mediated by certain sport viewing motives (Sobel, 1982). The significance of fan identification and the motives related to entertainment and information were further validated by using the data of the U.S. sample. Hypotheses H4a, H4b, and H5 were supported by the empirical data. Hypotheses H4c, H4d, and H4e had to be rejected.

STrengTh of influence on Mobile Tv uSage
Addressing the strengths of the relevant factors (RQ2), the standardized path coefficients (gamma coefficients) were consulted. According to Lohmöller (1989) loadings between two constructs should be significant and their values should be at least ± .1 in order to consider a relationship to be relevant at all.
Regarding the Mobile TV Model, in total, the suggested predictors contributed substantially to the model structure. As was anticipated, all path coefficients had positive signs. The consumers' interest in sport viewing was the strongest influencing factor of the intention to use mobile TV in general, indicating a substantial relationship between both constructs. This was supported in all three studies by high path coefficients (γ AUS = .525; γ GER = .595; γ USA = .632). These findings provided empirical support that 'content is king' and sport content is attractive to consumers and can be a driving force for new media adoption. Therefore, the leading hypothesis of this paper was supported.
In contrast, the style and status motive had only a weak influence or no influence at all (γ AUS = .112; γ GER = .090; γ USA = .066). Such fashion and prestige related aspects apparently contributed little to determine mobile TV usage. It could be possible that despite anonymity during data collection it was a sensitive topic for the surveyed subjects in general or that it was barely relevant in Western compared to Asian countries.
However, the strength of independent televiewing as a motivational factor (γ AUS = .203; γ GER = .238; γ USA = .131) and the strength of the consumers' general media-specific innovativeness (γ AUS = .284; γ GER = .149; γ USA = .130) varied among the three studies. Of the four main factors expected to be a direct influence, independent televiewing and innovativeness had the second and third strongest influences. Nevertheless, each influence was weaker when compared with the strength of the interest in sport viewing. The core characteristic of mobile TV, that is the ability to use it anywhere and anytime, as well as a general interest in and curiosity for innovations related to the media domain, were quite important in explaining consumers' mobile TV usage intentions. Especially for innovators and early adopters, mobile TV usage plays a greater role in an early diffusion stage.
The Sport Media Model provided deeper insights into the interest in sport viewing with regard to consumers' identification and motives. Fan identification did not have a significant direct impact on consumers' intention to use mobile TV in the German study, thus, this relationship was fully mediated. In the other two studies, however, there was a direct relationship detected in addition to the mediated relationships, thus, a partial mediation. The relationship between sport fan identification and the intention of mobile sport viewing was mediated by live reception and information seeking (γ AUS = .298; γ GER = .384; γ USA = .441) as well as entertainment seeking and mood regulation (γ AUS = .560; γ GER = .367; γ USA = .156). Almost equally both motives were strong influencing factors in the German study, but their strengths varied across the three studies, indicating the specificity of context. The relevance of these two motives is in accordance with previous studies that highlighted the relevance of cognitive and affective motives for sport viewing (e.g., Raney, 2008).
Since these two sport viewing motives mediate the relationship between sport fan identification and the intention of mobile sport viewing, when adding direct and indirect effects sport fan identification did possess a very strong total impact (γtotal AUS = .490; γtotal GER = .441; γtotal USA = .551). Fan identification affects or even initiates certain sport viewing motives. It may be the reason why sport consumers become informed about their preferred sports, teams, and players and why they are thrilled when they follow sport events and competitions. Sport consumers with high levels of fan identification and who identify with certain sport teams or athletes, have stronger intentions to view sport on mobile devices.
Since learning about rules and improving one's skills by viewing sport may be relevant for only a small group of consumers or may be applicable only to consumers of new sports who do not know the rules, this motive was not expected to be a strong motive of sport viewing in general. Thus, it was not that surprising that a significant relationship did not exist. However, pastime and escape motives were expected to be more important for viewing sport. It is possible that the subjects surveyed -most of them students without or with limited experience with mobile sport viewing when data were collected -were not able to imagine how to pass time and kill boredom or to escape from day-to-day routines and forget about their problems by mobile sport viewing.

ModeraTing influence of conTexT
In addition to a deeper explanation of sport viewing determinants, context-specific aspects were considered (RQ3). The context showed a moderating indirect influence. The situation related to travelling was a significant moderating factor of the relationship between the independent televiewing motive and mobile TV usage in the German study and U.S. study. Other situations such as waiting, relaxing, at home, or at work were not significant in our studies. Since most part of the suggested context factors did not have a significant moderating influence, H6 was only partly supported by the empirical data. However, H6a could be confirmed, whereas H6b, H6c, H6d, and H6e had to be rejected.
Although the effects of the travel situation moderator that we identified to be significant in part of the studies were relatively weak, they should be considered (Chin et al., 2003). It was substantiated that mobile TV usage is context-specific with regard to usage situations. This further contributed to increasing the explanatory power of the Mobile TV Model.
The travelling situation positively moderated the relationship between the independent televiewing motive and the intention of using mobile TV. In case of situations in which consumers travel or commute by public transport and personal vehicles the influence of the independent televiewing motive becomes stronger and the intention of using mobile TV increases. Evidently this is not true for situations at home or at work, where other media alternatives are available or other activities play a more important role. More surprisingly, and in contrast to the relevance stated in the literature, waiting and relaxing situations did not show valid relevance as moderating factors. Thus, the motivational influence of independent televiewing depended only on certain situations related to travel and transportation.

iMplicaTionS, liMiTaTionS, and furTher reSearch
The results of our studies can be briefly summarized as follows: Sport is a significant driving force of mobile TV usage intention and context matters. The outcomes of the studies are of importance for both sport and media management academics and practitioners. By applying a scientific procedure, reliable operationalized items were identified, and a valid research model was constructed. An integrated model, including positive and negative psychological and contextual influencing factors, with an emphasis on sport, was constructed theoretically and tested empirically. Measurement and structural models were validated in three different studies conducted in three Western countries. In future studies these models can be used to measure the considered concepts and further validate their relationships. Thus, this research can serve as the starting point for future interdisciplinary research in the areas of sport, media, innovation, and marketing management. Figure 2 draws the causal structure of the final research model on the basis of the significant relationships among the constructs that contributed to explaining consumers' intentions of using mobile TV. The interest in sport viewing had the strongest positive influence. The independent televiewing motive had a substantial positive influence on using mobile TV. As one might assume, travel situations moderated the strength of this motive. Media-specific innovativeness also had a relevant influence and strength. The inclusion of consumer interest in sport viewing and innovativeness attempted to expand motivational and attitudinal research through additional behavioral determinants and helped achieving a high explanation capacity of the model. In regard to these determinants a further analysis of their causal impacts can be beneficial, as shown by sport media related factors. This contributes to a better explanation of the intentions of using mobile TV. Compared to other media technologies and services such as HDTV, the relevance of sport is not that obvious for mobile TV. The interest in viewing sport was identified as the main driver, however. Therefore, this research provides empirical evidence that the interest in sport has a significant impact on the adoption of media innovations. Sport is and remains, for many consumers, premium content. This should be considered in marketing strategies, especially in product and promotion policies. Marketing of digital media devices, applications, and programming should be directed to consumers with an interest in sport.
There are a number of studies in the literature that focus on sport viewing motivation. This paper contributes to that body of research, especially the analysis of distinct sport viewing motives. In addition to a single fan identification factor and five independent motivational factors that have been adapted to the mobile media context, their actual impact on consumers' usage intentions could be clarified. Live reception, for example, which was almost not considered a motive in the literature, is intertwined with information seeking. Entertainment seeking is linked with the experience of a thrill or relaxation. Both factors mediate the impact of sport fan identification. Marketing management strategies should emphasize mobile sport reception as a means of expressing fan identification in the future. With this in mind, fan-related mobile TV offerings such as club channels and videos could be promoted more extensively. Mobile media also has potential for less popular sports to reach prospective fans. Mobile TV promotions should emphasize gratifications that motivate consumers to view sport on mobile devices, such as live reception of sport events when they provide immediate access to information regarding the preferred sports, teams, and athletes as well as perceived fun, thrills, and relaxation. Since both motives seem to be equally relevant, sport-related 'infotainment' could be the key to successful mobile media content.
Although data analysis did not identify a significant impact of the learning and pastime motives, and the escape motive was only significant in one sample, their general relevance for viewing sportscasts is not in doubt. The findings are limited to the convenience samples that were drawn at a particular time (i.e., earlier stages of the mobile TV diffusion) and focused on specific target groups (i.e., primarily university students). However, all of the suggested sport viewing motives could have an impact on mobile media usage, if other factors such as age or gender, as well as consumers' knowledge regarding certain sports or their involvement were considered. Moreover, further studies should focus on particular sports, for example, popular sports such as football/soccer, Olympic Games, and Formula 1 racing or action sports such as the X-Games. In this study, they were all aggregated to sport in general rather than analyzing particular sports. The consumer motives might vary among different objects of investigation and certain motives might become significant. Since this study exclusively focused on sport content, in future studies the role of sport in the context of different types of media content should be analyzed as well.
There is still some potential to better explain the variance of the intention of using mobile TV by additional factors. The direct or indirect influences of theoretically relevant factors should be analyzed in future studies. It is suggested to systematically add, test, and analyze such factors in order to improve the model structure and increase its explanatory power. The style and status motive had only a weak influence in our research. Interactions with personal characteristics, income as well as current usage and actual status of the consumers in society have the potential to explain the impact of this motive in more detail. Moreover, cultural norms and values could possibly impact usage as well as other social aspects beside status that were not considered in this study. Cultural factors might further explain differences among consumers in Australia, Germany, and the U.S.A., or Asian countries. Regarding social factors, recommendations by actual mobile TV users (e.g., opinion leaders) could be analyzed.
In making marketing decisions it is important to consider both psychological and contextual factors that may influence consumer behavior. In previous studies the context in which consumer behavior occurs either has been ignored or has not been considered to be relevant or has been assumed to be constant. Therefore, psychological, and contextual factors have not yet been analyzed as part of an integrated model. By identifying the travelling situation as a relevant moderator, the concept was substantiated. Thus, the notion that context has a significant (indirect) influence on mobile TV usage intention as a representation of value-in-use is supported. This research shows that context actually matters in sport media consumer behaviors.
The actual usage contexts may contribute to value creation and, therefore, should be considered in developing marketing strategies. Potential mobile TV users should be targeted in travel situations (e.g., on public transport on the way to sport events) or these should be emphasized in promotions in addition to permanent access to TV and VOD. Literature also suggested other usage situations, but these did not have a significant moderating influence. However, it may be difficult to demonstrate the importance of certain situations based on samples in which part of the subjects had not ever, or hardly ever, used mobile TV. Future studies will need to focus explicitly on experienced users and include different situations.
Since in practice innovations often fail, usage barriers (constraints) should be considered explicitly to better understand (non-) adoption as well as sport media consumer behavior (Kim and Trail, 2010). Usage barriers can be an additional decision factor for marketing. The consideration of certain constraints or hindrances of usage will help explain why consumers may not accept particular media technologies of relevance for sport media consumption (Koronios et al., 2020). By not focusing on successful innovations only, future studies will contribute to overcoming the 'pro-innovation bias' in research (Roger, 2003). Explanations and predictions of mobile TV usage as well as usage of other sport media technologies become more realistic if barriers related to cost or low quality are incorporated within the model. Further studies could differentiate between actual consumers as earlier adopters and future consumers who may adopt innovations at a later date, or perhaps not at all.
Although this research already provides valuable first insights, one limitation is that the current model as a whole, as well as partial models such as the sport media model, were tested on the basis of student/convenience sample data. Thus, using representative samples of actual and potential mobile TV users in the future should validate the model. Latent class analyses could help to further analyze different segments of sport media consumers and mobile media users.
An important question remaining is to determine what specific factors are most important for each group of consumers and how these factors drive their behavioral intentions as well as their actual mobile TV usage. These insights would certainly be relevant for marketing managers. A question within the context of this study is whether or not sport fans may be more open to adopt innovative technologies than other consumers. The findings of this study suggest that they are. However, further studies should analyze the relationship between sport fan identification and innovativeness in more detail. Because of its increasing economic relevance, digital mobile media has enormous potential for future research. Both academia and marketing practice will benefit from further consumer insights and the sport and media domain is definitely a suitable field in which to address these research gaps.

conclusions
This study contributes to gaining valuable consumer insights within the context of sport new media by analyzing factors influencing the use of mobile TV. As a conclusion to the empirical studies presented here, it can be summarized that sport content plays a significant role in the diffusion of new media technologies and services such as mobile TV. On the basis of student/convenience samples this research provided empirical evidence to what can be observed on a daily basis worldwide and what has been theoretically suggested in the literature. In this sense, especially sport fan identification and motives related to live reception and information seeking as well as entertainment seeking and mood regulation allow for the strong impact of the consumers' interest in sport viewing to mediate their intention to use mobile TV. A special focus on sport content and sport consumers during the launch of new media technologies and services seems to be quite relevant.
Moreover, it is very important to consider contextual factors in addition to psychological factors when modeling and analyzing consumer behavior. Mobile TV users may be addressed most effectively primarily in travel situations, or these situations should be emphasized in promotions. Addressing sport customers with a variety of elements within the marketing mix may be effective in making mobile TV and other mobile services a success.
Having established and empirically tested an innovative model this research was an attempt to identify the relevance of sport in mobile media adoption and to demonstrate that context actually matters. The provided insights will initiate further research on sport new media.

prof. dr. reinhard e. kunz
is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Technology Management at the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Cologne in Germany. Before he was a Professor for Marketing and Sales at the Management Center Innsbruck in Austria and a Junior Professor for Media Management, Sport Media at the University of Bayreuth in Germany. Reinhard Kunz is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the International Media Management Academic Association (IMMAA). He focuses on various aspects of media research and innovation management. Primarily, he conducts research on the media and tech industries, organizational and individual behavior, as well as the management of digital innovations and transformations and their impact on customers, enterprises, and the society. His research emphases are in business model dynamics, media and technology user behavior, proactive decision making, and entertainment science. In entertainment science, he studies, for instance, the sports, esports, gaming, and motion picture industries in terms of service ecosystems, media technology acceptance, or success factors. E-Mail reinhard.kunz@uni-koeln.de Website www.mtm-innovation.uni-koeln.de ORCID www.orcid.org/0000-0003-4162-7400 ResearchGate www.researchgate.net/profile/Reinhard-  prof. dr. herbert Woratschek is a Full Professor at the University of Bayreuth in Germany and a former Dean of the Faculty of Law, Business and Economics. He holds a Chair in Marketing and Service Management. Central to his research is the Service Quality -Value Framework, an overarching framework, which comprises research on quality and brand management, value cocreation, pricing, customer satisfaction, and customer identification. A strategic focus of his recent research projects is in the innovative field of customer engagement in networks and digital business models. In the field of sport management Herbert Woratschek introduced the Sport Value Framework and recently the Sport Ecosystem Logic. Based on these frameworks, he studies, for instance, sport sponsorship platforms and decision-making processes, actor engagement, as well as value creation and capture in events, sports, and esports.

E-Mail dlm@uni-bayreuth.de
Website www.dlm.uni-bayreuth.de ORCID www.orcid.org/0000-0002-7417-7621 ResearchGate www.researchgate.net/profile/Herbert-Woratschek prof. james p. santomier, ph.d is currently a Professor in the Department of Management in the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology at Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Bayreuth, Germany and Molde University College, Norway. Areas of academic interest in sport business include digital transformation, sport marketing and sponsorship, managing sport enterprises, and the psychosocial aspects of sport. In the area of sport and digital transformation he has focused on innovation, technology acceptance, and esports. E-Mail santomierj@sacredheart.edu Website www.sacredheart.edu/majors--programs/sport-management---bs ORCID www.orcid.org/0000-0002-2550-9140 ResearchGate www.researchgate.net/profile/James-Santomier