Exploring perceptions of online sport commentary: A test of disposition effects hypothesis

This study aimed at examining whether exposure to the positive/negative commentaries on the win/loss of readers’ favorite team would activate their dispositions toward the favorite team and whether such disposition effects would lead reader’s perceptions of online sport commentary. A two (the win of favorite team versus the loss of favorite team) by two (the positive commentary versus the negative commentary) within-subjects repeated measures experiment examined readers’ perceptions in terms of quality, credibility, representativeness. Results showed that the positive/negative commentaries on readers’ favorite team would be a stronger factor influencing readers’ quality and credibility perceptions than the win/loss of readers’ favorite team. However, the positive/negative commentaries and the win/loss of the favorite team both did not lead readers’ representativeness perceptions.

► Examining disposition effects of various features in online sport commentary on readers’ perceptions.
► The positive/negative commentaries led quality perceptions more significantly than the win/loss.
► The win/loss did not affect credibility perceptions, but the positive/negative commentaries led effects.
► Online readers enjoyed reading the positive commentaries more than witnessing the win of their favorite team.