Antecedents and consequences of parental purchase decision involvement in youth sport

Previous work in youth sport has shown that parents typically make the initial choice to enroll their child in a sport program. This study examines antecedents and consequences of parents’ psychological involvement in the decision to purchase a sport experience for their child. A sample of 157 parents whose children were enrolled in soccer programs in a metropolitan suburb was surveyed. Parents completed measures of purchase decision involvement, concern about adult imposition in youth sport, their value for potential benefits of youth sport, their satisfaction with the program they had chosen, and their commitment to the child's sport organization. Data were modeled by means of LISREL. An initial model predicted that higher levels of concern for adult imposition and a higher value for the benefits of youth sport would yield higher parental purchase decision involvement. The model also predicted that higher purchase decision involvement and higher satisfaction would yield higher levels of organizational commitment. Subsequent analysis indicated that higher purchase decision involvement also leads to higher satisfaction. The final model, which included this path, fit the data well. Implications for the design of youth sport programs and for future research are discussed.