Drive to Survive or Good Old Family Ties? How Sport Consumers in the US and UK Get Socialized Into Formula 1 Fandom

Drawing on consumer socialization theory, this study identifies 21 agents through which consumers in two distinct national sporting spaces enter Formula 1 fandom. Participants from the United Kingdom were more likely to report parents and broadcast television as sources of their fandom and began following the sport earlier in life. Friends and Drive to Survive, on the other hand, were more prevalent socialization agents among participants from the United States. Analyses suggest that the importance of individual socialization agents depends mainly on consumers’ life stage, but that the life stage at which a consumer is likely to be exposed to a sport – and therefore which socialization agents are more likely to play a role in that exposure – depends heavily on the place a sport occupies in a national sporting space. Implications for consumer socialization theory and practice are discussed.