Experiencing awe, engaging in extreme sports: Incidental awe as an effective promoter for extreme sports engagement

Extreme sports, a unique sports genre, rely heavily on commercial communication to motivate participation and realize marketing potential. This study highlights incidental awe (awe emotion elicited from experiences other than extreme sports) as an introjected motivation for extreme sports under self-determination theory. Through three experimental studies, this study examined whether and how incidental awe stimulates individuals’ extreme sports engagement. Specifically, we found that people who experienced positive awe displayed greater tendencies to take part in, form positive word of mouth for, and pay a higher price for extreme sports than those in control conditions (Studies 1–3). However, negative awe did not have any of the above effects (Study 2). Effects of positive awe on extreme sports engagement were mediated by individuals’ cognitive experience of curiosity and moderated by their need for cognition (Study 3). Together, these findings identified incidental awe as a significant introjected motivation for engaging in extreme sports through emotional and cognitive mechanisms. Guidelines for extreme sports promotion are provided accordingly.