Sport is an under-explored context in resistance to influence scholarship.

Josh Compton

Inoculation theory is a classic theory of resistance to influence, modeling a way to confer resistance to challenges based on biological inoculation processes. This commentary explores inoculation’s efficacy in the applied context of sport communication, with special consideration of how inoculation may guide sport- marketing strategies to preemptively bolster existing support for a team in the face of challenges (e.g., a losing season).

Compton, J. (2012, November). Inoculating against a losing season: Can inoculation-informed public relations strategies protect fan loyalty? [poster presentation]. National Communication Association, Orlando, FL, United States.