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In tandem with the burgeoning popularity of social media research in the field of sport communication and marketing, we are witnessing a concomitant rise in its epistemological sophistication. Despite this growth, the field has given less attention to methodological issues and implications. In light of the development of machine learning, the overarching goal of the current research was to answer the call for innovative methodological approaches to advance knowledge in the area of social media research. Specifically, we (a) assess the current state of sport social media research from a methodological perspective, with a particular focus on machine learning; (b) present an empirical illustration to demonstrate how sport scholars can benefit from the advancement in natural language processing and the derivative topic modeling techniques; (c) discuss how machine learning could enhance the rigor of social media research and improve theory development; and (d) offer potential opportunities and directions for the future sport social media research that utilizes machine learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vicarious achievement is tested as a source/channel for fulfilling achievement needs and boosting life satisfaction through in-person sport spectating and sport media viewing; factors influential on vicarious achievement are examined. Through ecological momentary assessment and focusing on college students, 2,746 responses from 242 respondents were collected. With multi- and single-level SEM, the effects of sport spectating and sport media viewing on temporal life satisfaction through the mediation of vicarious achievement were tested; performance satisfaction and identification level were examined as influential factors. Sport spectating was an effective context for boosting life satisfaction through vicarious achievement; sport media viewing was not. Compared to other activities, the extent of achievement perceived from sport spectating was similar to sport participation and greater than sport media viewing; extent of achievement perceived from sport media viewing was greater than non-sport media viewing (e.g. drama). In both contexts, performance satisfaction, identification-level, and vicarious achievement were, respectively, found as a predictor, moderator, and moderated mediator for temporal life satisfaction. Sport spectating can be promoted as leisure contributing to well-being via vicarious achievement. Identification level can facilitate vicarious achievement. Empirical evidence of the well-being effect of vicarious achievement in sport is provided based on ecological momentary assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Fruit scent is increasingly recognized as an evolved signal whose function is to attract animal seed dispersers and facilitate plant reproduction. However, like all traits, fruit scent is likely to evolve in response to conflicting selective pressures and various constraints. Two major constraints are (i) phylogenetic constraints, in which traits are inherited from ancestors rather than adapted to current conditions and (ii) developmental constraints, if phenotypes are limited by the expression of other traits within the individual. We tested whether phylogenetic constraints play a role in fruit scent evolution by calculating the phylogenetic signal in ripe fruits of 98 species from three study sites. We then estimated the importance of developmental constraints by examining whether ripe fruits tend to emit compounds that are chemically similar to, and share biosynthetic pathways with, compounds emitted by conspecific unripe fruits from which they develop. Results We show that closely related taxa are not more similar to each other than to very distinct taxa, thus indicating that fruit scent shows little phylogenetic signal. At the same time, although ripe and unripe fruits of the same species tend to emit different chemicals, they tend to employ chemicals originating from similar biosynthetic pathways, thus indicating that some developmental constraints determine ripe fruit scent. Conclusions Our results highlight the complex landscape in which fruit scent has evolved. On one hand, fruit scent evolution is not limited by common ancestry. On the other hand, the range of chemicals that can be employed in ripe fruits is probably constrained by the needs of unripe fruits.

Abstract Plant species with fleshy fruits offer animals rewards such as sugar, protein, and fat, to feed on their fruits and disperse their seeds. They have also evolved visual and olfactory signals indicating their presence and ripeness. In some systems, fruit color serves as a reliable visual signal of nutrient content. Yet even though many volatile chemicals used as olfactory signals derive from nutrients animals seek, it is still unknown whether fruit scent encodes information regarding nutrient content in wild fruits. We examine the relationship between olfactory signals and nutrient rewards in 28 fruiting plant species in Madagascar. We measured the relative amounts of four chemical classes in fruit scent using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, as well as the relative amounts of sugar and protein in fruit pulp. We found that protein levels are not associated with elevated amounts of chemically related volatile compounds in fruit scent. In contrast, sugar content is strongly associated with the chemical composition of fruit scent. To our knowledge, this is the first research to explore the connection between fruit chemical signals and nutrient rewards. Our results imply that in the case of sugar, fruit scent is predictive of nutrient content and hence an honest signal.