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1 – 10 of 14Nicholas D Theodorakis, Kostas Alexandris and Yong Jae Ko
This study examines the mediating role of Overall Service Quality in the service quality-customer satisfaction relationship in the context of professional football. Quantitative…
Abstract
This study examines the mediating role of Overall Service Quality in the service quality-customer satisfaction relationship in the context of professional football. Quantitative data were collected from a survey of 415 spectators attending a professional football game in Greece. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to examine the validity of the scale. Multiple regression analyses was used to assess the mediation effect of Overall Service Quality. Results of the CFA and alpha test supported the psychometric property of the scale. Overall Service Quality was shown to mediate the relationship between the five dimensions of service quality and fans' satisfaction.
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Yannis Lianopoulos, Nicholas D. Theodorakis, Nikolaos Tsigilis, Antonis Gardikiotis and Athanasios Koustelios
The concept of sport team identification has been widely used as a theoretical framework in explaining sport fan behavior. However, limited attention has been devoted to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The concept of sport team identification has been widely used as a theoretical framework in explaining sport fan behavior. However, limited attention has been devoted to the consequences of distant (i.e., foreign) team identification. The purpose of the current research was to examine the way in which fans (local and distant) can increase their levels of collective and personal self-esteem due to their team identification.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were accumulated from three Greek websites (N = 742). Among them, 623 subjects were grouped as local and 119 as distant football fans. A structural invariance analysis was followed.
Findings
The results revealed how team identification, enduring team-related social connections, and basking in reflected glory are interrelated to affect collective and finally personal self-esteem. Moreover, no differences were found between local and distant fans regarding the paths from eam identification to collective self-esteem and from collective self-esteem to personal self-esteem.
Originality/value
This is one of the first endeavors to examine the psychological consequences of distant team identification and to test the invariance across local and distant fans concerning the mechanisms that their personal self-esteem can be enhanced because their psychological connection to their favorite sport team.
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Yannis Lianopoulos, Nikoleta Kotsi, Thomas Karagiorgos and Nicholas D. Theodorakis
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the interrelationships among the dimensions of sport event experience, event satisfaction and event behavioral intentions.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the interrelationships among the dimensions of sport event experience, event satisfaction and event behavioral intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample was comprised of 186 individuals who actively participated in a mass participation sport event. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the relationships among the latent constructs.
Findings
The results indicated that the dimensions of sport event experience predicted 55% of the variance of event satisfaction and 63% of the variance of event behavioral intentions was predicted by sport event experience dimensions and event satisfaction. Specifically, the sensory, affective and relational dimensions of experience sought to have a statistically significant and positive association with event satisfaction, while event satisfaction and the relational dimension of experience were found to have a statistically significant and positive correlation with event behavioral intentions. In addition, event satisfaction was found to mediate the relationships between sensory, affective and relational experiences and event behavioral intentions.
Originality/value
The present study is one of the first that explores the relationships among sport event experience’s dimensions, event satisfaction and positive behavioral intentions in the context of sport event participation.
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Charitomeni Tsordia, Yannis Lianopoulos, Vassilis Dalakas and Nicholas D. Theodorakis
The aim of this research was to investigate fans’ responses toward a sponsor that has had a long-standing sponsorship deal with a club and decided also to sponsor the club’s rival.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this research was to investigate fans’ responses toward a sponsor that has had a long-standing sponsorship deal with a club and decided also to sponsor the club’s rival.
Design/methodology/approach
A long-term sponsorship deal between a retsina wine company and a popular football club and a newly established deal between the company and the main rival club were selected as the research setting. Data were collected from a total sample of 302 participants, fans of the two teams, using an online survey and PLS-SEM was employed to test the relationships of the proposed structural model.
Findings
The results provided evidence for the importance of the inclusion of perceptions of fit for both teams to the model as it impacted the responses in the joint sponsorship. Team identification emerged significant for improving fans perceptions of fit between the sponsor and their favorite club but also led fans of the long-term sponsored club to feel betrayed from the sponsor. The sense of betrayal impacted the level of fit, the rejection of sponsorship but did not emerge significant for driving negative responses toward the sponsor’s brand. The same held for the rejection of the joint sponsorship.
Originality/value
This is the very first study that incorporated the effects of the perceptions of fit of two rival clubs to test the effect of sponsorship for a sponsor brand of a deal that includes a longtime sponsored football club and its rival as a newly sponsored one. It is also one of the first attempts that explores relationships between perceptions of fit, sense of betrayal and rejection of a joint sport sponsorship in a rivalry context, highlighting the importance of preventing fans' betrayal.
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Ran Zhou, Kyriaki Kaplanidou, Dimitra Papadimitriou, Nicholas D. Theodorakis and Kostantinos Alexandris
The purpose of this paper is to explore the sources of inspiration for active participants in sport events, and the link between inspiration sources and event-related outcomes…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the sources of inspiration for active participants in sport events, and the link between inspiration sources and event-related outcomes (i.e. life satisfaction and behavioral intentions).
Design/methodology/approach
Research questions were examined using a Greek (n=264) and a US (n=103) sample of participants of two small-scale running events. Content analysis was used to identify and code the themes of inspiration, while a multivariate analyses of variance was performed to test the inspiration group differences on life satisfaction and behavioral intentions.
Findings
The qualitative findings revealed three categories of inspiration source identified in each sample. The quantitative results showed that the interaction between inspiration source and event type had an overall effect on participants’ life satisfaction and future participation intention. Specifically, findings highlighted the different roles of inspiration on influencing life satisfaction and participation intention of short-distance (i.e. 5 and 10k) event participants than those of long-distance (i.e. marathon) runners.
Research limitations/implications
This study identifies the sources of inspiration in small-scale sport events and provides preliminary empirical evidence where inspiration source and event type jointly influence participants’ life satisfaction and behavioral intentions.
Practical implications
Understanding the sources of inspiration provides event leveraging opportunities to inspire citizens to become more active in sports. Given that the sources of inspiration vary among different segments of event participants, event managers need to adopt differential communication and promotional activities geared to the needs of these targets.
Originality/value
The study provides the first empirical work exploring the sources of inspiration among active participants in small-scale sport events.
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Nicholas D. Theodorakis, Athanasios Koustelios, Leigh Robinson and Achilleas Barlas
This study seeks to examine the moderating role of team identification regarding the relationship between service quality and repurchase intentions among spectators of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to examine the moderating role of team identification regarding the relationship between service quality and repurchase intentions among spectators of professional sports.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative data are collected from a questionnaire survey of 257 spectators attending a professional soccer game in Greece. Multiple regression analyses are used to assess the relationships among the constructs of service quality, repurchase intentions, and team identification.
Findings
Team identification is shown to moderate the relationship between service quality and repurchase intentions among spectators at this professional sports event. Both overall service quality and two specific service‐quality dimensions (“responsiveness” and “reliability”) are found to be positively associated with repurchase intentions only among respondents with low and medium team identification. No relationship is found between service quality and repurchase intentions among those with high team identification.
Practical implications
Managers of professional sports events who wish to increase attendances by improvements in service quality should first segment their customers according to degree of team affiliation. They should then design their service offerings specifically to meet the service‐quality expectations of sports fans with medium or low team identification.
Originality/value
The study provides valuable empirical evidence of the moderating role of team identification with regard to the relationship between service quality and repurchase intentions among consumers of professional sports events.
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Yannis Lianopoulos, Nicholas D. Theodorakis, Kostas Alexandris and Magda Papanikolaou
Given the increased competition among running events, it is important for event organizers to comprehend how they can retain a base of loyal customers. The purpose of the present…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the increased competition among running events, it is important for event organizers to comprehend how they can retain a base of loyal customers. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between sport event personality and loyalty intentions of runners participating in a running event. More specifically, it examined the relationship of sport event personality dimensions with the overall image of a sporting event as well as the association of event image with runners’ loyalty intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 247 participants of an international running event. A structural equation model analysis was followed.
Findings
The results showed that three dimensions of event personality (namely, excitement, sophistication and sincerity) predicted event image, which in turn positively associated with loyalty intentions.
Practical implications
The study discusses how event managers can improve the image of their events in order to increase their customers’ loyalty levels.
Originality/value
This is one of the first endeavors that examined the role of event image, a construct that has not received much attention in the context of road races, in a model concerning event participation.
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Yanni Afthinos, Nicholas D. Theodorakis and Pantelis Nassis
Aims to identify the aspects of service delivery deemed most important by the users of Greek fitness centers and to examine whether their desires differ according to the type of…
Abstract
Purpose
Aims to identify the aspects of service delivery deemed most important by the users of Greek fitness centers and to examine whether their desires differ according to the type of fitness center they use as well as according to certain demographic and motivation patterns.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was based on the QUESC instrument developed by Kim and Kim. A total of 346 individuals who were members of public and private fitness centers in Athens/Greece completed the questionnaires. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was conducted for each item of the instrument in order to examine whether different groups had different desires for service delivery. Where a difference between group means was identified, Duncan's multiple range tests were performed to determine which means were significantly different.
Findings
The aspects of service delivery desired more by sports centers users refer to the tangible elements of the facilities, the personnel attitudes and abilities, attributes related to the cost of participation and items related to the programming and scheduling of services provided. The findings also suggest that significant differences of desires exist between males and females as well as between users of public and private sports centers.
Research limitations/implications
The sample of the fitness centers was convenient rather than statistical. The reason was that there is no official agency in Greece with a complete list of fitness centers.
Practical implications
This paper is a useful source of information for fitness centers management to identify their customers’ wants, take action to improve service delivery, and establish standards of performance to address the identified customers’ needs.
Originality/value
This paper sought to address questions on the way certain demographic variables and patterns of use might affect sports centers’ users’ desires, so that an information package can be applied in making marketing decisions for improving sports centers service delivery.
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Kostantinos Alexandris, Nicholas Theodorakis, Kiki Kaplanidou and Dimitra Papadimitriou
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to investigate if the three service quality dimensions (service environment, interaction and outcome quality), proposed by Brady and Cronin…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to investigate if the three service quality dimensions (service environment, interaction and outcome quality), proposed by Brady and Cronin (2001), influence the development of event loyalty, among runners of the “‘Alexander the Great’ International Marathon”, and to test if running loyalty moderates the relationship between event quality and event loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
In all, 368 runners participated in the study and filled the Sport Event Quality Questionnaire (Theodorakis et al., 2015) and an adjusted version of the Leisure Involvement Questionnaire (Kyle et al., 2010).
Findings
The results indicated that only the service environment and outcome dimensions contributed significantly to the prediction of event loyalty, while, and in contrast to other sport services, interaction quality was not shown to be an important determinant for the development of event loyalty. Furthermore, running involvement was shown to play a moderating role in the relationship between event quality and event loyalty. Service quality is more important for the development of event loyalty among low- than high-involved runners. The theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed.
Research limitations/implications
The study provided results on how high- and low-involved runners perceive event quality, and for which of these groups the event quality is an important antecedent for the development of event loyalty.
Practical implications
Investigating the moderating role of involvement on the relationship between service quality and loyalty has also applied value. While committed runners have been traditionally seen as a key target group for event marketing professionals, the majority of runners in city marathons today are more leisure oriented. The increase in the number of leisure runners is actually the reason for the rapid growth of city marathons in the last few years. Meeting the needs of these leisure runners and increasing their loyalty levels is therefore a key task for marathon marketers today.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature, as for the first time it explores the moderating role of involvement on the relationship between service quality and loyalty in the context of a sport event.
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Nicholas Theodorakis, Chris Kambitsis and Athanasios Laios
This paper attempts to examine the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in spectator sports. The relationship between these two constructs is examined…
Abstract
This paper attempts to examine the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in spectator sports. The relationship between these two constructs is examined, first, by a review of the literature to date and, second, by the results of almost 200 questionnaires completed by spectators at two professional basketball games in Athens, Greece. The results of the questionnaire study are examined and, in conclusion, the implications and limitations of the study are discussed. Areas for further research are also suggested.
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