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1 – 10 of over 51000Kostantinos 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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Sustainability is a major global concern, and research has suggested a bidirectional relationship between participatory sport events and the natural environment. Against this…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainability is a major global concern, and research has suggested a bidirectional relationship between participatory sport events and the natural environment. Against this background, we examined the influence of runners’ environmental consciousness on their perceptions of the quality of green initiatives and their supportive intention at a running event.
Design/methodology/approach
We collected questionnaire responses from 496 runners at an event held in Taiwan, and we used partial least squares structural equation modeling for our measurement and structural models.
Findings
Our findings revealed that environmental consciousness had a positive relationship with green perceived quality, and that green perceived quality, in turn, positively affected supportive intention. Green perceived quality also mediated the relationship between environmental consciousness and supportive intention, and running frequency moderated the relationship between environmental consciousness and supportive intention.
Practical implications
Stakeholders should promote the environmental consciousness of event participants and implement sustainable initiatives to enhance participants’ supportive intention towards participatory sport events.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by examining the role of environmental consciousness, green perceived quality and supportive intention in the context of a running event. The findings highlight the importance of environmental sustainability in participatory sport events and provide valuable insights for event organizers and stakeholders in designing and implementing sustainable initiatives.
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Li Keng Cheng, Hsien-Long Huang and Ching-Chi Lai
The number of people using running apps has increased. Accordingly, a growing number of sports brands are launching running apps in hopes of improving their connection with…
Abstract
Purpose
The number of people using running apps has increased. Accordingly, a growing number of sports brands are launching running apps in hopes of improving their connection with consumers and thereby enhancing consumers' brand preference and purchase intention. This study adopted an integrated perspective to explore the effects of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and self-expression on consumers' continued use of running apps.
Design/methodology/approach
Convenience sampling was conducted among consumers in Taiwan (n = 251). Structural equation modeling using AMOS 21 was performed to analyze the data.
Findings
The study results revealed that (1) users' perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and self-expression significantly positively affected continuance intention, and (2) continuance intention was significantly positively correlated with word-of-mouth (WOM) and brand intimacy. Furthermore, the study confirmed the moderating effect of consumers' relationship norms on the correlation between continuance intention and WOM and brand intimacy.
Originality/value
Amid the increasing emphasis on self-expression, almost all running apps endeavor to enable users to share their achievements, such as accumulated mileage and routes. However, research has rarely focused on whether these features influence consumers' continued use of running apps and whether these influences in turn affect consumers’ attitudes toward a brand. Therefore, this study explored the effect of self-expression on the continued use of running apps.
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In Britain, the last two decades have seen a considerable increase in focus on service users' involvement in the provision of services that directly affect them, particularly…
Abstract
In Britain, the last two decades have seen a considerable increase in focus on service users' involvement in the provision of services that directly affect them, particularly where service users originate from a hard to reach population such as drug users. While the National Treatment Agency and drug and alcohol action teams often extol the virtues of the involvement of drug users in their service provision, participation of this type does not come without problems of its own. Experience of drug user involvement in service provision is much more established in Europe and this article seeks to utilise European examples in illustrating the potential pitfalls of such a strategy. Case studies are examined from three countries: the Netherlands, where drug policy is relatively liberal and drug user groups have been established since the 1970s; Denmark, where drug policy is fairly well balanced between repression and tolerance and drug user groups have been established since the 1990s; and Sweden, where drug policy is relatively repressive and drug user groups are only just emerging. Salient points from these case studies are then used to form the discussion, relating European experiences to the situation in Britain.
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Santoshi Sengupta and Santosh Dev
Business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in India is progressing with an unparalleled velocity. Although, much research has taken place time and again elaborating on attrition…
Abstract
Purpose
Business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in India is progressing with an unparalleled velocity. Although, much research has taken place time and again elaborating on attrition, which is a menace to this industry, not much of work has been done on retention. The present study aims to explore the dimensions of retention in a comprehensive manner. The paper identifies the main factors that lead to retention, compares these dimensions across various demographic characteristics and develops a regression model to find out the contribution of the factors to the long term sustenance of employees in a BPO.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was completed by 500 BPO employees located in the National Capital region of India. It measured their perception towards the importance of factors that are responsible for their sustenance in the organization. Data was analyzed using tests like factor analysis, descriptive stats, correlation and regression.
Findings
Four major dimensions of retention were extracted. Of the four job-related dimensions and five personal characteristics, intrinsic motivation factor, employee involvement factor, age and education are the primary determinants of employee retention. It was also found that there is a difference in perception of BPO employees towards the importance of these job-related retention dimensions.
Research limitations/implications
Due to selection of only a few facets of job characteristics, and limited geographical area of data collection, generalization of the study findings is limited. Future replication studies with more job characteristics and wider geographical selection in other related subject areas are also recommended.
Practical implications
Research findings will contribute to the body of knowledge in the BPO literature on employee retention programs and educate BPO employers on the organizational benefits associated with loyal, committed workers. Study implications will contribute towards industry's continual pursuit for growth, prosperity and profitability.
Originality/value
The present study explores novel dimensions of employee retention and makes a major contribution to the relative influence of job and personal characteristics in the BPO industry.
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Wonseok (Eric) Jang, Young Jun Kim, Kyungro Chang and Taehee Kim
Based on the limited-capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP), this study aims to examine the effects of different camera types on the viewing experiences…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the limited-capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP), this study aims to examine the effects of different camera types on the viewing experiences of sports consumers and their intention to follow social media channels, depending on their level of sports involvement.
Design/methodology/approach
The design for this experiment utilized 2 (highly involved vs less involved sports consumers) × 2 (high-tech vs non-high-tech cameras) between-subjects design. Overall, 289 US-based sports consumers participated in this experiment.
Findings
The results indicate that sports videos recorded by high-tech cameras lead to greater perceived novelty than those recorded by non-high-tech cameras, thus enhancing sports consumers' intention to follow social media channels, especially when consumers are highly involved with the target sports. However, sports consumers who are less involved with particular sports become distracted during their viewing experiences when high-tech cameras are used to broadcast games; these consumers' intentions to follow social media channels are not strengthened.
Originality/value
Previous studies have focused mainly on the positive effects of high-tech cameras on the viewing experiences of sports consumers. Based on the LC4MP, the authors extend the existing literature not only by examining the mechanism that underpins the positive effects of high-tech cameras, but also by identifying a situation where the use of high-tech cameras results in a negative viewing experience for sports consumers.
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The purpose of this paper is to test: the applicability of Aaker’s (1997) brand personality model in the context of mountain running races; and the influence of event personality…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test: the applicability of Aaker’s (1997) brand personality model in the context of mountain running races; and the influence of event personality on event involvement and loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 177 runners (n=177) at two mountain running races participated in the study and filled the brand personality (Aaker, 1997) and leisure involvement (Kyle et al., 2004a, b) questionnaires.
Findings
The confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the factorial validity of the brand personality and event involvement models. The analysis confirmed also the structural model. Four of the five personality facets (excitement, competence, ruggedness and sincerity) significantly influenced the three dimensions of event involvement, which in their turn influenced event loyalty (intention to participate and W-O-M communications).
Practical implications
The topic of brand personality is important for building brand equity and guiding market positioning in the growing running races sector. The current study provides event organizers with a tool for measuring the personality of their events. Furthermore, it explains how event personality influences the development of event involvement, which is an important variable for the development of event loyalty.
Originality/value
It contributes to the academic literature in two ways: first, the construct of brand personality has not been previously applied in the context of outdoor sport events and especially mountain running races; and second, while it has been theoretically proposed (Aaker, 1997; Keller, 2008) and empirically supported (Eisend and Stokburger-Sauer, 2013) in the general marketing literature that brand personality is associated with positive behavioral and attitudinal (e.g. brand loyalty and brand involvement) outcomes, there has been no published research to test the relationships among brand personality, involvement and loyalty in the context of outdoor sport 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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Jerzy Cieślik and André van Stel
The purpose of this paper is to predict future career paths of university students, distinguishing between paid employment, running one’s own independent business and running a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to predict future career paths of university students, distinguishing between paid employment, running one’s own independent business and running a family business. The main predictor is the students’ current mode of entrepreneurial exposure, both in terms of the students running their own business, and in terms of their parents running their own business.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a comprehensive survey held in May 2013 among 1,490 business and law students of Kozminski University in Warsaw, Poland. To predict future career expectations in ten years’ time, multinomial logit regressions were employed.
Findings
The authors find that, among students with a family business background, those students who are actively involved in their parents’ business are significantly more likely to pursue joining the family firm, rather than starting their own business.
Practical implications
In order to stimulate business succession, universities with a large proportion of students with family business background may consider launching dedicated programs promoting the interest of students in the businesses run by their parents.
Originality/value
The authors investigate to what extent active participation of university students in their parents’ business is associated with a higher probability to pursue a career in family business. The research has important implications in light of the increasing difficulty in Europe to find successors for family businesses.
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