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1 – 10 of over 31000Maowei Xu, Bo Li, Olan K.M. Scott and Jerred Junqi Wang
This study aims to investigate how sports customers adopted over-the-top (OTT) services to consume sport content. Inspired by the technology acceptance model (TAM), the study aims…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how sports customers adopted over-the-top (OTT) services to consume sport content. Inspired by the technology acceptance model (TAM), the study aims to understand users' behavior when consuming sporting events and users' perceptions toward OTT services.
Design/methodology/approach
The participants of the study are Chinese sports consumers that use streaming services to watch live sport content. An online survey was distributed through HUPU Sports, a Chinese online communication community where sports fans can share opinions. To make sure all responses qualified to take part in the study, skip logic questions were added at the beginning of the questionnaire to ask participants to answer whether they used streaming services for watching sports. A total of 352 responses were received and there were 327 useable questionnaires.
Findings
The results revealed that viewing convenience, free of commercials and viewing quality were the main reasons impacting them to adopt OTT services. In terms of users' perceptions, paid users rated higher in perceived enjoyment, perceived value, perceived usefulness (PU) and ease of use than nonpaid users. OTT users' fandom and PU could predict the time the users spent on using these services, while the users' fandom and perceived value are positively related to the money users spent on these services. In addition, this study also found that users' fandom, perceived value, content quality, and ease of use are positively associated with users' intention to continue to use the service.
Originality/value
The study is one of the first attempts to explore how sports audiences adopted OTT services to consume sport content and explore the audiences' perceptions toward OTT usage. Previous studies have already investigated how users adopted music streaming services (Fernandes and Guerra, 2019) and other online streaming services (Shin and Park, 2021), but little attention has been given to sports streaming services specifically. Therefore, the findings of the study fill the gap in the extant knowledge of sport consumers' behavior and provide more insights to their online behaviors. Moreover, the authors also contribute to the growing digital media literature by advancing our understanding perceptional differences between paid users and unpaid users. The streaming services literature has primarily focused on general users (Fernandes and Guerra, 2019), but the services neglect to understand the differences in between paid and unpaid users.
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Boo Ho Voon, Nagarajah Lee and Duncan Murray
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the proposed measure of sports service quality (SSQ) and examine the relationships between emotional experience (EE) and user…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the proposed measure of sports service quality (SSQ) and examine the relationships between emotional experience (EE) and user satisfaction (US) for sports competitions/training venues (i.e. for the sport of badminton).
Design/methodology/approach
Focus group discussions and related literature review were used to generate items for the SSQ. Structured questionnaires captured the perceptions of 240 users of sports venues in Malaysia. The relationships between SSQ, EE and US were assessed via structural equation modelling (SEM).
Findings
Results show that the SSQ has five dimensions (peripheral, reliability, responsiveness, core and value). Core, peripheral and value have positive effects on users’ EE whereas peripheral, reliability, responsiveness and core have positive effects on US. The SEM analysis suggests that EE mediates the relationship between SSQ and US.
Research limitations/implications
The SSQ scale is developed using data from the badminton sport industry and is yet to be validated in other types of sports venues. In addition, measures of customer loyalty also need to be considered.
Practical implications
Findings suggest that provision of quality service directly influences satisfaction with sports venues and enhances the EE of customers. Sports venue managers should monitor the service management, particularly in terms of the physical environment and personnel.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a specific measure of service quality tailored for use in sports venues. It also provides further support for the mediating role EE plays in the service quality-satisfaction relationship.
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Mónica Haro-González, Raquel Pérez-Ordás, Alberto Grao-Cruces, Román Nuviala and Alberto Nuviala
The purpose of this paper is to determine how an instrument – designed to assess quality, value, and satisfaction – works, and compare results obtained in female users of unisex…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine how an instrument – designed to assess quality, value, and satisfaction – works, and compare results obtained in female users of unisex sports services and fitness centres and female users of exclusively female sports services and fitness centres.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 745 women belonging to 62 sports services and fitness centres took part in this study; 36.60 per cent were members of female-exclusive centres. The average age was 32.97±14.11 years. In total, 38.70 per cent of the women surveyed used the sports services and fitness centres twice a week for 66.37±32.87 minutes on average. The EPOD2 questionnaire was used. This instrument is made up of 25 items and measures quality, value, and satisfaction. The invariance of the factorial structure in the two groups was verified and regression coefficients were calculated for the relationships in the model.
Findings
The model is stable in both of the groups. Quality is a predecessor of value and satisfaction. Value is related to a large extent to Satisfaction. The dimensions of quality (activity, sports instructors, service personnel, and space) are directly related to value and/or satisfaction. There are significant differences in the standardised values that relate quality and its dimensions with the value and satisfaction between women users of female-exclusive centres and women users of unisex centres.
Originality/value
This paper is important because the findings of this study can be applicable to help sports services and fitness centres, whether unisex centres or female-exclusive centres, obtain better assessments from female users.
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Süleyman Murat Yildiz and Ali Kara
The research presented in this study replicates and extends the QSport-10 scale proposed by Rial, Varela, Rial and Real in their 2010 study, by incorporating the Programme…
Abstract
The research presented in this study replicates and extends the QSport-10 scale proposed by Rial, Varela, Rial and Real in their 2010 study, by incorporating the Programme dimension into the original measurement of service quality in Physical Activity and Sports Centres (PSCs). The objective of this research is to examine the dimensionality of the QSport-10 scale and extend it to capture the additional Programme service quality dimension. Study results confirmed the dimensionality of the service quality measurement offered by the QSport-10 scale and presented strong empirical support for the existence of Programme, Installations and Staff dimensions. Programme dimension was considered the most important factor for the largest consumer segment in the study.
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David Fleischman, Popi Sotiriadou, Rory Mulcahy, Bridie Kean and Rubiana Lopes Cury
This paper aims to investigate capitalization support, an alternative perspective for theorizing social support in-service settings. In the service setting of the student-athlete…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate capitalization support, an alternative perspective for theorizing social support in-service settings. In the service setting of the student-athlete experience, the relationships between capitalization support service dimensions (i.e. the academic, athletic, self-development and place dimensions), well-being and sports performance are examined through a transformative sport service research (TSSR) lens, a newly introduced form of transformative service research (TSR).
Design/methodology/approach
Data from an online survey of Australian student-athletes (n = 867) is examined using partial least squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results support the theorized service dimensions of capitalization support, indicating their validity and relevance to the student-athlete experience. Further, the results demonstrate that all capitalization support dimensions except athletic support (i.e. academic support, place support and self-development support), have a direct effect on well-being and an indirect effect on sports performance.
Originality/value
This research is unique for several reasons. First, it introduces a new perspective, capitalization support, to theorizing about social support in services. Second, it is one of the first studies in both TSR and TSSR to empirically test and demonstrate a relationship between support services, well-being and performance in a single study. Insight into how to design services to optimize well-being in relation to other service objectives like performance thus emerges.
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Liangjun Zhou, Jerred Junqi Wang, Xiaoying Chen, Beth Cianfrone and Nathan David Pifer
Since 2014, “sport for all” has been promoted as a new national strategy in China, which injects powerful dynamism and vitality for its development in numerous aspects. However…
Abstract
Purpose
Since 2014, “sport for all” has been promoted as a new national strategy in China, which injects powerful dynamism and vitality for its development in numerous aspects. However, there has been very little feedback on sport service provision in community, and the satisfaction level of community participants is largely unmeasured. To promote physical and mental health of residents and form a stronger foundation of sport culture, more attention should be directed to community sports. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of community-sport service provisions on participants’ satisfaction and, in turn, on their sport participation behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
Community-sport program participants in China (n=576) responded to a survey measuring the proposed concepts.
Findings
Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that community-sport services in the areas of sport facility, grassroots sport organizations and sport activity programs had strong influences on participant satisfaction and, in turn, their desire for participation, which highlighted the demand for high-quality sport service provision by community.
Originality/value
The study contributed to the literature by proposing two clear dimensions (core sport service and peripheral sport service) for the measurement of public sport service provision in community sports. A second theoretical contribution of the study relates to the clarification of the relationship between the two dimensions of community-sport service provision (both core and peripheral services) and community participants’ satisfaction levels.
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Yong Jae Ko, James Zhang, Kevin Cattani and Donna Pastore
The purpose of this study is to enhance understanding of service quality at major spectator sports events by developing a conceptual framework and measurement scale specifically…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to enhance understanding of service quality at major spectator sports events by developing a conceptual framework and measurement scale specifically designed for assessment of spectators' perceptions of event quality.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilising a comprehensive literature review and detailed qualitative preliminary procedures, a comprehensive model of event quality for spectator sports (MEQSS) and a measurement scale of event quality in spectator sports (SEQSS) are developed. The models are then tested using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling using data from a quantitative survey of a convenience sample of spectators at a major league baseball game in the United States.
Findings
The proposed model is shown to fit the data well. Reliability and validity of the SEQSS are established through a pilot test and the substantive survey.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of the study are limited by the sample being restricted to a single sports event in the United States. Further studies in other settings using larger samples are desirable.
Practical implications
The study provides a valid and reliable conceptual framework and measurement tool that can be used to ascertain the quality perceptions of consumers of major spectator sports events. Managers can use this framework and measurement scale as a diagnostic tool to identify strengths and weaknesses in their services, this providing guidance for potential areas of improvement.
Originality/value
This study extends the literature on service quality by providing a unique conceptual framework and measurement scale for major spectator sports events.
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Nicholas 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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Behzad Foroughi, KhairulAnuar Mohammad Shah, Davoud Nikbin and Sunghyup Sean Hyun
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between event quality and fan satisfaction and consequent fan attendance of soccer matches in Iran. Data on game quality…
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between event quality and fan satisfaction and consequent fan attendance of soccer matches in Iran. Data on game quality, augmented service, interaction, outcome, environment, fan satisfaction and attendance were gathered from 260 spectators attending an Iranian premier league soccer match by means of a survey. The results show that, except for interaction, all dimensions of event quality have a significant relationship with fan satisfaction. Moreover, the effect of game quality on fan satisfaction is stronger than other dimensions. The results also confirm the significant relationship between fan satisfaction and attendance. Fan satisfaction is shown to be partially mediating the relationship between event quality and game attendance. Practical implications for facility managers and sports marketers are discussed.
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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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