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The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between image congruence, tourist satisfaction and intention to revisit in marathon tourism. The results show that both affective image congruence (AIC) and cognitive image congruence (CIC) have a positive influence on tourist satisfaction and intention to revisit in the context of marathon tourism. The results also reveal that demographic and behavioural characteristics have a significant impact on revisiting intentions; and past experience of marathon tourism controls the relationship between image congruence and tourist satisfaction.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

The paper aims to examine the relationships among marathon spectator motivation, satisfaction and behavioral intention in China.

Date were collected from three Chinese marathon races. The paper presents the conceptual model of the study and adopted a mixed method to identify the motivations of marathon spectators; structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the measurement and substantive models; regression analysis was used to detect the specific effects of the various spectator motivations on spectator satisfaction and behavioral intention.

The paper provides empirical evidences about how marathon spectator motivation affects the behavioral intention. The research results from a path analysis of the spectator motivation–satisfaction–behavioral intention model show that: spectator motivation has significant positive effects on behavioral intention, the indirect path dominates the total effect of motivation on behavioral intention via satisfaction as a mediating variable; satisfaction is positively associated with behavioral intention, and it plays mediate role between spectator motivation and behavioral intention. The result of regression analysis indicates that various spectator motivations have different influences on the satisfaction and behavioral intention, motives of excitement and diversion have significant effect on satisfaction and behavioral intention, but socialization motive is not significantly associated with the satisfaction and behavioral intention.

This paper first fulfills an identified need to explore mass sports event spectator motivations and its influential mechanism on behavioral intention among Chinese marathon races by survey. It contributes greatly to the literature of mass sports spectator motivation and consumption theory, provides important managerial implications for Chinese sports organizations as to how to improve spectator orientation degree.

The purpose of this paper is to identify consumer profiles based on behaviour of runners at marathon races and to determine key drivers for their intention to revisit the marathon.

Participants of three marathons in Germany (Cologne, Bonn, Hanover) were invited via e‐mail to take part in an online survey after the race (n=1,370). They were questioned about the trip to the city, the marathon event, and their socio‐demographics.

The cluster analysis revealed three clusters that are named holidayers, socialisers and marathoners. The results of the logistic regression analysis show that the intention to revisit is determined by the length of the trip, the daily spending in the city, and the satisfaction with the event.

Non‐probability sampling represents a limitation of this study. Questions relating to the involvement and knowledge of running (first timer and repeat participant) could serve as valuable indicators to further differentiate between different types of runners.

It is suggested to offer special packages to the runners when they register for the race. One package could, for example, include the starting fee and two nights at a hotel. Moreover, the event organisers could offer more targeted side events such as athlete workshops on nutrition, training, and medical advice.

This paper offers an insight into different consumer profiles of marathon runners based on their behaviour and spending. Key indicators of the runner's intention to revisit the marathon are presented. This study contributes to close a research gap and allows marketers to better understand their consumers.

This paper examines the hidden financial benefits that non-elite events are capable of delivering for host cities. The paper provides examples of how mass participation (and other non-elite) events can generate substantial economic impacts comparable to and, in some cases greater than, those associated with elite events. Cost-effectiveness of mass participation events, relative to major elite sports events, is discussed.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of marathon enthusiasts' perceptions towards venue quality, race competition, organisation and service quality on their intention to participate in a destination marathon in the emerging region's context. It also seeks to investigate the mediating effect of perceived value and the moderating effect of intention to visit the destination on the intention to participate.

Using purposive sampling technique, 177 valid Singapore marathon enthusiasts were sampled to look into their intention towards participating in destination marathon in Sarawak (marathon held in Kuching). The data were analysed using the partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS–SEM).

The results show that amongst the other determinants, perceived organisation and perceived service quality do not contribute to perceived value and intention to participate in destination marathon. Perceived value is found to mediate all path relationships except the relationship between perceived organisation and intention to participate. Moreover, the relationship between perceived value and intention to participate is significantly moderated by intention to tour Sarawak.

This study makes a substantial contribution to the extant literature pertaining to destination tourism and value-based marketing in an emerging market. In particular, it highlights the importance of perceived value and the relevance of destination tourism in joining a sport event on foreign soil. The use of PLS–SEM also allows a rigorous assessment of the relationships under investigation and provides better estimations of the phenomenon.

The purpose of this paper is to examine foreign participants’ service quality, satisfaction and behavioral intention during the 2016 Shanghai International Marathon, and to gain a better understanding of the impact of service quality on their satisfaction and behavioral intention.

An English questionnaire was originally designed on the basis of the literature review of service quality, overall satisfaction and re-participation intention to assess the purpose of the study. Data were collected from 308 foreign runners including 61.7 percent (n=190) of male and 38.3 percent (n=118) of the female. Structural equation modeling was employed to check the proposed model and to test the impact of service quality on foreign participants’ overall satisfaction and behavioral intention.

A positive correlation was captured between the following: service quality and overall satisfaction (r=0.752, p<0.01), overall satisfaction and behavioral intention (r=0.876, p<0.01), and between service quality and participants’ behavioral intention (r=0.760, p<0.01). Furthermore, the service quality of Shanghai International Marathon had an indirect effect on foreign participants’ behavioral intention. The structural model fits the data well (R²=0.823).

First, the sample size was small and was just drawn from one event, which can be taken with caution in the context of the generalization of findings. Second, the results are specific to 2016 Shanghai International Marathon participants and cannot be generalized with other events in China or around the world.

The results are practical for the marathon event organizers to better understand foreign participants’ needs and improve their services. This study has a significant importance to the sports events organizers, especially the organizers of the Shanghai International Marathon in terms of a better understanding the level of their service. This study will also help the event organizers to adapt their strategies and their efforts to increase Shanghai International Marathon foreign participants’ satisfaction and intention to repurchase or to share with others.

This study contributes to the foreign participant’s satisfaction literature. In fact, many studies were carried on event spectators’ satisfaction while rare studies were carried on event participants’ satisfaction, especially marathon foreign participants’ satisfaction, and this study will supplement studies related to sport events participation. This will be convenient for sports managers and scholars to better understand the impact of service quality on participants’ satisfaction and behavioral intention in the field of sports events management. Meanwhile, the results were extremely useful to Shanghai during the process of constructing a “world-famous sports city” and “modern international metropolis”.

Little literature focus on foreign participants of Shanghai International Marathon, which is important in the process of shaping city image and building world-famous city. Are foreign participants satisfied with the Shanghai International Marathon? Which aspect of the service quality is of greater value for them? What are the influencing factors of their behavioral intention and word-of-mouth communication? What are the specific impact paths among the service quality, overall satisfaction and behavioral intention variables? To examine the objectives, the study was designed to target foreign participants’ service quality, satisfaction and behavioral intention. Besides, structural equation model was applied in this study to explore the path relationship between service quality, satisfaction and behavioral intention specifically.

This study investigated the runner's satisfaction with the First Knoxville Marathon, held in Knoxville, Tennessee. A total of 963 questionnaires were obtained and confirmed as data for analysis. The four-page survey instrument attempted to extract runners' satisfaction with race attributes and general demographic characteristics. The study employed factor analysis to delineate the underlying dimensions of the runners' satisfactions about 17 race attributes and MANOVA to investigate whether there were significant satisfaction differences among delineated factors based on general demographic information related to the First Knoxville Marathon. Approximately 23% of respondents indicated their household income to be over $120,000, over 80% of respondents had a college degree, and age of approximately 80% of respondents was ranged from 26 to 55. MANOVA results showed that there were significant differences of satisfaction levels among different distance completed by marathoners. Recommendations and limitation are discussed in the conclusions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of Marathon event spending by estimated expenditure models.

This study analyzes the impact of socio-demographic and travel-context factors on aggregated and disaggregated expenditures by event visitors who participated in the Fargo Marathon in Fargo, North Dakota.

The results indicate that event satisfaction does not have an influence on any types of expenditure. As the planning time increases, however, there is a positive effect on total expenditure. First-time visitors are shown to spend more money, especially on food and beverage, lodging and total expenditure. Conversely, the number of past experiences of the event had a negative influence on these expenditure types.

In addition to travel-related factors and socio-demographic variables, researchers had not examined the influence of repeat visits on travelers’ spending. The originality of this study lies in revealing that repeat visits decrease spending in specific categories, especially in the case of a Marathon event.