Factors Affecting Sport Event Attendance: Difference between Participants and Spectators

Factors Affecting Sport Event Attendance: Difference between Participants and Spectators Long-Yuan Lee, Department of Leisure and Sport Management, Cheng Shiu University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan A BSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore differences in motivational factors among sport tourists. Previous studies have been done on fan motivation; yet, little research considered factors influence between differing group settings. This study considered event involvement as a key factor that might influence the outcome of attending a sport event. Quantitative survey questionnaires were administrated, and data were collected from 278 subjects (male= 194, female=84) by using purposive sampling method. The results revealed a significant difference in event involvement between participants and spectators. Furthermore, it was found a difference in attitude toward the event between groups with high and low event involvement. Finally, this study suggested a more positive attitude toward the event would contribute to tourists future intention to consume in the event. The results might help event marketers develop strategies to better understand customers perceptions of event marketing promotion. Keywords:, Attitude, Future intention, Event marketing INTRODUCTION The sport marketing industry has grown tremendously over the past 20 years. In order to improve marketing performance in today s globally competitive environment, businesses are looking for alternative promotion tools. In recent years, sport tourism in marketing activities has grown greatly worldwide. Changes in emphasis increase the importance of understanding consumer response to the sporting events or organizations, and of investigating how promotional strategies influence consumers. Event marketers try to integrate marketing communications to promote the event and improve an event s image, such as attracting local sponsors, inviting elite-participants, and attaching sub-activities to the event. Both academic research and practitioners show growing interests in understanding the strategic benefits of the promotional strategies. The past decades have seen an evolving body of research in sport event marketing. In studying brand image, brand equity has been an essential element of consumer marketing. Event involvement research is one of the efforts that have been concentrated on this area. Empirical studies continued to look at the issues of brand image, brand awareness, and the effect of promotions. Based on the growing importance of the interests, this study intended to gain insight into the involvement aspect of event marketing. The study investigated the consumers perceptions of event recognition, attitude, and future intention, and further examined the differences among various consuming groups, namely, sport tourists, or participants and spectators. Studies in event marketing have largely focused on the event administrator s perspective. Some empirical studies have looked at the economic impact of sport tourism, satisfaction of tourists, destination image, service quality, and cultural differences (Lardinoit and Derbaix, 2001; Nicholls et al., 1999; Bennnett, 1999). Other studies have examined the importance of understanding consumers reaction to the sponsoring organization, and how this The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 10 Number 2, August, 2015 27

promotional strategies influences consumers responses (Cornwell et al., 2005; Speed and Thompson, 2000; Meenaghan, 1998). Although much of the tourism outcomes have been examined, there is a lack of effort to investigate the impact of those variables in different sports settings. Little attention has been paid to investigating how consumers perceive the characteristics of events related to differing groups, and how the perception of promotions might influence their responses to the event. Previous studies have investigated factors that influence the effectiveness of event tourists. However, not all of the factors were fully considered in the context of sport event. The main purpose of this study is to further understand tourist s aspects of event marketing regarding consumers level of involvement, and their attitude toward the event. Several research questions were proposed as following: 1. Is there a significant difference in level of event involvement between first-time and returning individuals? 2. Is there a significant difference in level of event involvement between participating spectating individuals? 3. Is there a significant difference in recognition and attitude toward the event between groups with different level of event involvement? 4. What is the relationship between consumers attitude toward the event and their future intention to consume in the event? LITERATURE REVIEW Event Participation vs. Motivation Individuals travel to participate in various types of sport events for different reasons. For sport marketing perspective, sport tourism includes two categories. Sport participation, which means traveling for the purpose of participating in a sport, recreation, leisure or fitness activity, while sport spectating means traveling for watching sport, recreational, leisure or fitness activities and events (Pitts, 1999). Motivational factors in sport tourism have been reviewed in various academic literatures. According to Shank (1999), external factors seem to play an important role in the motivation for sports. McDonald et al. (2002) claimed that Both spectators and participants are motivated by the chance to spend more time with family members, friends, and business associates. Several studies have found that peer and family relations in the sport setting and social interaction could motivate participant performance. McDonald et al. (2002) further indicated motivational factors traditionally used to explain sport participation could also be applied to sport spectatorship. Some studies have suggested that self-actualization is a strong motivator for sport participation. Swanson et al. (2003) found increasing team identification among fans would result in higher levels of attendance and positive word-of-mouth. Further, Milne et al. (1996) classified enjoyment of risk taking, development of positive values, enjoyment of the game, and a sense of belonging as factors impact individuals to participate a sport event. In terms of spectating, Funk et al. (2002) found that long-term support for the team and entertaining value in the event are major factors that motivate spectators to attend the sporting event. Bennett et al. (2007) suggested one factor might motivate people to watch the game is its nostalgic association with the tradition and would be likely to be interested in the game in the future. Further, the authors indicated other factors like social pressure, and previous involvement would also influence individual intention to revisit the game. In summary, various factors may influence individuals to attend the sporting event. Therefore, it is important to figure out the motivational differences between the participant and spectator groups. 28 The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 10 Number 2, August, 2015

Event Individuals might show particular interests in particular sports. They might maintain different levels of involvement with the event, and have various interactions with event marketers. was widely used in consumer behavior in relation to marketing research over decades. Definitions of involvement have differed from studies based on different contexts. Havitz and Dimanche (1997) defined activity involvement as an unobservable state of motivation, arousal or interest toward a recreation activity or associated product (p.246). In leisure studies, involvement is called enduring involvement, which means a stable and ongoing state with a specific service or activity and remains consistent or evolves slowly over time. Research has suggested attraction, centrality, self-expression as indices to measure enduring involvement, as well as an effective predictor of leisure behavior. (Havitz and Mannell, 2005; Kyle et al., 2004; Gwinner and Swanson, 2003). Several studies have proved the impact of involvement on the event. Alexandris et al. (2007) utilized activity involvement to measure the outcome of sport event and found involvement is positively associated with the image toward events. Lascu et al. (1995) suggested that spectators with high involvement in the event are more likely to have positive attitude than those with low involvement. The current study takes event involvement as the importance of event and the role of involvement toward individuals. In the case, the higher level of event involvement individuals have, the more information and knowledge about the event they possess. Hong (2003) suggested that customers with high involvement actively gather more evaluative information about choice alternatives in the decision-making process. Recognition In the sport event, brand awareness can increase the likelihood of consumers to consider that brand. Increasing brand awareness may have higher recognition or recall by the individuals. Lardinoit and Derbaix (2001) suggested the recognition measure aided recall attains better responses to learning than do unaided recall measures. Moreover, literature related to marketing has proven that involvement is related to recall and recognition (Singh and Rothschild, 1983). Consumers motivation and ability, and opportunity may affect their processing of the event. Consumers have a basic knowledge about the event and connect the information transferred to the brand. The program quality may include a range of programs, operating time, information communication, and physical environment (Ko and Pastore 2005). Consumers knowledge is thought to influence the development of consumer s responses to event promotions through its impact on information processing (Cornwell et al., 2005). Roy (2000) found that consumers with higher levels of knowledge about the brand have the ability to make more judgments. Pham (1992) noted involvement is an individual variable that may influence the information processing of event through consumer s motivation. Moreover, consumers prior experiences with an event may also have impact on the processing of messages. Attitude toward the Event Attitude toward the event plays an essential role in promoting event marketing strategy. Corporations have largely used consumers responses to identify the effectiveness of sport event. Easton and Mackie (1998) reported that strong commitments would lead to customers future intentions to maintain a long-term relationship with organizations. Gladden and Funk (2001) suggest that a sport team must develop highly committed and long-term relationships with fans by identifying their needs and wants and making them feel valuable. Event operators with highly committed consumers have more managerial benefits than others. Researchers suggested that fans that highly identify with a sport team The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 10 Number 2, August, 2015 29

have a more favorable attitude toward the team. Gwinner and Swanson (2003) examined the impact of fan identification on event outcomes. The results indicate that identified fans with high involvement are more likely to have a significant effect on consumer s attitude toward the event. Future Intention Empirical research has adopted the purchase intention theory to measure a consumer s behavioral tendency because of the difficulty to measure the actual sales (Madrigal, 2001; Mason, 2005). Increasing brand awareness and consumers positive and favorable attitude toward the brand can be considered as the basis for future intention. Individuals with high identification have more favorable attitudes and may have significantly more positive intentions to consume. Mason s (2005) study showed that there is a positive association between cognition, affect, and purchase intention. Research has found that future intention had a positive association with the attitude toward the event. Irwin et al. (2003) suggested that consumers behavioral intent to purchase or use cause-related products may also be influenced by their favorability and positive attitude toward the brand. Speed and Thompson (2000) also suggested it is important to understand the effect of consumer s attitude on the behavioral intentions. METHODOLOGY Sampling Subjects were sports tourists who visited a selected international sport event held in the southern county of Taiwan. In the context, the sports tourists were defined as all visitors who attended the sporting event, either participants or spectators. A purposive sampling method was used to collect data within this specific event. All visitors above 18 years old were eligible for filling out the questionnaires. Data was collected on-site operated by a group of pre-trained personnel. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed, and 290 questionnaires were returned. Finally, 278 were considered usable for data analysis. The response rate of the survey was 72.5%. Instrument The constructs used in the survey were modified from related studies previously. Five sections were included in the questionnaire. Recognition attributes were modified based on Grohs et al. (2004) work. Respondents were asked to indicate the name of event and recognize the category of event services. attributes were modified from the work of Alexandris et al. (2007) and Kyle et al. (2004). Eight items were utilized to measure individuals levels of event involvement by using 5-point Likert-type scale. A composite mean score was obtained to determine whether the event involvement was high or low. Attitude attributes were modified based on the work of Gwinner and Swanson (2003). Three items were utilized to measure individuals attitude toward the event by using 5-point Likert-type scale. Finally, future intention attributes were modified based on Speed and Thompson s (2000) construct. Three items were utilized to measure individuals future intention to attending the event activities by using 5-point Likert-type scale. Data Analysis After data coding, the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 18.0 was used to analyze the descriptive statistics, correlation coefficient analysis, Chi-square test, and T-test. In addition, Cronbach s alpha was employed to ensure the construct reliability. At least it should meet the minimum acceptable 30 The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 10 Number 2, August, 2015

level of 0.7 or above (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). Reliability estimates were computed for the three constructs. included eight items with a Cronbach s alpha of.93. Attitude included three items with a Cronbach s alpha of.91. And, Future Intention included three items with a Cronbach s alpha of.90. Thus, all scores were well above 0.70, which meet the minimum acceptable level. RESULTS Subject Characteristics 278 valid questionnaires were used to analyze respondents characteristics. Approximately 64.4% (n = 179) of the subjects indicated that they were the first time attending this event, and 35.6% (n = 99) of the subjects have attended this event at least one time. 67.3% (n = 187) took part in the competition of the event, while 32.7% (n = 91) were spectators. For the demographic profiles, the male-female ratio was about two to one, while 194 were male, which accounted for 69.8% of the total sample. 84 females attended this event, or 30.2% of the total sample. The largest group of respondents aged from 25 to 34 years old, which is 52.5% of total sample (n = 146), the second large age group was 35 to 44 years old (20.9%, or n = 58). In addition, for income levels, the first two large groups were NT$20001 - NT$40000 (33.5%, n = 93), and NT$40001 - NT$60000 (30.9%, n = 86). For educational levels, respondents who held college degree accounting for 49.6% (n = 138); the second was those with graduate degree (28.8%, or n = 80). Descriptive Statistics As shown in Table 1, eight items were used to evaluate individual s level of event involvement. Results show that to some degree the event was important to them. Mean scores are range from 4.16 to 3.82; This event interests me (Mean=4.16, SD = 0.86) is the highest, while I find a lot of my life is organized around this event is the lowest ( Mean = 3.82, SD = 0.97). Three items were used to evaluate individual s attitude towards the event. Respondents attitudes toward the event were satisfactory (Mean = 4.15, SD = 0.96), favorable (Mean = 4.09, SD = 0.94), and they like the sponsor (Mean = 4.08, SD = 1.07). For individual s future intention, scores are consider attending) (Mean = 3.93, SD = 0.95), buying related products (Mean = 3.94, SD = 0.94), and plan attending next time (Mean = 3.85, SD = 1.01). Table 1: Descriptive Statistics for Respondents, Attitude, and Future Intentions Item Mean SD Event 1. This event interests me. 2. I really enjoy this event. 3. I enjoy discussing this event with my friends. 4. Attending this event is one of the most enjoyable things I do. 5. Most of my friends are in some way connected with this event. 6. Attending this event is important to me. 7. Attending this event has a central role in my life. 8. find a lot of my life is organized around this event. Attitude toward the Event 1. Unsatisfactory---Satisfactory 2. Unfavorable---Favorable 3. Dislike---Like 4.16 4.14 4.09 4.08 4.04 3.92 3.85 3.82 4.15 4.09 4.08 0.86 0.93 0.86 0.89 0.87 0.81 0.94 0.97 0.96 0.94 1.07 The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 10 Number 2, August, 2015 31

Future Intention 1. The event made me more likely to consider attending. 2. The event made me more likely to buying related products. 3. I am planning to attend the event next time. Note: The 5 point Likert-scale ranged from 1, strongly disagree to 5, strongly agree. 3.93 3.94 3.85 0.95 0.94 1.01 The data of event involvement was used to classify scores into either low or high level of involvement. The overall mean scores of the distribution are between 1.38 and 5. Lower mean scores were defined as those scores ranging from 1.38 to 3.19. Higher mean scores were defined as those scores ranging from 3.19 to 5. Table2 shows that 247 (or 88.8%) of the subjects were classified as the high involvement group, while only 31 (or 11.2%) of the subjects were classified as low involvement group. Table 2: Distribution of Respondents by High/Low Event n % High 247 88.8 Low 31 11.2 Hypothesis Testing To address research questions, the study proposed five hypotheses. H1 predicted that individuals who were first-time attendants would have higher level of involvement than those who were return attendants. Since both of the variables were dichotomous, a chi-square test was used to test the hypothesis. Table 3 and 4 summarize distributions of type of respondents for high or low level of involvement. The results in Table 3 show that, First-time High involvement, 87.7 % (Return/High, 90.9%); First-time Low involvement, 12.3% (Return/Low, 9.1%). Table 4 presents the mean scores of the first-time and return attendants. The results indicate that both groups have high scores on event involvement. However, the proposed hypothesis is not supported, as no significant difference was identified, with the χ 2 = 0.66, p = 0.417 > 0.05. Table 3: Distribution of Respondents by Type and High n 157 First Time Return % n % 87.7% 90 90.9% Low 22 12.3% 9 9.1% First Time Return Table 4: Respondents Scores on by Type of Attendants n Mean SD 179 99 3.94 4.14 0.73 0.72 The H2 predicted that individuals who took part in the event would have higher level of involvement than those who spectated the event only. Since both of the variables were dichotomous, a chi-square test was used to test the hypothesis. Table 5 and 6 summarize distributions of respondents status for high or low level of involvement. The results in Table 5 show that, Participating High involvement, 9.4.1 % (Spectating/High, 78.0%); Participating Low involvement, 5.9% (Spectating/Low, 32 The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 10 Number 2, August, 2015

22.0%). Table 6 presents the mean scores of the participants and spectators. The results show that the proposed hypothesis is supported, as a significant difference was identified, with the χ 2 = 16.01, p = 0.00 < 0.05. Table 5: Distribution of Respondents by Status and High n 176 Participant Spectator % n % 94.1% 71 78.0% Low 11 5.9% 20 22.0% Participant Spectator Table 6: Respondents Scores on by Status of Attendants n Mean SD 187 91 4.14 3.74 0.70 0.72 The H3 predicted that individuals with high level of involvement would be more likely to recognize the event correctly than those with low level of involvement. A chi-square test was used to test the hypothesis. Table 7 summarizes distributions of respondents for high or low level of involvement and recognition of the event. The results in Table 8 show that there was no significant relationship between level of involvement and recognition of the event. Thus, Hypothesis 3 is not supported as no significant relationship was identified, with the χ 2 = 0.28, p = 0.60 > 0.05. Table 7: Distribution of Respondents by and Recognition Recognition Correct Incorrect n 224 23 High % 90.7% 9.3% n 29 2 Low % 93.5% 6.5% Table 8: Results of Chi-Square Test for and Recognition Measure χ 2 df p 0.28 1 0.60 The H4 predicted that individuals with high level of involvement would have more positive attitude toward the event than those with low level of involvement. A t test was used to test the hypotheses at the.05 level. Results in Table 9 and 10 indicate there is a statistically significant difference between low involvement (Mean = 3.74. SD = 1.14) and high involvement (Mean = 4.15, SD = 0.87). Therefore, Hypothesis 4 is confirmed as a significant relationship was identified, with the t = -2.38, p = 0.02 < 0.05. The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 10 Number 2, August, 2015 33

Attitude Table 9: Respondents Scores on Attitude by n Mean SD Low 31 3.74 1.14 High 247 4.15 0.87 *p <.05 Table 10: Results of Independent Samples T-Test for Attitude and Measure t df p -2.38 276 0.02 The H5 predicted that individuals with more positive attitudes would have more positive future intention than individuals with less positive attitudes toward the event. Both variables were measured by mean scores, a Pearson correlation test was used to test the hypotheses. Results show that there is a significant positive correlation between attitude toward the event and future intention. That is, higher attitudes toward the event tended to be associated with more positive future intention. Therefore, Hypothesis 5 is confirmed as a significantly positive relationship was identified (Correlation loading = 0.45*; p = 0.00 < 0.05). DISCUSSION Results showed no statistically significant difference in involvement between first-time and return attendants. It is concluded that both groups seem to have higher levels of involvement, and perhaps event involvement is a major element in perceiving outcomes when they attend the sport event. In addition, results revealed a statistically significant difference in involvement between participants and spectators. Possibly, the participants would concentrate more on the competition and pay more attention to the event. As discussed previously, this might be due to that event-related activities occupy most of their free time, and play an important role in their lives. Moreover, brand awareness is an important factor because it is a prerequisite for attitudes and future intention. The finding of the study is important for companies that are seeking to enhance their image via marketing strategies. Findings in this study were consistent with previous studies by Alexandris et al. (2007) and Gwinner and Swanson (2003) in that attitude toward the event is related to level of involvement. On the other hand, individuals with high involvement seemed to consider the image of event as more important than those with low involvement. The results showed that there was no significant relationship between event involvement and sponsor recognition. The finding in this study is different from the study by Grohs et al. (2004) which posited a positive association between event involvement and brand awareness. The reason might be due to how the company or brand awareness was previously perceived by individuals, not exactly through the level of their event involvement. Another finding in the study is concluded individuals future intentions to attend event activities are positively associated with their attitudes toward the event. The finding supports the results of previous studies that positive attitudes of the event lead to higher possibility of consumers behavioral intention (Alexandris et al., 2007; Cornwell et al., 2005). Future studies could also draw samples from larger groups of individuals in more diverse sport settings. Further, using the pre-selected event might cause a problem in that subjects might have a reaction on measurement scales based on previous experiences they held in memory, not on the perception of attending the event during administration of the survey. Subjects previous experiences or exposure to the advertisement, word-of-mouth communication from friends familiar with the event, or 34 The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 10 Number 2, August, 2015

prior usage with the event relatedness might influence their responses to the outcomes. Third, selecting events with different levels of status may influence individuals perception and their responses to the outcomes. For example, while the ING Taipei International Marathon has less awareness or prominence than the ING Boston International Marathon, it is still a major sport event with considerable equity because it is supported by the ING, a leading financial corporation in the world, and it is still a major international athletic competition. Future studies should consider similar large scale of sporting event or smaller local event to investigate the differences. REFERENCES Alexandris, K., Tsaousi, E., & James, J. (2007). Predicting sponsorship outcomes from attitudinal constructs: The case of a professional basketball event. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 16(3), 130-139. Bennett, R. (1999). Sports sponsorship, spectator recall and false consensus. European Journal of Marketing, 33(3/4), 291-313. Bennett, R., Ali-Choudhury, R., & Mousley, W. (2007). Television viewers motivations to follow the 2005 Ashes Test series: Implications for the rebranding of English cricket. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 16(1), 23-37. Cornwell, T. B., & Coote, L. V. (2005). Corporate sponsorship of a cause: The role of identification in purchase intent. Journal of Business Research, 58(3), 268-276. Cornwell, T. B., Weeks, C. S., & Roy, D. P. (2005). Sponsorship-linked marketing: Opening the black box. Journal of Advertising, 34(2), 21-42. Easton, S., & Mackie, P. (1998). When football came home: A case history of the sponsorship activity at Euro 1996. International Journal of Advertising. 17(1), 99-114. Funk, D. C., Mahoney, D. F., & Ridinger, L. L. (2002). Characterizing consumer motivation as individual difference factors: augmenting the sport interest inventory (SII) to explain level of spectator support. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 11(1), 33-43. Gladden, J. M., & Funk, D. C. (2001). Understanding brand loyalty in professional sport: Examining the link between brand association and brand loyalty. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 2, 67-92. Grohs, R., Wagner, U., & Vsetecka, S. (2004). Assessing the effectiveness of sport sponsorships: An empirical examination. Schmalenbach Business Review, 56(2), 119-138. Gwinner, K. P, & Swanson, S. R. (2003). A model of fan identification: Antecedents and sponsorship outcomes. The Journal of Services Marketing, 17(2/3), 275-294. Havitz, M. E. & Dimanche, F. (1997). Leisure involvement revisited: Conceptual conundrums and Measurement Advances. Journal of Leisure Research, 29(3), 245-278. Havitz, M. E., & Mannell, R. C. (2005). Enduring involvement, situational involvement, and flow in leisure and non-leisure activities. Journal of Leisure Research, 37(2), 152-177. Hong, K. W. (2003). The role of involvement in an integrated satisfaction model: The case of special event tourism. A Doctoral Dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA. Irwin, R. L., Lachowetz, T., Cornwell, T. B., & Clark, J. S. (2003). Cause-related sport sponsorship: An assessment of spectator beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 12(2), 131-139. Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1-22. Ko, Y. J., & Pastore, D. L. (2005). A hierarchical model of service quality for the recreational sport industry. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 14, 84-97. Kyle, G., Graefe, A., Manning, R., & Bacon, J. (2004). Predictors of behavioral loyalty among hikers along the Appalachian Trail. Leisure Sciences, 17, 99-118. Lardinoit, T. & Derbaix, C. (2001). Sponsorship and recall of sponsors. Psychology & Marketing, 18(2), 167-190. Lascu, D. N., Giese, T. D., Toolan, C., Guehring, B., & Mercer, J. (1995). Sport involvement: a relevant individual difference factor The Journal of International Management Studies, Volume 10 Number 2, August, 2015 35

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