Influence of the return of spectators from the physical quality of football stadiums with the mediation of satisfaction

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Sports Management, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.

2 Associate Professor of Sports Management, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Mazandaran University, Babolsar, Iran

3 Ph.D. Student of Sport Management, Faculty of sport sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

Abstract
Sports spectators are an important part of the professional sports landscape. Spectators are economically important to clubs, as clubs earn money through ticket sales and provide the environment for television broadcasts. Studying and discovering the needs of spectators of sports events and analyzing and predicting their behavior and intention to reattendance again is a process, as a result of which parameters such as the amount of services provided, satisfaction, and loyalty of the spectators are checked. The fact is that satisfaction is primarily perceived by product quality and event value. The attributes associated with event value are often unpredictable and beyond the control of sports managers. But the quality of the product is under the control of sports managers; therefore, adopting strategic decisions of sports managers to improve the quality of sports stadiums may lead to audience satisfaction. The physical quality of sports stadiums has a lot to do with the behavioral tendencies of people attending the games. It is important for stadiums to have a good physical quality that meets the needs and expectations of the spectators who attend the games. Stadiums that are designed at a high level and consider all the necessary aspects, create a positive environment for spectators and encourage them to have positive behavioral tendencies. Also, stadiums with good physical quality will create a more attractive experience for the spectators by making the game more exciting. Attending the game is the most important form of consumer behavior in spectator sports. Therefore, knowing the goals and needs of the spectators and the reasons for their reattendance or non-reattendance in sports events is the first step for clubs to increase the number of attendees. If the needs of the spectators are not assessed well and correctly, the spectators may not want to attend the stadiums and only follow the results and events of their favorite teams through the media, which will be detrimental to the managers of the sports clubs. Therefore, sports marketing managers should pay special attention to the quality of sports stadiums. Those in charge of organizing sports events should bring the quality of the stadiums to the level of international standards so that the spectators have the desire to return to the stadium with satisfaction. Therefore, the active presence of spectators in stadiums can be considered as the main and important factor in the flourishing of sports, which should not be neglected. Now, in order to witness the presence of spectators in the stadium, the quality of the event venue must be such that the spectators have the desire to watch the matches in that stadium. Also, in the discussion of the quality of the stadiums, in order to attract and identify the needs of the spectators and to host international events, a series of standards must be observed. ; Therefore, it is necessary to carry out continuous evaluation and measurement. In addition, considering that different spectators may come to the stadium in each match, for this reason, it is better to carry out evaluations in a suitable period of time to identify the strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, according to the stated content, the factors affecting the satisfaction and re-attendance of the audience should be investigated. On the other hand, reactions to sports services may be different in sports cultures and environments; For this reason, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of the physical quality of football stadiums on the re-attendance of spectators with the role of mediator of satisfaction. The method of conducting the present research was descriptive correlation type. The statistical population of the research included all the spectators of the premier football league matches; 325 people were selected by the non-random sampling of the Convenience type, and finally, 294 correct questionnaires were returned. The information was collected through a researcher-made questionnaire, which was obtained through interviews with experts (academic faculty members and sports managers) and library studies. The face and content validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by using the opinions of sports experts and sports management professors (10 people) after applying their corrective opinions. The internal reliability of questionnaire items was obtained in an experimental study using Cronbach's alpha method for the stadium characteristics questionnaire (0.97) and satisfaction questionnaire (0.87) and for Willingness to reattendance (0.88); used SPSS software in the descriptive and inferential statistics section, as well as Amos software to draw path analysis. The results showed that the characteristics of the stadium have a positive and significant effect on satisfaction; Also, the characteristics of the stadium have a positive and significant effect on the Willingness to reattendance of spectators. In addition, satisfaction has a positive and significant on willingness to reattendance. Finally, it is possible to confirm the mediating effect of satisfaction in the relationship between the characteristics of the stadium and Willingness to reattendance at the 95% confidence level. Therefore, according to the importance of the presence of spectators in stadiums, sports managers should periodically assess the needs and evaluate the satisfaction of the spectators as well as the quality of the stadiums, and by removing the shortcomings, witness the maximum attendance of the spectators. According to the obtained results, it can be said that paying attention to the needs of sports customers and providing good quality services can bring a special competitive advantage to the sports organization and bring many successes in the field of sports marketing.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Abdolmaleki, H., & Khodayari, A. (2021). Modelling the role of Physical and Subjective Factors on Re-Presence of Clients of E-Sport Business with mediating of E- Word of mouth. Communication Management in Sport Media, 8(3), 51-60. [Persian]
Ahmadi, S. A. A., Asgari Dehabad, H. R., & Darvish, H. (2015). Investigating the Impact of Perception of Quality Factors on Customer Behavioral Tendency through Brand Trust (Case Study: Domestic Automotive Companies). Parliament and Strategy, 89, 249_267. [Persian].
Ahrholdt, D. C., Gudergan, S. P., & Ringle, C. M. (2017). Enhancing service loyalty: The roles of delight, satisfaction, and service quality. Journal of Travel Research, 56(4), 436-450.
AliDost, E. Ahmadi, A. (2011). The relationship between service quality and audience satisfaction in Asian Champions League host stadiums. Journal of Sports Management, 4(14), 31-47. doi: 10.22059/jsm.2012.28903. [Persian].
Bagheri, H., Shahbaz Pour, L., & Nazemi, A. (2020). The Effect of Service Experience on Future Attendance of Football Spectators at the Stadium. Sport Management Studies, 11(58), 183-200. doi:10.22089/smrj.2019.7484.2589
Balaji, M. S., & Chakraborti, R. (2015). Stadium atmosphere: scale development and validation in Indian context. Journal of Indian Business Research, 7(1), 45-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIBR-05-2014-0029
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of personality and social psychology, 51(6), 1173.
Benar, N., & Emami, M. (2016). The qualitative study of development Iranian spectators attracting and retaining in the Iran women's volleyball by NVivo. Applied Research in Sport Management, 4(4), 97-111. [Persian].
Barros Filho, M. A., Pedroso, C. A. M. D. Q., Miranda, Y. D. H. B. D., Sarmento, J. P., Silva, V. H. R., & Dias, C. (2021). The influence of service quality on satisfaction and behavioral intentions of football spectators: A study in Pernambuco football. Journal of Physical Education, 32(1). 450-4622. https://doi.org/10.4025/jphyseduc.v32i1.3203
Biscaia, R., Yoshida, M., & Kim, Y. (2021). Service quality and its effects on consumer outcomes: a meta-analytic review in spectator sport. European Sport Management Quarterly, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2021.1938630
Burillo, P., De La Riva, L., García-Unanue, J., Sánchez-Sánchez, J., Felipe, J. L., & Fernández-Luna, A. (2018). Spectator spending and satisfaction analysis in the 2017 Madrid Tennis Open according to the attendee profile. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 18, 12_71.
Byon, K. K., Zhang, J. J., & Baker, T. A. (2013). Impact of core and peripheral service quality on consumption behavior of professional team sport spectators as mediated by perceived value. European Sport Management Quarterly, 13(2), 232-263.
Çevik, H. (2020). Stadyum Atmosferinin İzleyicilerin Tatmin ve Davranışsal Niyeti Üzerindeki Etkisi: Yeni Eskişehir Stadyumu Örneği. Sportif Bakış: Spor ve Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, 7(1), 75-92.‏ doi: 10.33468/sbsebd.125
Chitturi, R., Raghunathan, R., & Mahajan, V. (2008). Delight by design: The role of he- donic versus utilitarian benefits. Journal of Marketing, 72(3), 48–63.
Cho, H., Lee, H. W., & Pyun, D. Y. (2018). The influence of stadium environment on attendance intentions in spectator sport: The moderating role of team loyalty. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship. 20(2), 276-290. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-04-2017-0025
Cho, H., Lee, H.-W. and Pyun, D.Y. (2019), "The influence of stadium environment on attendance intentions in spectator sport: The moderating role of team loyalty", International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 20(2). 276-290. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-04-2017-0025
Darvishzadeh, M. Eidi, H. Shabani Moghadam, Keyvan. Khanumradi, S. (2015). Investigating the atmosphere of Iran's sports stadiums in popular sports events. New approaches in sports management, 3(10), 35-44. [Persian].
Deloitte Sports Business Group, (2020). Eye on the prize, football money league. Available from: Internet link: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/sports-business-group/deloitte-uk-deloitte-football-money-league-2020.pdf
Emami, M., & Banar, N. (2017). The effect of relational marketing on the quality of communication with spectators of the Women's Professional Volleyball League. Sports Management Studies (Research in Sports Science), 4(41), 1991_2011. [Persian].
Gallagher, D., O'Connor, C., & Gilmore, A. (2016). An exploratory examination of the strategic direction of the Gaelic Athletic Association via the application of sports marketing segmentation bases. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 34(2), 203_222.https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-09-2014-0188
Seyed Ameri, M. H., Bahrami, S., & Sayadi, M. (2013). surveyed relation between service quality with satisfaction and clientele’s loyalty of private’s and government’s sport locations in Urmia city. Applied Research in Sport Management, 1(3), 11-18.
Ghezelsefloo, H., & Kalateh Seifari, M. (2017). Designing of SEM Model of Sport Spectator’s Future Intention Attendance in World Volleyball’s League in Terms of Priority in Service Quality and. Sport Management Studies, 9(43), 17-38. [Persian].
Goharrostami, Hamidreza, Mohammadzadegan, Mehdi, & Nazari, Samaneh. (2021). Investigating factors affecting the quality of the construction process of football stadiums in Iran. Sports Management and Development, 10(2), 102-122. doi: 10.22124/jsmd.2021.5054. [Persian].
Gong, T., & Yi, Y. (2018). The effect of service quality on customer satisfaction, loyalty, and happiness in five Asian countries. Psychology & Marketing, 35(6), 427_442.
Greenwell, T. C., Fink, J. S., & Pastore, D. L. (2002). Assessing the influence of the physical sports facility on customer satisfaction within the context of the service experience. Sport Management Review, 5(2), 129-148.
Ha, J. H., & Han, J. W. (2010). Influence of Affective Reaction, Cognition, Spectator Satisfaction, Psychological Commitment on Intention to Attend Future Games to a Collegiate Sports Team. Journal of Sport and Leisure Studies, 39, 223_237.
Hesami, L; Jalali Farahan, M; Soleimani, Kh. (2014). Explaining the safety status of the professional football stadiums of the country. Sports management. 6(2). 343- 359. [Persian]
Hosseini, S. E., & Purkian, A. (2018). The effect of the stadium's sensory stimuli on the excitement, satisfaction and intention to visit the football spectators again. Sports Management Studies (Research in Sports Science), 10(47), 205_224. [Persian].
Huijgen, B. C., Elferink-Gemser, M. T., Ali, A., & Visscher, C. (2013). Soccer skill development in talented players. International journal of sports medicine, 34(08), 720_726.
Hyun, M., & Jordan, J. S. (2019). Athletic goal achievement: A critical antecedent of event satisfaction, re-participation intention, and future exercise intention in participant sport events. Sport Management Review. 23(2), 257-270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2019.01.007
Irvani, T., & Atashgar, K. (2015). A review of service quality measurement models and their capability assessment. The Annual Conference on Management and Business Economics, Tehran. [Persian].
Jahn, S., Cornwell, T. B., Drengner, J., & Gaus, H. (2018). Temporary communitas and willingness to return to events. Journal of Business Research, 92, 329-338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.08.005
Jang, W., Byon, K. K., & Yim, B. H. (2020). Sportscape, emotion, and behavioral intention: a case of the big four US-based major sport leagues. European Sport Management Quarterly, 20(3), 321-343.
Jensen, R. W., Haskell Sr, R. E., & & Larson, B. V. (2018). How Does the Quality of Concessions at an NFL Game Affect Fan Satisfaction and Behavior? Analysis of Fan Perceptions. Journal of Marketing Management, 6(1), 1_18. DOI: 10.15640/jmm.v6n1a1
Khatibzadeh, M. Kozechian, H. Hanrour, A. (2013). Factors affecting the quality of sports tourism services from the point of view of tourists present in Shahrvard Esteghlal and Persepolis. Journal of Sports Management, 6(1), 39-55. doi: 10.22059/jsm.2014.50144. [Persian].
Koozehchian, H., Khatibzadeh, M., & Honarvar, A. (2011). The role of dimensions of quality of tourism services in the satisfaction of sports tourists. Sports Management Research and Motor Sciences, 2, 19_32. [Persian].
Kozechian, H. Khatibzadeh, M. Hanrour, A. (2011). The role of tourism service quality dimensions in the satisfaction of sports tourists. Contemporary research in sports management, 2(1), 19-32. [Persian].
Kunkel, T., Biscaia, R., Arai, A., & Agyemang, K. (2019). The role of self-brand connection on the relationship between athlete brand image and fan outcomes. Journal of Sport Management, 34(3), 201-216. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2019-0222
Lamberti, G., Rialp, J. and Simon, A. (2022), "Antecedents of satisfaction and loyalty in different spectator tribes in a football context", International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 23(2). 295-310. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-12-2020-0210
Lawrence, H. J., O'Reilly, N., Speck, A., Ullrich, C., & Robles, K. (2020). The determinants of season ticket holder advocacy in the NCAA football bowl subdivision. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 10(3), 335-358. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-05-2019-0035‏
Lee, C., & Hur, Y. (2019). Service quality and complaint management influence fan satisfaction and team identification. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 47(2), 1-15.
Lee, J. H., Kim, H. D., Ko, Y. J., Sagas, M. (2010). "The influence of service quality on satisfaction and intention: A gender segmentation strategy". Sport Management Review, 14(1), pp: 54-63.
Lee, K. Y., & Bae, S. W. (2014). The Effect of Factors on Foreign Spectators' Intention to Attend the Korean Professional Baseball Games. Universal Journal of Management, 2(7), 265-271. DOI: 10.13189/ujm.2014.020702
Lee, M. A., Kunkel, T., Funk, D. C., Karg, A., & McDonald, H. (2020). Built to last: Relationship quality management for season ticket holders. European Sport Management Quarterly, 20(3), 364-384. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2019.1613438
Loannou, P., & Bakirtzoglou, P. (2016). The relationship between stadium factors on spectators’ satisfaction in Greek Soccer Super League. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 11(4), 437_443.
Ludvigsen, M., & Veerasawmy, R. (2010, November). Designing technology for active spectator experiences at sporting events. In Proceedings of the 22nd conference of the computer-human interaction special interest group of Australia on computer-human interaction (pp. 96-103).
Mogajane, V. S., Slabbert, E., & Du Plessis, E. (2019). Assessing the importance of spectators to soccer clubs in South Africa: A management perspective. Acta Commercii, 19(1), 1-10.
Mousavi, S. E., Elahi, A. R., & Hadavi, F. (2013). Determining the validity and validity of the Iranian version of the questionnaires of attitude loyalty and behavioral loyalty of sports fans. Journal of Sports Management and Physiology North, 1, 72_59. [Persian].
Mullin, B. J., Hardy, S., & Sutton, W. (2014). Sport marketing 4th edition. Human Kinetics.
Nazemi, A. Godarzi, M. Khabiri,  M. (2013). The effect of stadium characteristics on the re-attendance of spectators in the Premier Football League of Iran. New approaches in sports management, 1(1), 65-77. [Persian].
Nazimi, A. Godarzi, M. Khabeiri, M (2013). The Effect of Stadium Features on Spectators' Attendance in Iran Football Premier League. New approaches in sports management, 1(1), 65-77. [Persian].
Nguyen, Q., Nisar, T., Knox, D., & Prabhakar, G. (2018). Understanding customer satisfaction in the UK quick service restaurant industry: The influence of the tangible attributes of perceived service quality. British Food Journal, 120(6), 1207_1222. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2017-0449
Oliver, R. L., Rust, R. T., & Varki, S. (1997). Customer delight: Foundations, findings, and managerial insight. Journal of Retailing, 73(3), 311–336.
Panahi, H., Behboodi, D., Zolghadr, H., & Zolghadr, A. (2015). Investigating the effect of service quality on tourist satisfaction. Case study: Gonbad Soltanieh. Geography and Urban Planning, 15, 101_116. https://doi.org/10.22111/gaij.2015.2074. [Persian].
Pooladi, S., Abdolmaleki, H., & Kohandel, M. (2022). The role of Sportscape on Service Experience of Football Spectators (case of Azadi stadium). Sports Marketing Studies, 3(2), 150-121. [Persian].
Quansah, T. K. (2022). New sports stadia for Africa? The impact of sportscape features on attendance intentions in sub-Saharan African club football. European Sport Management Quarterly, 21(2), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2022.2125549
Ramzaninejad, R., Goharrostami, H. R., ahmadi, F., & norouzi, M. (2020). Survey factors affecting market demand of premier league soccer teams in the east azarbaijan province. Sports Marketing Studies, 1(2), 75-51. doi: https://www.doi.org/10.34785/J021.2020.970. [Persian]
Sauer, P., Spradley, B. D., & Cromartie, F. J. (2017). Influence of service in a sports environment: case study on Borussia Bortmund. The Sport Journal, 20.
Serrano, J. A., & Segado, F. S. (2015). Análisis de las herramientas de medición de percepción de la calidad en los servicios deportivos: revisión de la literatura. Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte, 10(28), 67-76.
Shin, J. H., & Lyu, S. O. (2019). Using a discrete choice experiment to estimate spectators’ willingness to pay for professional baseball park sportscape. Sport Management Review, 22(4), 502-512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2018.06.009
Silveira, M. P., Cardoso, M. V., & Quevedo-Silva, F. (2018). Factors influencing attendance at stadiums and arenas. Marketing Intelligence & Planning.37(1),50-60. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-02-2018-0048
Slavich, M. A., Dwyer, B., & Rufer, L. (2018). An Evolving Experience: An Investigation of the Impact of Sporting Event Factors on Spectator Satisfaction. Journal of Global Sport Management, 3(1), 79_98. https://doi.org/10.1080/24704067.2017.1411162
Soyguden, A., Schneider, R. C., Barut, Y., & Imamoglu, O. (2019). Factors Affecting Stadium Attendance of Professional Football Club Supporters. Baltic Journal of Sport and Health Sciences, 3(114).
Szymanski, S. (2003). The economic design of sporting contests. Journal of Economic Literature, 41(4), 1137– 1187. doi: 10.1257/002205103771800004
Tabesh, S., noori khanyourdi, M., dousti, M., & ganjaeain, H. (2020). Presenting the proposed model for the location of sports places using the integrated model of WLC and AHP. Sport Management and Development, 9(1), 2-22. doi: 10.22124/jsmd.2020.4096 [Persian].
Talebpour, M. Rajabi, M. Moslinejad, M. Sahibkaran, M. Samsami, M. (2016). Evaluation of the behavioral intentions of the spectators of the Iranian handball league based on the quality of performance and result. New approaches in sports management, 4(13), 23-34. [Persian].
Taylor, T., & Toohey, K. (2011). Ensuring safety at Australian sport event precincts: Creating securitised, sanitised and stifling spaces?. Urban Studies, 48(15), 3259-3275.
Thakur, R. (2019). The moderating role of customer engagement experiences in customer satisfaction–loyalty relationship. European Journal of Marketing. 53(7), 1278-1310. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-11-2017-0895
Tian, J., Xu, C., Kim, K., Nauright, J., Kim, M., David Pifer, N., & Zhang, J. J. (2021). Examining the relationship among service quality, perceived value, and sport consumption at the Wuhan tennis open. Sport in Society, 24(10), 1810-1826. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2021.1901345
Tsuji, Y., Bennett, G., & Dees, W. (2011). Exploring the effects of sportscape at a professional tennis tournament. International Journal of Sport Management, 12 (1): 33-49.
Wang, X. (2011). The effect of unrelated supporting service quality on consumer delight, satisfaction, and repurchase intentions. Journal of Service Research, 14(2), 149–163.
Won, D., & Lee, C. (2022). What influences season ticket holders’ satisfaction and renewal intention? the role of season ticket service quality. Managing Sport and Leisure, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2022.2072372‏
Yoshida, M. (2017). Consumer experience quality: A review and extension of the sport management literature. Sport Management Review, 20(5), 427-442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2017.01.002
Yun, J.H., Rosenberger, P.J. and Sweeney, K. (2020), “Drivers of soccer fan loyalty: Australian evidence on the influence of team brand image, fan engagement, satisfaction and enduring involvement”, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 33(3). 755-782, doi: 10.1108/APJML07-2019-0444.
Zhang, J., & Wei, X. (2018). Research on the Impact of Chain Catering Service Quality to Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty in Xiamen. DEStech Transactions on Economics, Business and Management, (icssed). 10.12783/dtem/icssed2018/20313
Zid, A., Hamid, S. F. A., Aziz, M. N. A., & Basal, M. H. (2022). Motivation on Environment Factors among Football Spectators Attendance at Shah Alam Stadium. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 7(SI7), 521-526.‏ https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7iSI7.3826.
Sports Marketing Studies
Volume 4, Issue 2
July 2023
Pages 47-71

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics