Effect of Event Service Quality and Satisfaction on Happiness Among Runners of a Recurring Sport Event

Abstract

The consumption of sport events through direct participation can influence participants' perception of happiness with that experiential purchase given the time and resources invested in that experience. The purpose of the study was to examine how sport event service quality aspects operationalized through the physical environment, interaction, and outcome factors influence overall satisfaction with the event and experiential happiness. Data were collected from 300 runners who participated in 5k and 10k races. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed the positive effect of outcome and physical environment factors on satisfaction with the event and the positive influence of event satisfaction and outcome quality on experiential happiness. The overall expectations on the quality of the event experience can be a focus for event managers aiming to achieve social marketing goals related to positive psychology from the event participation.

Effects of Chinese Sport Tourists’ Perceptions toward Service Quality in Jeju Island

“…The other possible reason could be that interaction between sports tourists and the staff was limited. This is consistent with some previous findings (Theodorakis et al, 2015;Theodorakis, Tsigilis, & Alexandris, 2009) that interaction quality did not affect skiers' psychological attachment or loyalty to the ski center, unlike the physical environment and outcome quality. Also, Theodorakis et al (2015) found an interaction component examined in the study had no significant effect on event satisfaction because runners in 5 km and 10 km races had little time to interact with event personnel.…”

“…However, some have argued the SERVQUAL model is not fully applicable to sport, leisure, and recreational settings (Kouthouris & Alexandris, 2005). An alternative model, proposed by Brady and Cronin Jr (2001) and Rust and Oliver (1993), has been extensively applied to outdoor leisure research (Alexandris et al, 2004;Theodorakis, Kaplanidou, & Karabaxoglou, 2015). Theodorakis et al (2015) posit three-dimension assessment of outdoor leisure services: outcome quality, interaction quality, and physical environment quality.…”

“…An alternative model, proposed by Brady and Cronin Jr (2001) and Rust and Oliver (1993), has been extensively applied to outdoor leisure research (Alexandris et al, 2004;Theodorakis, Kaplanidou, & Karabaxoglou, 2015). Theodorakis et al (2015) posit three-dimension assessment of outdoor leisure services: outcome quality, interaction quality, and physical environment quality. "Outcome quality" relates to the fulfillment of a customer's expectations after participating in an activity.…”

“…Future behavioral intentions (3 items) were adopted and modified from Boulding, Kalra, Staelin, and Zeithaml (1993). A three-item scale of subjective well-being developed by Theodorakis et al (2015) was used to assess the perception of experiential purchases on people's happiness. All scale items were evaluated on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree.…”

Tournament Satisfaction Scale (TOSS)

“…According to Sato, Jordan, and Funk (2014); event participation is an active leisure that increases the quality of life. Thus quality of the experience as a product is the most important part of sport events that consumers need to be considered (Theodorakis, Kaplanidou, & Karabaxoglou, 2015).…”