Exploring service quality and its customer consequences in the sports spectating sector

Date11 March 2019
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/JEPP-03-2019-107
Published date11 March 2019
Pages187-206
AuthorKonstantinos Koronios,Athanasios Kriemadis,Andreas Papadopoulos
Subject MatterStrategy,Entrepreneurship,Business climate/policy
Exploring service quality and its
customer consequences in the
sports spectating sector
Konstantinos Koronios
University of Peloponnese, Sparti, Greece
Athanasios Kriemadis
Department of Sport Management, University of Peloponnese, Sparti, Greece, and
Andreas Papadopoulos
University of Peloponnese, Sparti, Greece
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate issues relevant to service quality and propose a
conceptual model addressing the convictions held by consumers in relation to the service quality of sport
services as regards spectators and their influence on sport consumption.
Design/methodology/approach A quantitative method was used for the purpose of this study and 1,643
questionnaires were gathered and analyzed. The current research intended to employ an integrated service
quality model within the scope of sport spectating. The model included five fundamental factors and they
were examined in association with the behavioral intentions that spectators have. By combining all these
factors and aspects, it was attempted to shape consumersgeneral perception regarding quality in service.
The model of the research considers quality in service to be a hierarchical construct comprising many
dimensions and it is observed that service quality can be classified into five factors, all of which can be
defined by a variety of corresponding sub-factors.
Findings The outcomes showed that four of the suggested factors regarding quality (i.e. game quality,
augmented service quality, interaction quality and outcome quality) had an important as well as favorable
influence on sport consumption.
Research limitations/implications The empirical evidence for this research is derived from one specific
professional sport event (European Basketball League) and spectators who took part were from Greece.
Future research could use a wider sample of sport events and the participation of spectators from various
countries is necessary before such findings are generalized.
Originality/value The present research provides a contemporary analysis of factors influencing sport
spectators anticipated quality and their influence on sport consumption.
Keywords Sports spectating, Quality in service, Consumption intentions
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
There is no doubt that there is a need to shed light on sport policy which appeals to financial
as well as social contexts. Nowadays, especially after the worldwide economic crisis,
financing to sport has declined due to public authorities constraining expenditure because
of increasing costs in different services as well as decreasing resources (Ratten, 2018).
Consistently, sport is being anticipated as a leisure activity encountering particular
directives, norms as well as traditions, which influence the deployment of policies
(Shilbury et al., 2008). The majority of sport programs necessitate a range of entrepreneurial
abilities which contribute to development, and this frequently includes the utilization of
entrepreneurship in management thought (Ratten, 2017a). Entrepreneurial management
thought is a component of those entrepreneurial abilities and is being utilized in public
initiatives to assist in encouraging sports policy encouraging.
Entrepreneurship is a procedure immanent to business growth, which is a main
segment of sport policy. A convenient instrument in sport policy analyzation is under
the scope of entrepreneurship viewpoint due to the fact that it is associated with the
Journal of Entrepreneurship and
Public Policy
Vol. 8 No. 1, 2019
pp. 187-206
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2045-2101
DOI 10.1108/JEPP-03-2019-107
Received 18 November 2018
Accepted 3 January 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2045-2101.htm
187
Service
quality and
its customer
consequences
waypolicyiscreatedandexecuted.Contemporary findings in sport management
concerning the utilization of the entrepreneurship theory permit a more empirical
implementation of theory to sport policy. Not only the entrepreneurship but also the sport
management field of study has developed at an increased pace, and policy is the
connecting link of them both (Ratten, 2017b). This is due to sport organizations having a
central role in policy making, which predicates the usage of entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurial sport policy consolidates the main sectors of novelty, reception of risk
and proactiveness, which form the mode in which sport is entrenched and responds to
transformations in community (Ratten, 2017b).
Indisputably, the significance of sport is ubiquitous in contemporary society influencing
as well as invading aspects of life in various ways. The study of this phenomenon from an
economic viewpoint implies that it is instrumental not only in the entertainment business
but also in service sectors as well (King, 2004; Mullin et al., 2007), boosting the acquisition of
sport-related merchandise as well as making it possible for various relevant services to
emerge, namely, TV broadcasting and pay-per-view of athletic events and retail stores
(King, 2004). Between the years 2002 and 2007, the European major league competitions
drew roughly 1m spectators and the profits made by the leading sports associations in
Europe came to EURO 1bn in the year 2010 (Deloitte & Touche, 2008).
What is also of utmost significance for sponsors is the coverage of a sporting event by
the media as sponsors believe that awareness of both brand and company is the primary
reason for embarking on a sponsorship agreement. Nevertheless, media coverage is seen as
being more of a transitional process than an aim or ultimate goal (Kartakoullis et al., 2013).
Without any doubt, there has been great development of the industry during the past
30 years resulting in enormous success; however, it is of great significance that this access is
continued and maintained by individuals in the sports industry.
Both researchers as well as professionals are making attempts to comprehend and
interpret the elements of an individuals habit of watching sport events in the privacy of
their own home and discover how this can be influenced (Pons et al., 2006). It is vital that
consumers are provided with outstanding services so that profits can increase and the
sports club can become more prosperous (Yoshida and James, 2010).
Not only economic but also cultural development and advancement in contemporary
society requires higher quality in services (Lakhe and Mohanty, 1995). Success is not
arbitrary anymore but it is dependent on services of exceptional quality and buyer
satisfaction. The attainment of services of high quality is an inherent part of the sports club
and has the capacity to determine the survival of the sports club in a chaotic world of
business. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the investigation of the term service quality
in this domain is current and all studies of any relevance have been conducted over the last
few years (Crompton, 2004). Nowadays, both management and marketing fields pay
attention to qualityin services and underline its significance (Grönroos, 1990).
For instance, management examines service quality under three spectrums (Ko and
Pastore, 2004). First, describing the service product; second, establishing the context of the
service; and third, discovering ways in which to deliver it. Researchers have to concentrate
on conceptualizing service quality (i.e. the definition) as well as on the factors which
determine a consumers impressions and finally, on the ways to gauge the various theories
(i.e. measurement items) (Chelladurai and Chang, 2000). Further studies need to be
conducted on these aspects so that the study of service quality can be optimally enhanced.
This particular argument resulted in the examination of quality in service by scholars.
They concluded that providing services of high quality was, in effect, the most significant
consideration taken into account by a consumer deciding to purchase the service that would
satisfy him/her and that it was the main factor determining the competitiveness of an
organization which provides the service (Ko and Pastore, 2004).
188
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