The role of the brand in perceived service performance: Moderating effects and configurational approach in professional football

Abstract This research aims to determine the effects of brand credibility and brand congruence on future intentions, perceived value, and spectators’ satisfaction among the fans of a first division football team by combining two complementary methodological approaches, lineal models (the PROCESS macro) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The effects of brand credibility and brand congruence were tested in a sample of 536 fans of a first division Spanish football club aged from 18 to 70 (70.2% men). The results suggest direct, positive, and significant effects of brand congruence and brand credibility on perceived value and future intentions. In contrast, in predicting sp…

Spectator emotions: Effects on quality, satisfaction, value, and future intentions

There is a great interest from the academic and professional fields to know the performance of sports enterprises from the point of view of the user and the sport spectators. This study analyzes relationships between service quality, perceived value, satisfaction, future intentions, and emotions of spectators of a professional basketball competition. A self-report survey yields data for 493 spectators. After confirming reliability and validity of the data collection measures, an application of structural equation modeling to empirical data tests the model. Results show that (1) service quality predicts spectators' satisfaction and perceived value, and that perceived value and satisfaction a…

Predictive variables of happiness in private sports centres

The psychological investigation of happiness has increased significantly in recent decades to the point of becoming one of the most researched behaviours in the new field of Positive Psychology. However, relatively little progress has been made in happiness research and tests to evaluate happiness, and the Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI), built by Argyle, Martin and Crossland (1989), is among the best-known and most accredited. Happiness has represented a challenging and frustrating quest for humanity, as there is no consensus on its definition. Bearing in mind that there are many ambiguous factors that can affect the happiness of the individual, this study focuses on analysing the variabl…

Sport management education through an entrepreneurial perspective: Analysing its impact on Spanish sports science students

Abstract Entrepreneurship education is becoming increasingly important because it can improve the employability of students. However, although it has been introduced in universities in recent years, its integration into sports education is still scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study is to present a way of approaching a sports management subject from an entrepreneurial perspective and to evaluate the effects of that approach on students. For this purpose, a sample of 54 sports science students from a Spanish university has been analysed. A longitudinal design has been carried out using Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (1991), intrapreneurial intentions, the entrepreneurial climate and …

Does size matter? Entrepreneurial orientation and performance in Spanish sports firms

The entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of firms is the subject of current research in the fields of management and business. However, analyses on this subject in sport companies are lacking. This study analyzes the relationship among EO, firm size, and business performance of Spanish sports service firms. The study analyzes EO as a multidimensional construct (with proactiveness, innovation, and risk-taking dimensions), and business performance considering self-perception (perceived customer satisfaction, perceived market effectiveness, and perceived financial performance) and financial indicators (ROI). The firm size follows the EU's directive for the classification of micro, small, medium, a…

Predicting future intentions of basketball spectators using SEM and fsQCA

This study analyzes relationships among service quality, perceived value, satisfaction, emotions, and future intentions of spectators of a professional basketball competition using a sample of 429 basketball spectators of a premier division in Spain. The results from structural equation modeling support the hypotheses, except for the effect of emotions and match result on future intentions. The results from fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) with the same data set show that none of the variables are necessary conditions for positive future intentions of spectators. However, seven combinations of these variables are sufficient conditions for explaining positive future intenti…

The effectiveness of advertising alcohol products in sports sponsorship

The importance of the services brand in predicting loyalty and word of mouth

This research is related to brand perception and its implications for the management of services, especially for hedonic services. The aim of this study is to analyse the influence of perceived brand quality on credibility and attitudes towards this perceived quality from the point of view of users, as well as whether that relationship could trigger increased loyalty and recommendations. The survey was conducted with usersof a public sports service located in Valencia, Spain, and the analysis of the data and the creation of the structural model was carried out using structural equation modeling (SEM). Its results have confirmed the influence of perceived quality on credibility but not on at…

To post or not to post: social media sharing and sporting event performance

Social networks are becoming increasingly important for consumers, especially in the context of sport, where the service experience is highly intense. Few studies have combined subjective event performance variables and social network variables to analyze social network content sharing by sports practitioners. This article investigates the use of social networks in relation to sporting events. An empirical study examined the role of social network variables and sporting event performance variables in social media use. The sample consisted of 410 triathletes (72.2% male) aged between 18 and 66 years (mean 37.03 ± 8.62). Four analyses were performed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative ana…

Análisis sociodemográfico de la percepción de marca en un servicio deportivo público: del target al buyer persona (Sociodemographic analysis of brand perception in a public sports service: from target to person buyer)

La percepción de marca es la forma de asegurar que los consumidores reciben la información que queremos transmitir, basada en nuestra estrategia de marketing. Pero hay que entender si las características sociodemográficas son un elemento por el cual las personas pertenecientes a los diferentes grupos de población perciben la marca de forma diferente, lo que justificaría la utilización de estrategias de marketing diversificadas para cada uno de estos grupos. Esto está de acuerdo con el cambio de paradigma que se está produciendo en el campo del marketing, en el que el target (los usuarios de servicios deportivos) ya no es suficiente para dirigir la estrategia debido a que es muy genérico, si…

The role of passion in the quality-value-satisfaction-intentions chain: linear models and the QCA approach for athletes

The aim of this research is to determine the role of passion on future intentions, perceived value, and athletes’ satisfaction in relation to participatory sport events by combining two methodological approaches: linear models and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). A sample of participatory sporting event athletes (n = 302) was analysed. The results suggest that there is a direct effect of harmonic passion (HP) on future intentions (FI), value (PV) and satisfaction (AS) and a direct effect of obsessive passion (OP) on satisfaction. Considering the indirect effects, both interactions were significant for the effect of perceived quality (PQ) and perceived value on satisfaction. In additi…

The importance of developing the entrepreneurial capacities in sport sciences university students

ABSTRACTEntrepreneurship in the sports sector plays a key role in the increasing demand for sports professionals that possess entrepreneurial skills. Universities may help build the skills of sports science graduates by adopting educational policies to promote entrepreneurship. However, the capabilities that must be achieved to this end, and other factors, are unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study is to understand what perceived capabilities, internal factors (entrepreneurial courses), and external factors (environment) influence entrepreneurial intentions of students of physical activity and sport sciences. To achieve these goals, we analysed a sample of undergraduate and postgraduate …

Entrepreneurial ecosystems for developing the sports industry in European Union countries

Abstract In recent years, the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach has gained particular interest worldwide for understanding the context of entrepreneurship at the macro level. However, although the sports sector is gaining importance in the European Union and can improve people's health, generate employment, and contribute to countries' GDP, no research from this perspective has been found. Thus, this paper aims to analyze the influence of different indicators related to innovation on European Union countries' shared sport-related GDP (last data available from 2012 were used). The results showed that 12 solutions could explain 76% of the cases of high levels of shared sport-related GDP. The…

Using a brief questionnaire to assess the overall perception of basketball spectators

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first aim is to obtain a valid and reliable instrument for the holistic analysis of sporting events, and the second is to test a causal model in which future intentions depend on spectators’ perceptions of quality, satisfaction, and value of these events. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 493 spectators of a professional basketball team in the Spanish ACB league responded to a survey to measure the overall performance of the sporting event service. Exploratory factor analysis and further confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation models provides the methodology for testing the reliability and validity of the instrument.…