Service quality and values as antecedents ofspectators’ intention to attend a sport event : The case of Vasaloppet

Abstract

Sport event marketing is an important issue within the research area of business. The purpose of this study was to analyze how service quality, hedonic value and utilitarian value influence the spectators’ attitude and subjective norm towards the behavioral intention of visiting the cross-country skiing event Vasaloppet. The study was based on the theory of reasoned action as well as the constructs of service quality, hedonic value, and utilitarian value, which were added as antecedents. A quantitative research approach with a face-to-face survey at the event and an online questionnaire was pursued. The findings show that in connection to the Vasaloppet event subjective norm correlates the strongest with behavioral intention compared to attitude. However, hedonic and utilitarian values have a significant correlation to attitude, but not towards subjective norm. Due to the type of event, no connections with service quality were detected. In regards of the international component there is no significant difference present between Swedish and non-Swedish spectators. Organizations can use these findings to further enhance the social aspects of visiting sport events when performing sport event marketing