Cognitive scaling, emotions, team identity and future behavioural intentions: An examination of sporting event venues

Sporting event venues represent a unique segment of the overall tourism industry that has, in recent times, started to gain limited interest from researchers (Madrigal, 2000; Theodorakis, Kambitsis, Laios & Koustelios, 2001; Kurtzman, 2005; Kouthouris & Alexandris, 2005). While multiple definitions of sports tourism exist, and no consensus has been reached in the literature as to how it is best defined (Turco, 1998, Knop, 2004) one common theme in the research has been the unique place that sporting events hold in the overall tourism industry (Kurtzman, 2005; Kurtzman & Zauhar, 2005; Doshi, Schumacker & Snyder, 2001). Sporting event venues represent a highly sophisticated mix of services, emotions, advertising and a physical plant that can also become part of the overall experience. In addition to the problems that service providers regularly encounter throughout the industry as a whole, sporting event venues have their own sets of problems distinct from other segments of the hospitality industry (O'Neill & Getz, 1997). One of these is the lack of control that managers of sporting event venues have on the outcome of the game, which has been found in previous research to have an effect on the customers evaluation of service quality and satisfaction (Brady, Voorhees, Cronin & Bourdeau, 2006). As researchers have strived to explore the satisfaction construct with-in sporting event venues, they have borrowed scales previously developed and tested in other segments of the hospitality industry (Costa, Glinia & Drakou, 2004; O'Neill and Getz, 1997; Kouthouris & Alexandris, 2005). The results from the research has been mixed and some researchers have theorized that in light of the distinctive nature of sporting event venues that new scales, developed specifically for sporting event venues, need to be developed (Kouthouris & Alexandris, 2005; Laverie & Arnett, 2000). This research partially addresses this issue with the development and testing of a new cognitive scale intended to be a more accurate measure of cognitive satisfaction in sporting event venues.; This scale has been developed for use in any sporting event venue, at any level (high school, college or professional) with minimal changes in wording and orientation. In addition this research strives to understand the relationship between customer satisfaction, team identity and future behavioural intentions in an effort to not only understand what satisfies consumers of sporting event venues, but to also realize the goal of increasing future attendance levels and profits. Another contribution of the research is the application of emotional scaling to sporting event venues in an effort to gain a better understanding of the role that emotions play in the formation of satisfaction and future behavioural intentions.; Conducted over the course of the 2006/2007 football season, surveys were administered to respondents immediately following the conclusion of the football game. Briefly, the results indicated that the newly developed cognitive scale, entitled EVENTSERV was a excellent indicator of cognitive satisfaction and that in this instance, performed at a higher level that previously used scales. The results also indicated that team identity was a good predictor of future behavioural intentions and that more work needs to be done in relation to the measurement of emotional output in sporting event venues.