Predicting spectators’ behavioural intentions in professional football: The role of satisfaction and service quality

Highlights

► We examined the relationships among service quality, satisfaction and fans’ behavioural intentions in professional soccer. ► Both process and outcome quality dimensions significantly influenced fans’ satisfaction, with the technical one being the most influential. ► Fans’ satisfaction influenced their behavioural intentions.

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the relationships among service quality, satisfaction and spectators’ behavioural intentions, in the context of professional football. Using Gronroos’ (1984) theoretical framework, service quality was conceptualized in terms of technical (outcome) and functional (process-related) quality. Outcome quality was measured with two dimensions: game quality and team performance, while five dimensions were used to measure functional quality (tangibles, responsiveness, reliability, access and security). Three hundred and fifty (N = 350) spectators of a professional football game in Greece participated in the study. The results provided support of the two total service quality model used. Furthermore, outcome quality was shown to have a stronger influence on spectators’ satisfaction levels than functional quality; finally, satisfaction was shown to partially mediate the relationship between service quality and spectators’ behavioural intentions. These results contribute to our theoretical understanding of the factors that predict spectators’ loyalty in professional football. Sport marketing implications are also discussed.

Keywords:

• Service quality
• Satisfaction
• Behavioural intentions
• Spectators
• Sport consumer behaviour

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to thank the two anonymous SMR reviewers for their constructive comments which helped improve the quality of this paper.

Notes

1 The free-ware program SBDIFF.EXE was used to calculate the difference between the two examined models. Additional information can be found at the http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~psy086/dept/sbdiff.htm.