Understanding spectator sustainable transportation intentions in international sport tourism events

Abstract

It is vital to study spectator responses to environmental campaigns to advance environmental sustainability initiatives. Therefore, this investigation aimed to identify which factors influence spectator sustainable transport intentions and perform a spectator segmentation based on their responses. Data were collected from 355 spectators at an international surfing event hosted in a renowned surfing destination. The data were analysed in two stages. First, through the sport sustainability campaign evaluation model to infer spectator sustainable transport intentions. Second, through non-hierarchical cluster analysis, to segment the sample based on those intentions. The results added a direct relationship between the points of attachment and sustainable transport intentions. Furthermore, the results highlighted the effect of constraints, points of attachment and past sustainable behaviours as predictors of spectator sustainable transport intentions. In addition, differences in needs (i.e., aesthetic), attachment to the community, lack of time, lack of access and past sustainable behaviours were found within the three analysed clusters. Organisers of sport tourism events should develop sustainable transport campaigns promoting the destination’s aesthetic features, strengthening the connection between the local community and the event spectators, and improving the availability of information on transport services to increase spectator commitment to more sustainable modes of transport.

Keywords:

• Consumer’s environmental behaviour
• environmental sustainability
• spectators
• surf events
• sport tourism
• sustainable transportation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Funds provided by FCT- Foundation for Science and Technology under the project UIDB/04020/2020.

Notes on contributors

Rute Martins

Rute Martins, ongoing PhD at the University of Lisbon. Her research interests are sports’ environmental sustainability, sports events, and outdoor sport tourism.

Elsa Pereira

Elsa Pereira, PhD in Sport Sciences, is a professor at the University of Algarve. Her research interests are situated in the field of Sport Sciences, namely sport management, sport strategy and sustainable development, sport events, sports tourism, and nautical tourism.

António Rosado

António Rosado, PhD, is a full professor at Lisbon University. His research interests are situated in the fields of social psychology and human development.

Brian McCullough

Brian P. McCullough, PhD in Kinesiology, is an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University. His research interests focus on sport ecology, the bidirectional relationship between sport and the natural environment.

Margarida Mascarenhas

Margarida Mascarenhas, PhD in Sport Sciences, is a professor at the University of Lisbon. Her research interests are situated in the field of Sport Management, namely sport’s environmental sustainability, sport tourism, sport events, sport finance and economics, and sport strategy.