ABSTRACT
Research question
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of residents’ co-created value on their intentions to support a sporting event through the mediating mechanism of gratitude.
Research methods
Data were collected from residents’ participating in a local recurring sporting event (Naha Marathon, n = 198) and an international recurring sporting event (New York Marathon, n = 229).
Results and findings
The findings reveal that gratitude shows a strong positive impact on residents’ event support intentions. Also, the results indicate gratitude is a mediating psychological mechanism that can explain the relationship between co-created value and residents’ event support intentions.
Implications
We provide insights into the important role of gratitude in understanding how co-created value and relationship marketing variables function together to influence residents’ intentions to support recurring sport events. Also, findings of the current study assist in the understanding of resident-event relationships and contribute to the growing understanding of residents’ support for recurring events.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Note: The survey participants’ demographic and socio-economic information and measurement model are available as online supplementary material.