An Event Quality Scale for Participatory Running Events

Abstract

This study focuses on the perceived quality of participatory event experiences by addressing the following question: What are the important aspects of the event experience? The aim of this research is to develop and refine a scale to measure the quality of the event experience for runners at a participatory event. The objective is to combine, apply, test, and refine the existing scales to increase our understanding of the perceived quality of events among amateur running athletes. Both affective and cognitive dimensions are included in the scale. Based on seven dimensions and 36 items, a formal scale development process is adopted. The data consist of 1,923 observations collected during a participatory event with approximately 60,000 registered participants. The seven-factor model, including immersion, surprise, participation, fun, social aspects, hedonic aspects, and service quality, was gradually revised in favor of a four-factor solution: service quality, hedonic aspects, fun, and immersion. As a result, 73.1% of the variance is extracted. This study contributes to a refined scale measuring the perceived event quality of participatory events. Service quality accounts for more than half of the variance extracted. Researchers should continue to develop research on the critical experiential dimensions in an event context. Furthermore, the links between the constructs need attention. The results suggest that event organizers should evaluate their events and event portfolios based on the scale and take actions to increase the perceived quality of these events.