An expanded eventscape framework as the driver of attachment and loyalty to mass-participation sporting events

Abstract

Mass-participation sporting events (MPSEs), or large-scale participation events, have been growing rapidly in the last two decades and have been increasingly viewed as a tourism phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of expanded eventscape on attendees’ attachment and loyalty to a long-distance running event. Survey data were collected from 466 respondents at Haikou Marathon in Hainan Island, China. The study found that physical eventscape is positively correlated with social eventscape and both are the precursors of event dependence and event identity of mass-participation running events. Furthermore, social eventscape has a far greater impact on event dependence. While both event dependence and event identity influence participants’ loyalty, event dependence has a greater impact on runners’ loyalty. this study offers practical implications for management and marketing of mass-participation sporting events (MPSEs) by demonstrating a refined understanding of the dynamics among expanded eventscape, event attachment, and event loyalty.