Examining Relationships between Leisure Involvement, Psychological Commitment and Loyalty to a Recreation Agency

Abstract

Despite the recent proliferation of leisure involvement and loyalty research, very little attention has been given to systematically conceptualize and examine the nature of leisure involvement's relationship with loyalty. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether psychological commitment intervenes in the relationship between fitness participants' leisure involvement and their behavioral loyalty to a recreation agency. Concomitant consideration was also given to the moderating effects of selected personal and social factors on this relationship (Iwasaki & Havitz, 1998). Comparisons of a Fully Mediated Model (F-M-M) with rival Direct Effects Models (D-E-M I & II), using structural equation modeling (SEM), suggested that psychological commitment mediated the effects of enduring involvement on patrons' behavioral loyalty (p <.01). That is, enduring involvement appeared to indirectly influence behavioral loyalty via a sequence of commitment factors. Significant evidence was also found for the direct effects of skill, motivation, social support, and social norms on enduring involvement, while some support was found for moderating effects (i.e., skill, motivation, social support, and side bets significantly moderated the effects of enduring involvement on commitment's formative factors). Overall, the findings of the study help uncover some of the key mechanisms/processes by which customers become loyal to a recreation agency. Marketing strategies may be developed to aim at strengthening customer loyalty by maximizing key antecedents of behavioral loyalty (i.e., enduring involvement and psychological commitment), as well as personal and social factors (e.g., skill, motivation, social support, social norms, and side bets/sunk costs).