To stay or not to stay? Japanese spectators’ event-related perspectives on a professional golf tournament

Abstract

ABSTRACTPurpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of core product features and event operations on spectators’ desire to stay at professional golf tournaments held in Japan.Design: Spectators (N = 602) completed a survey on consumer demand for core product features and consumer assessment of event operation quality during a tournament.Approach/Findings: Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analyses revealed that three core product factors (game of golf, affection to player, and course setting) and two operational factors (event service and hospitality/amenity) significantly affected Japanese spectators’ desire to continuously stay at a professional golf tournament, which in turn affected their attendance of future tournaments.Implications: The promotion of golf tournaments with the unique characteristics of golf market demand factor may assist sport marketers in attracting and retaining their spectators. Similar studies in other types of golf tournaments and other sport contexts are suggested so as to increase the generalizability of the research findings and elevate the level of conceptualization for forming useful theories.