Testing the conceptual model of the causal relationship of audience consumption intentions with perceived risk and motivation

Dissertation for obtaining a doctorate degree (Ph.D)

Treatment: sports management and planning

Dissertation abstract

One ??of the factors influencing the behavior of sports consumers is motivation and perceived risk. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to provide a sports consumption model based on perceived risk and motivation. The current research is correlational and one of the types of applied research, which is done using a questionnaire. The statistical population included the spectators present in the stadium (10,000 people), of which 359 people were investigated by random sampling method. After determining face validity (by experts) and structure (by confirmatory factor analysis), reliability (using Cronbach's alpha) and composite reliability, the results of the structural equation model through LISREL software showed that the types of risks perceived by sports spectators (financial-time, performance, psycho-social and physical-environmental) are considered determinant predictors for consumers' behavioral intentions (intention to attend, recommend to others, buy team goods and media consumption). (NFI= .94, CFI= .94, NNFI= .92, RMSEA= .05, ?2/df= 2.51). Also, the research findings showed that sports managers and marketers should pay attention to the negative and positive effects of motivation and perceived risks on sports consumption behavior in all their programs.

Key words: sports consumer behavior, motivation, perceived risk, behavioral intentions

1 Introduction

Unsettled economic situation on the presence of various types of customers and sports consumers including spectators, participants, buyers of goods and It has had a significant impact. For this reason, investigating the behavior of sports consumers[1] has been of considerable importance (Kale[2] et al., 1996).

Investigation of perceived risk in the field of customer behavior, tourism[3] and recreation[4] has been of interest, but researchers have paid less attention to its impact on sports consumption[5] (James and Terrill[6], 2008) or the researcher is unaware of it.

On the other hand, researches that have investigated the reasons for watching[7] and participating[8] in sports events, have often dealt with the variables of motivation[9] and market demand[10] (James and Rose[11], 2002, Kale et al. 1996, Caleb and James[12], 2000). Attention to motivation without considering customer perceived risk cannot fully explain sports customer behavior. Motivation and obstacles include the perceived risk of two structures that can affect each other, if the perceived risk increases, attendance in sports fields requires more motivation, and if the perceived risk decreases, the audience does not need a high motivation to attend (James and Traill, 2008). In addition, research related to attendance at sports events has focused more on factors related to attendance and less on barriers related to attendance at sports events.

In any organization or company, providing quality products and creating customer loyalty is essential for survival and success (Zidamel et al. [13], 1996). On the other hand, researches have shown that maintaining existing customers is a better investment than attracting new customers (Fornell and Vernell Felt[14], 1987, Kotler[15], 2003). Therefore, with the increase in competition in the sports markets and the current economic situation, sports organizations need a better understanding of the variables related to sports consumption in order to effectively satisfy the spectators and increase the chances of their attendance by maintaining the quality of products and services and reducing the risks in sports products and environments.

Therefore, it is important to examine the types of risks perceived by potential sports spectators and its impact on the types of sports consumption behaviors.

2.1 statement of the problem

To compensate for the high costs of holding sports events, sports managers need methods to identify various factors that can reduce and prevent the presence of spectators and other consumption behaviors such as suggestions to others, media consumption and purchase of goods, so that they can finally develop marketing strategies with the aim of reducing customer desertion.Based on the amount of time and financial resources that people devote to sports and event consumption activities, sports consumer behavior is an important and main aspect of marketers' work. As a result, marketing actions[16] should develop a better understanding of consumer decision-making before developing any strategy (Kalb and James, 2000).

However, according to Eisen[17] in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)[18], the most important determinant of consumer behavior is behavioral intention[19], and the greater the behavioral intention, the more likely the behavior will occur (Eisen, 1991). Therefore, behavioral intention, if carefully examined, can determine the behavior of consumers in the future.

Consumer behavior focuses on why and how the customer chooses to spend money in order to purchase goods and services. But many factors affect the behavior of consumers and their purchase decisions. One of the most comprehensive models describing consumer behavior is the systematic model of consumer decision making. The input components of this consumer decision model include external effective factors that act as information sources related to a specific product and influence the values, attitudes, and behaviors related to the product on the part of the consumer. Among the most important external factors, we can mention the marketing activities of organizations in the form of specific marketing mix strategies (4p), including the course of promotional measures, pricing policy and the choice of distribution channels to transfer products from the producer to the consumer. The inputs of the second type or the socio-cultural environment are factors such as social class, culture and subculture, and the processing components in this model include internal influencing factors such as motivation, perception, learning, personality and attitudes. The act of consumer decision-making in the processing stage includes three stages: 1) need recognition, 2) pre-purchase search, and 3) evaluation of options. It is after these stages that the consumer buys and finally buys again (James and Traill, 2008).

In the present research, two internal factors that affect the consumer, i.e. consumer motivation and perception, are investigated, and among the various dimensions of consumer perception, which include perceived quality, perceived price, and perceived risk, the third dimension is the main topic of the research.

Since Every purchase is associated with a certain amount of risk[20] and this perceived risk has different dimensions that include financial-time, functional, psychological-social and physical-environmental risk and on the other hand, the amount of perceived risk[21] by the customer can affect their purchase behavior, the researcher seeks to find out what effect the perceived risk and motivation will have on the behavior of sports customers and how each of the types of perceived risks can be related to the types of behavioral intentions of sports consumers.

Abstract:

One ??of the effective factors on sport consumer behavior is perceived risk. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to present the model of sport consumption based on perceived risk by consumers. The present study is descriptive-analytical and practical one, in which a researcher-made questionnaire was used. Statistical population includes 4000 male students of Islamic Azad University of Saveh. With reference to Morgan table, 359 questionnaires were gathered with random sampling. After determining content validity (by experts) and construct validity (by confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis) and reliability (by cronbach,s alpha), the results of Structural Equation Modeling by LISREL software indicate that types of perceived risk (time-financial risk, performance, psycho-social and physical-environmental) are meaningful predictors for behavioral intentions (attendance, recommend to others, merchandise consumption, media consumption). (NFI= .94, CFI= .94, NNFI=.92, RMSEA=.05, ?2/df= 2.51). Also results indicate that managers and marketers should consider positive and negative effects of perceived risk on sport consumption behavior in the entirety of their planning.