Relationships among Service Quality, Value, and Student Athlete Satisfaction at Taiwan’s National Tug of War Competition

Abstract

Service quality has been extensively used to improve corporate performance in business; however, few studies have applied this concept to the sports field. In Taiwan, students’ sporting events play an important role in national sports development as they are the main channels in which to incubate elite athletes and a way to develop professional experiences related to holding mega-sports events. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is the application of the service quality concept to sports events. Specifically, a model was proposed to examine the relationships among service quality, perceived value, and satisfaction. Self-administered questionnaire surveys were completed by 356 student athletes recruited from the 2013 National Tug of War Competition in Taiwan. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with LISREL 8.52. Results of this study indicated that the research model fit the data well. Participants’ overall satisfaction was directly influenced primarily by perception of event value, followed by staff service quality and interaction service quality; finally, the perceived event value served as a mediator, and significant indirect effects on participants’ satisfaction were found in administrative service quality and facility service quality. The study established a model including service quality, value, and satisfaction for tug of war competitions. Suggestions for sports organizers and implications for future studies are provided. Keywords: Service Quality; Perceived Event Value, Satisfaction, Tug of War Competitions To cite this document: De-Jen Lee, Li-Wen Hsieh, and Eva (Hui-Ping) Cheng, "Relationships among Service Quality, Value, and Student Athlete Satisfaction at Taiwan’s National Tug of War Competition", Contemporary Management Research, Vol.12, No.3, pp. 275-288, 2016. Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.7903/cmr.15852