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The research presented in this study replicates and extends the QSport-10 scale proposed by Rial, Varela, Rial and Real in their 2010 study, by incorporating the Programme dimension into the original measurement of service quality in Physical Activity and Sports Centres (PSCs). The objective of this research is to examine the dimensionality of the QSport-10 scale and extend it to capture the additional Programme service quality dimension. Study results confirmed the dimensionality of the service quality measurement offered by the QSport-10 scale and presented strong empirical support for the existence of Programme, Installations and Staff dimensions. Programme dimension was considered the most important factor for the largest consumer segment in the study.

This study aims to explore the use of consumer-generated online product reviews as a source of brand associations in a sport setting.

A total of 800 reviews were collected and categorized into 13 brand association dimensions derived from previous literature. Reviews were further categorized into three valence types (i.e. positive, negative and neutral) via a correspondence analysis.

A correspondence analysis revealed that positive product reviews were highly linked to performance and product-related attributes, while negative reviews were related to conformance associations. Additionally, the results showed that product-related (90.8%) attributes, experiential benefits (89.1%) and functional benefits (86.6%) were the most frequently communicated brand associations. The findings of this study underline the credibility of assessing brand associations from the consumers’ experience, through online consumer reviews.

The findings of the current investigation contribute to existing knowledge by examining consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) in an online setting. Previous, CBBE literature suggests that brand associations are held in the minds of the brand's consumers. To date, however, few studies have examined brand associations generated by consumers and instead have relied upon brand association dimensions developed by the researcher as opposed to the consumer (Ross et al., 2006). This, study however, utilized online sport product reviews as a source of consumer derived brand associations, and, therefore, will further the knowledge as to how brand associations are identified and measured.

The purpose of this research was to develop a scale to measure the football league brand associations such as the “UEFA Champions League” and to investigate their influence on brand loyalty.

A questionnaire was developed and tested through a pilot test (N = 120) and the final questionnaire was administered among Greek sport spectators (N = 460). The factor structure was tested through an exploratory factor analysis and a regression analysis was used to examine the predictability of fans' brand loyalty by the league brand association dimensions.

Six brand association factors were revealed through the exploratory factor analysis: elite management, entertainment, elite-sportsmanship participants, escape, elite refereeing and corporate identity. In addition, new brand associations and elements were found: elite refereeing which included fast football and the league anthem was found to coexist with logo. Elite management, entertainment, escape and corporate identity were found to influence brand loyalty variables.

The study revealed a useful tool to measure sport leagues' brand associations, to measure their influence on Greek fans' loyalty and build strong, unique and favourable consumer-based brand associations.

The paper contributes to the sports brand associations research by examining brand associations in the context of European leagues and elite-level football competitions. It also contributes by identifying and revealing new brand associations and new elements to co-exist with other already known sports brand associations. Finally, it examines the influence of the new brand-specific associations to the brand loyalty of the “UEFA Champions League” competition for Greek sport fans.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors perceived to be associated with the design and delivery of an effective Olympic Games preparation camp.

To identify and explore such factors, interviews were conducted with eight members of a preparation camp delivery team for the London 2012 Olympic Games, and with two athletes who had participated in Olympic preparation camps.

The results identified four overarching factors that should be considered when designing and delivering an effective Olympic preparation camp: planning, operations, environment, and the delivery team. To illustrate the interrelationships between these factors and situate them within the holistic preparation camp context, an operational model was developed. This model also portrays the chronological ordering of events, individuals involved at each stage, and athlete-centered nature of an Olympic preparation camp.

Despite the significant amount of Olympic-related research at organizational, environmental, and individual levels, no research to date has holistically examined Olympic preparation camps per se. This study provides the first insight into the factors associated with the design and delivery of an effective Olympic preparation camp, and potential interrelationships between these factors.

This study aims to assess service quality in sport child camps among both participants and parents and its effects on satisfaction and behavioural intentions.

Data were collected from participants (n = 258) and parents (n = 226) of a sport child camp. A confirmatory factor analysis analysed the psychometric properties of the constructs, and a subsequent structural equation model examined the effects of service quality on satisfaction and behavioural intentions.

The results indicate a multi-dimensional construct of service quality that influences satisfaction and behavioural intentions differently among parents and participants. For participants, Service Failures and Recovery, Safety and Food influenced satisfaction, while Service Failures and Recovery and Fun influenced Behavioural Intentions. For parents, Management Commitment to Service Quality, Staff, Food and Contact with Physical Environmental influenced satisfaction, while Management Commitment to Service Quality and Staff influenced Behavioural intentions.

Both parents and participants' perceptions of service quality in sport child camps were captured and its effects on satisfaction and behavioural intentions. The study provides sport child camp managers with critical information about service delivery and its outcomes among the two key consumers (participants and parents).

This study offers new ideas to advance knowledge on sport child camps by capturing the perceptions of two key stakeholders and providing useful insights into how different attributes of service quality influence the levels of satisfaction and behavioural intentions among parents and participants.

Aims to identify the aspects of service delivery deemed most important by the users of Greek fitness centers and to examine whether their desires differ according to the type of fitness center they use as well as according to certain demographic and motivation patterns.

The study was based on the QUESC instrument developed by Kim and Kim. A total of 346 individuals who were members of public and private fitness centers in Athens/Greece completed the questionnaires. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was conducted for each item of the instrument in order to examine whether different groups had different desires for service delivery. Where a difference between group means was identified, Duncan's multiple range tests were performed to determine which means were significantly different.

The aspects of service delivery desired more by sports centers users refer to the tangible elements of the facilities, the personnel attitudes and abilities, attributes related to the cost of participation and items related to the programming and scheduling of services provided. The findings also suggest that significant differences of desires exist between males and females as well as between users of public and private sports centers.

The sample of the fitness centers was convenient rather than statistical. The reason was that there is no official agency in Greece with a complete list of fitness centers.

This paper is a useful source of information for fitness centers management to identify their customers’ wants, take action to improve service delivery, and establish standards of performance to address the identified customers’ needs.

This paper sought to address questions on the way certain demographic variables and patterns of use might affect sports centers’ users’ desires, so that an information package can be applied in making marketing decisions for improving sports centers service delivery.

Whilst the impact of motives on sports attendance has received due scholarly attention, one context that appears to have been overlooked is the growing trend towards playing domestic league fixtures in an international setting. The purpose of this paper is to address this oversight by exploring how four different categories of motives distinguished attendees from non-attendees for an Australian Rules football game played in New Zealand.

A stadium-intercept method at a St Kilda home game was used for the purposes of data collection. In total, 2,000 survey invitations had been distributed. Of these, 381 usable online surveys were received. The resulting data were analysed using structural equation modelling.

This study found that the lower fans’ expectations of their team winning, the less likely they were to travel internationally to watch their team play. Furthermore, it also support that sport tourism is influenced not only by the event itself but also non-event attractions offered by the host destination image.

The limitation applies to the research context in which the respondents were selected from one of the two competing teams.

This study confirms the importance of “special occasion” and highlights that an Australian Football League game played in New Zealand on ANZAC Day should continue to serve as a special occasion due to the historical significance of that day.

The results from this study confirm the importance of adding a fourth category of motives – contextual factors – to the existing list of push, pull and sports motives. The findings also support the obvious distinction between attending a domestic event vs attending an international one.

Despite being a popular topic in sports tourism research, limited studies have focused on golf tourism in relation to destination image. The present study aimed to examine the impact of country-related factors on the destination image among golf tourists as well as the interrelationships between perceived service quality, perceived value, satisfaction and behavioural intention in this context in the Malaysian context. Excitement was also examined as a moderator of the relationship between satisfaction and behavioural intention.

Data was collected from 360 golf tourists using a self-administered questionnaire at the two largest airports (KLIA and KLIA2) in Malaysia. Data analysis was performed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique.

The findings present the significance of country-related factors (i.e. accessibility, safety and security and golf course setting) in determining the image of Malaysia as a golf tourism destination. Destination image, in turn, is found to influence golf tourists' perceived service quality, perceived value and satisfaction; with both perceived service quality and perceived value acting as mediators between destination image and satisfaction. Moreover, the moderation assessment confirms that the level of excitement about golfing in Malaysia strengthens the relationship between their satisfaction and behavioural intention.

This study is one of the few that focuses on the consequential importance of destination image within the golf tourism setting. It highlights the mediating role of perceived service quality and perceived value as well as the moderating role of excitement in understanding the effect of destination image on satisfaction and behavioural intention of golf tourists.

The purpose of the paper is to contribute to the extant sport marketing literature by positing fan engagement, team brand image and cumulative fan satisfaction with the team as factors influencing attitudinal and behavioural soccer (football) fan loyalty, with enduring involvement with the team as a moderator.

A convenience sample of Australian A-League soccer fans completed a paper-and-pencil, self-administered survey to evaluate their team on the focal constructs. A total of 207 participants were recruited from a major Australian east-coast university.

Using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the study found that fan engagement influences both team brand image and cumulative fan satisfaction, while team brand image also influences cumulative fan satisfaction, and both of these constructs influence attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty. The moderating role of enduring involvement was also found for two relationships: team brand image → attitudinal loyalty and team brand image → behavioural loyalty, along with a mediating role of attitudinal loyalty.

This study increases our understanding of the reasons why soccer fans are committed to and exhibit fan-related behaviours for a team, thus contributing to the sports-marketing literature on the relationships amongst fan engagement, team brand image, cumulative fan satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty, along with the moderating role of enduring involvement. The findings also assist sports-marketing practitioners to formulate more effective, fan-centric marketing-communication strategies leading to a larger loyal fan base.