Background/Purpose
College baseball teams operate on smaller budgets compared to football and Men's basketball (Fulks, 2003). Marketers who identify variables affecting game consumption could promote college baseball in the most cost effective way. Peripheral service quality is one of the most salient variables influencing consumption behaviors, such as behavioral intentions (e.g., Theodorakis & Alexandris, 2008). The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of peripheral service quality on future attendance intentions at college baseball games.
Method
Research participants (N = 325) were spectators from two home baseball games. The Scale of Game Support Programs (Byon, Zhang, & Drane, 2009) was used to measure peripheral service quality related to baseball events. The scale consisted of three factors, Ticket Service, Venue Quality, and Game Amenities. To measure future attendance, three items were adapted from Söderlund (2006). A multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the influence of three factors of service quality on future attendance.
Analysis/Results
The multiple regression analysis revealed that the overall model was statistically significant, accounting for 40.2% of the variance in future attendance, which is a large effect size (Cohen, 1988). Results of the model parameter indicated that Venue Quality and Game Amenities were statistically significant predictors of future attendance.
Conclusions
The current study revealed that peripheral service quality was an important variable for affecting future attendance behavior. Marketers at intercollegiate athletic departments should make efforts to enhance the quality of venue and game amenities to improve attendance at college baseball games.