Background/Purpose Retaining customers by improving service quality has been considered as a key factor for successful public recreation service providers. Although a considerable body of research in the sport marketing literature has focused on the nature of service quality, there has been limited research regarding seniors and public recreation contexts. The purpose of the study was to assess elderly recreation participants' perception of service quality with their satisfaction level in the context of recreation service delivery.
Method A total of 242 elderly recreation users from 5 public community recreation centers participated in this study. The questionnaire consisted of two main sections; demographic variables and satisfaction with the service quality of community recreation centers. A multiple regression analysis was employed to predict overall satisfaction level with the five dimensions of service quality.
Analysis/Results The findings of this study are; 1) elderly users of recreational community centers showed a moderately high satisfaction ( M = 4.14, SD = .769) and 2) the program quality (β = .45, t = 4.62, p <.01) and the intangible service (β = .37, t = 3.82, p < .01) factors were identified as significant predictors on the overall satisfaction level. These service quality factors explained 59% of total variance in satisfaction ( R2 = .594, F = 68.95, p < .01).
Conclusions The study suggests that understanding recreational users by developing a profile of their consumption characteristics should be a first step to improve overall service quality. It appears that these recreation centers should establish various marketing channels to create recognition about themselves in terms of programs offered, benefits, and overall experience.