Date of Award

Fall 2013

Degree Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Economic Development, Tourism, and Sports Management

Committee Chair

Dan Drane

Committee Chair Department

Economic Development, Tourism, and Sports Management

Abstract

A variety of spectator sports, leisure activities, and internet media developments have changed the sport market environment into a serious global competition. In this sport market environment, it is necessary to execute customer satisfaction management to meet the wants and needs of sport spectators. Understanding which service quality factors best predict customer satisfaction is an important issue in the sport events industry. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction for spectators in attendance at a Korea Ladies' Professional Golf Association Tournament event. A secondary purpose of the study was to design a measure to assess levels of service quality in terms of gender, levels of golf skill, and frequency of attending golf tournaments. A questionnaire on service quality, customer satisfaction, and demographics was completed by a total of 247 participants at thel 1th KB Financial Cup Women's Pro Golf National Championship, December 1 - 2, 2012 in Busan, South Korea. The result of the multiple regression analysis indicated that the five service quality factors predicted 31 % of the variance in customer satisfaction and the factors of facility access (P = .29, p < .05), facility aesthetic (P = .15, p < .05), and game atmosphere W = .29 p < .05) statistically significant predictors of customer satisfaction. In addition, this study examined the mean differences in the service quality factors for various golf spectators segments base on gender, level of golf skill, and frequency of attending golf tournaments. The result of one way analysis of variance (ANOV A) indicated that all three independent variables were significant differences in the means of service quality among different independent variables groups. The findings of this study identified the influence of service quality factors on the satisfaction of golf spectators and may provide invaluable data to LPGA directors and marketers to better understand how well spectators are encountering satisfaction.

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