Service quality researchers to date have paid scant attention to the issue of the dimensions of service quality. Much of the earlier work accepted the content measured by the SERVQUAL instrument. Following the argument that SERVQUAL only reflects the service delivery process, the study empirically examines the European perspective (i.e. Grö nroos' model) suggesting that service quality consists of three dimensions, technical, functional and image, and that image functions as a filter in service quality perception. The results from a cell phone service sample revealed that Grö nroos' model is a more appropriate representation of service quality than the American perspective with its limited concentration on the dimension of functional quality.

Sport marketing researchers have generally studied two types of satisfaction at sporting events: game satisfaction and service satisfaction. One gap in the literature is studying the two types together. A model of the relationships between service quality, core product quality, game and service satisfaction, and behavioral intentions is proposed and tested. Data were collected from spectators at a professional baseball game in Japan (n= 283) and at two college football games in the United States (n= 343). The results in both Japan and the United States indicate that game atmosphere was a strong predictor of game satisfaction whereas stadium employees and facility access were the major antecedents of service satisfaction. Game satisfaction had a significant impact on behavioral intentions across the two settings, although the service satisfaction-behavioral intentions relationship was significant only in Japan. The research findings, managerial implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

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Group identity theory suggests that fans of sports teams see themselves as members of an organization, not just consumers of a product. To foster greater loyalty toward a sports team, managers should concentrate on strengthening fans’ team identity. One way to accomplish this goal is to recognize that a team identity is more than an association with a collection of athletes and coaches or an association with other fans. A team identity can also be symbolic of other types of group identities. Two main types of external group identities are demographic categories and membership organizations. Identifying the external group identities that a sports team is believed to represent and then aligning more closely with key external group identities provides managers with an opportunity to strengthen fans’ team identity and, consequently, their loyalty to a team.

The Team Brand Association Scale (TBAS), which is intended to measure professional sport team brand associations, was developed through the use of a free-thought listing technique in combination with a confirmatory factor analysis procedure. Information was provided by individuals regarding their favorite sports team, and 11 dimensions underlying professional sport team brand associations were identified: nonplayer personnel, team success, team history, stadium community, team play characteristics, brand mark, commitment, organizational attributes, concessions, social interaction, and rivalry. Review of the TBAS psychometric properties indicated that eight dimensions had acceptable reliabilities (Cronbach’s alpha scores ranging from .76-.90), as well as content validity (verified by a 3-member expert panel review), discriminant validity (based on correlations among latent constructs and their standard errors), concurrent validity (significant correlations with an external measure), and construct validity.