Mediating Effects of Passive Involvement between Predictors of Sports Tourism and Support for Attending Malaysia Football Matches

Abstract

Sports tourism requires tourists travelling to sports event venues as passively involved attendants to support the sports occasion. The increasing popularity of Football in Malaysia enhances tourists' eagerness to visit the stadium to watch Football as the pandemic end. The study on predictors of sport tourism, passive involvement and support for Football has witnessed less analysis in Malaysia. The study aims to identify the relationship between the predictors of sports tourism, passive involvement and support for attending Malaysian football matches and whether passive involvement mediates the relationship between the predictors and support variables. The research applies a quantitative method involving 237 respondents who are Malaysia Football fans, where data were gathered through online surveys. The analysis method used Regression and PROCESS Macro analyses. The findings indicate significant relationships among the predictors of sport tourism, passive involvement and support for attending Malaysian football matches. However, passive involvement partially mediates and enhances the relationship between the other two variables. The research can help tourism marketers search for the positive influence of passive involvement among tourists, leading to consistent growth of Malaysian sports tourism.