Segmenting the Older Resident’s Perception of a Major Cycling Event

Abstract

The aim of the study is to evaluate the social perception of older adults, resident in the host communities where the stage of “La Vuelta” 2019 starts or ends, identifying the possible existing groups and comparing the results before and during the event. Community support is a critical factor in ensuring the success of a major sports event and in generating a greater sense of community involvement. In order to analyze the social perception of the event, 521 older adults were interviewed using a questionnaire of 27 items. Data were collected online in the pre-event period and face-to-face in the on-site period using tablets. A t-test and cluster analysis was carried out to identify different residents’ opinions. The results showed an improvement in the perception of the positive and negative impacts in the in situ period with respect to the pre-event. Three clusters were identified (Positives, Moderates, Haters) with the Positives group being the most represented in each of the periods. The findings suggest that a high level of future intentions for positive behavior can benefit the intangible characteristics of the event and host communities, and that these population groups can better harness the tangible benefits of sports events.

Involvement, Social Impact Experiences, and Event Support of Host Residents Before, during, and after the 2021 UCI Road World Championships

“…Knowledge of a broad(er) range of factors, such as sports involvement, event involvement, and social impact experiences explaining varying support towards sports events, will assist SSE organisers and local administrations to make decisions and plan for specific event outcomes (e.g., generating social impact and support [19]). This will allow for more specific strategies to be developed to promote the event and foster support among residents [16]. Thus, the study extends the current knowledge on (1) the variation of social impact experiences of an SSE over time and (2) the multitude of factors influencing event support in the context of a non-mega sports event.…”

“…The overall attitude towards the event was found to positively influence event support prior to the 2012 London Olympic Games [7]. Furthermore, by dividing older residents in clusters by means of support for the Vuelta (i.e., Cycling Tour of Spain), Vegara-Ferri et al [16] identified a positive relationship between an interest in sport and cycling and event support before and during the event. Nevertheless, a relationship between actual sport and physical activity behaviour and event support was not found among the sample of older residents.…”

“…Residents are more likely to support the event when they perceive the obtained benefits are greater than the costs [34]. Past research found a positive relationship between positive social impact constructs and event support before [5,7,8,16,34], during [4,8], and after [3,5,8,16] the event, with or without a mediating factor (such as overall satisfaction with the quality of life or overall attitude [5,7]). Further, a negative relationship between negative social impact constructs and event support was found before [7], but not during or after the event.…”

“…Lastly, most research on event support is focused on mega sports events such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games (e.g., [4,7]) or the FIFA World Cup (e.g., [5,14]). Research focusing on non-mega sports events investigating event support is limited, as it rather focused on social impact perceptions (e.g., [15,16]), revisit intention (e.g., [17]), or willingness to host the event the year afterwards (which can be seen as a proxy for event support, e.g., [18]). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to (1) examine the variation of social impact experiences of a publicly funded, non-mega SSE over time (i.e., before, during, and after the event) and (2) investigate how social impact experiences and various forms of sport and event involvement influence event support for a non-mega sports event.…”

Percepción de calidad, impacto sociocultural, imagen de destino e intenciones futuras del turista participante en un evento náutico sostenible

“…El instrumento utilizado para evaluar la percepción del turista deportivo participante en un evento náutico estuvo formada por una sección con cuatro ítems relacionada con aspectos generales de la calidad percibida en un evento deportivo tomado de Angosto et al (2016a); una segunda sección sobre percepción sociocultural tomada de Vegara-Ferri et al (2020a), compuesta por cinco ítems distribuidos; una tercera sección formada por imagen de destino (4 ítems) e intenciones futuras (3 ítems) tomado de Vegara-Ferri et al (2020b); y una sección de variables sociodemográficas (género, edad, residencia). La escala de respuesta fue tipo Likert de siete puntos (1=totalmente en desacuerdo, 7=totalmente de acuerdo).…”