The management of major sporting events as an antecedent to having the city recommended

The Influence of Small-Scale Sporting Events on Participants’ Intentions to Recommend the Host City

“…The concept of quality proposed by Grönroos [34], followed by Mullin et al [35] and Fernández-Martínez et al [15], formed the basis for the model analysed in this study. Firstly, functional quality was found to be a precursor for value and satisfaction among participants in the half marathon.…”

“…Grönroos [34] identified two dimensions of quality: functional quality and technical quality. Following a similar dimensional approach, Mullin, Hardy, and Sutton [35] and Fernández-Martínez et al [15] argue that sporting events comprise two main components: core elements, including aspects relating to the sport itself, to players' performance, and to the quality of the match, etc., and peripheral elements, which encompass aspects relating to the facilities, the auxiliary services, the staff, and the transport, etc. Service users perceive the event as a combination of technical and functional dimensions, and perceptions of service quality can be ascertained by comparing users' perceptions with their expectations of the service [36].…”

“…The behaviour of tourists/spectators and the image of tourist destinations can be affected by event quality [45,46]; specifically, in sporting events, the functional quality has a influence on the image of the destination [47]. Meanwhile, Fernández-Martínez et al [15] found a direct relationship between functional quality and intentions to recommend the host city among badminton spectators.…”

“…In addition, according to Brown, Essex, Assaker, and Smith [65], intentions to attend similar events are also more likely when satisfaction levels are higher. Satisfaction is associated with intentions to visit a city again [46], including among sporting event spectators [15]. Thus, regardless of whether visitors participated in an event or attended as spectators [65], a satisfactory experience can increase their intentions to recommend the place [66].…”

“…Small-scale sporting events can be powerful resources with social and economic benefits for host cities [9,14], therefore political representatives foster these kinds of events to help attract tourists and energise their cities. However, most studies analysing the potential impacts and/or benefits of sporting events focus on spectators and large-scale events [15,16], and there is a need for more research on the impact of small-and mediumscale sporting events on tourist recommendations and on participants' experiences in particular [17]. There are also very few studies on future intentions based on participants' evaluations of sporting events [18][19][20][21].…”