jurnal hyun-duck kim 2006

International Journal of Applied Sports Sciences

2006, Vol. 18, No. 1, 39-58.

ⓒ Korea Institute of Sport Science

The Influence of Service Quality Factors

on Customer Satisfaction and Repurchase Intention

in the Korean Professional Basketball League

Hyun-Duck Kima, David LaVettera, & Jeoung-Hak Leeb

Arkansas State University, USAa, & Kyung Hee University, Koreab

Achieving success as a sport organization has been linked to customer

satisfaction and repurchase intention achieved through higher quality service

(Chelladurai, 1999). Unfortunately, little attention has been paid to the concept of

service quality and the Korean male professional basketball league. Therefore, this

study was primarily designed to identify the effects of five factors of service quality

on customer satisfaction, and repurchase intention for spectators in attendance at

the Korean professional basketball league. The questionnaire utilized for measuring

perceptions of service quality included the following factors: (1) tangibles, (2)

reliability, (3) responsiveness, (4) assurance, and (5) empathy as identified by

Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1988). Each of the instruments measuring

outcome variables including customer satisfaction and repurchase intention had five

items.

The findings of analysis of variance indicated that demographic variables

including education, income, and season ticket status were significantly related to

the mean levels of service quality. The results from the regression model considered

the five factors of service quality to be independent variables and customer

satisfaction, the dependent variable, indicated that the factors of reliability and

assurance were the most influential factors on overall customer satisfaction. This

finding indicates that the performances of service encounters have substantial

potential for making a significant impression on customer perceptions of service

attributes at the professional sport event.

The regression model involving the five factors of service quality and repurchase

intention revealed that the factors of tangibles and assurance were identified as the

most critical related to overall repurchase intention.

key words: Service quality, Customer satisfaction, Repurchase intention

1)

Received : 27 September 2005, Accepted : 12 June 2006,

Correspondence : Jeoung Hak Lee ([email protected])

40 H. D. Kim et al.

Introduction

Services provided at a sport setting are quite different from other forms of

services (Mullin, Hardy, & Sutton, 2000). Mullin, et. al.’s study described a sport

product as “any bundle or combination of qualities, processes, and capabilities

(goods, services, and/or ideas) that a buyer expects will deliver wanted satisfaction”

(p. 12). In fact, all products consist of both tangible and intangible components that

contribute to the core benefit. Berry and Parasuraman (1991) provided a superior

explanation for distinguishing a service from a tangible product. They acknowledged

that if the core benefit source is more intangible than tangible, it would be

considered a service (Berry & Parasuraman, 1991). In accordance with their

description, many sport and recreation organizations are involved in the production

of services rather than that of goods. In a sport setting, Stotlar (1993) emphasized

that “professional and amateur sports teams, health and fitness centers, arenas, and

country clubs are all engaged primarily in providing sport-related services” (p. 22).

Service providers should develop a professional attitude to maximize the benefits of

their business.

The needs and wants of sport customers are constantly changing and

unpredictable, making quality services in sport more elusive than most realize. Thus,

sport marketers involved in the basketball league should understand the importance

of providing quality services to their customers and the causal relationships with

relevant constructs such as service quality, customer satisfaction, and repurchase

intention(Lee, et al, 2000).

In the professional Korean basketball league, fan attendance is a major source of

revenue which is heavily linked to concession sales at an event. By understanding

what factors are engaged in the formation of the overall service in the service

context, sports marketers are able to provide a quality service experience for their

customers. As a brief descriptor of the league, there are nine host cities which

continually provide their fans with healthy, fun filled, and family oriented

entertainment for people of all ages in South Korea (KBL, 2005). The Korean

basketball league has experienced rapid growth with an increasing number of

spectators, media channels, printed publications, and news coverage as the

popularity of the game of basketball increased, especially in the past decade in Asia

(Kim, Shin, & Song, 2005). Due to the increasing popularity, the league has

attracted an ever increasing number of corporate sponsors which make strong

The Influence of Service Quality Factors on Customer Satisfaction and Repurchase

Intention in the Korean Professional Basketball League 41

financial investments and aggressive marketing efforts (KBL, 2005). However, there

is a limited amount of research studies regarding the nature of the relationship

between service quality, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intention due to

unique features of a service product in the sport setting (Cho, 2001; Kim et al.

2005; Beck 2005).

This study was primarily designed to identify the influence of service quality

factors on customer satisfaction and repurchase intention for spectators in attendance

at the Korean professional basketball league. Additionally, this study was also

designed to measure levels of service quality in terms of a) age, b) gender, c)

education, d) income, e) involvement, and f) season ticket holder status.

Theoretical Background

Service Quality

The importance of service has obtained a significant amount of attention by

many managers and academic scholars in a variety of fields. Identifying the nature

of the relationship between service quality and relevant constructs appears to be

advantageous as it assists in the development of better managerial decisions. This

realization is reflected by the increasing number of publications devoted to such

topics as customer satisfaction, service quality, customer service, and service

marketing (e.g., Beck, 2005; Chang, 1998; Choi, 2001; Cho, Lee, & Chon, 2004;

Petrick & Backman, 2002). Prior to discussing the concept of service quality and its

relationships with other constructs, it is necessary to be concerned with the three

fundamental characteristics of a service product.

Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1988) stated that, “Service quality is an

abstract and elusive construct because of three features unique to services:

intangibility, heterogeneity, and inseparability of production and consumption” (p.

13). Services are different from goods (tangible products) in terms of how they are

produced, consumed, and evaluated. First of all, consumers can judge or experience

the quality of tangible goods such as a new set of golf clubs and golf balls prior

to purchasing those tangible products. However, they are not able to judge the

quality of intangible service products such as acquiring the experience in a stadium,

new golf resort, hotel, or amusement park. Secondly, services, especially those

42 H. D. Kim et al.

involving high labor are heterogeneous: their performance often varies from

producer to producer, from customer to customer, and from day to day (Zeithaml,

Parasuraman, & Berry, 1990). Lastly, production and consumption of most services

are inseparable (Zeithaml et al., 1990). In other words, quality of service is often

seen during service delivery, usually in an interaction between the customer and the

provider, rather than being engineered at the manufacturing plant, and delivered

intact to the customer (Zeithaml et al., 1990).

According to Berry and Parasuraman (1991), “services are dominated by

experience qualities, attributes that can be meaningfully evaluated only after

purchase and during production- consumption” (p. 7). In addition, customers do not

evaluate service quality solely on the outcome of a service. They also consider the

process of the service delivered whenever the event is completed (Zeithaml et al.,

1990).

The definition of service quality may vary and may depend on theoretical

assumptions. For instance, service quality has been defined by various academic

scholars under their own theoretical assumptions. For instance, Parasuraman,

Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) who developed the SERVQUAL instrument, which has

been most widely adapted as a service quality measurement tool defined perceived

service quality as “a global judgment, or attitude relating to the superiority of a

service” (p. 16). Parasuraman et al. (1985) pointed out that “the judgment on

service quality is a reflection of the degree and direction of discrepancy between

consumers’ perceptions and expectations” (p. 1). Asubonteng, McCleary, and Swan

(1996), defined service quality as “the difference between customers’ expectations

for service performance prior to the service encounter and their perceptions of the

service received” (p. 64). As discussed earlier, there has been no consensus in

defining service quality among researchers engaged in the study of service quality.

As a matter of fact, every business is associated with providing service, but

depending on the type of business, the portion of service may vary. Berry and

Parasuraman (1991) provided a superior explanation for the conceptualization of a

service in comparison with tangible goods. In terms of their explanation, if the

source of a product’s core benefit is more intangible than tangible, it would be

considered a service (Berry & Parasuraman, 1991). It means that virtually all

products are comprised of both tangible and intangible elements that contribute to

the core benefit. The central or core products of the Korean basketball League, the

game itself and customers’ service experiences are noticeably more associated with



the the intangible product than with the tangible product.

Mullin et al. (2000) described several unique features of sport services. First,

sport differs from other forms of entertainment because it induces high levels of

emotional involvement. Secondly, not only does sport form and strengthen

relationships with individual consumers, it also fosters a sense of community in

terms of sport marketing. Thus, sport marketers should be able to recognize the

central role of social facilitation. Lastly, the needs and wants of sport customers are

constantly changing and unpredictable, making sport service more elusive than most

realize. According to Milne and McDonald (1999), sport services are categorized

into two distinct segments including spectator and participant services. For instance,

spectators’ services (e.g., attending professional basketball games and golf

tournaments) deliver various kinds of entertainment values and beneficial

opportunities for socialization during the period of the sport event. On the other

hand, participant service (e.g., services provided at commercial fitness clubs and

private golf courses) delivers a range of beneficial sport experiences that can result

in physical, mental, and social benefits for participants. There are various potential

motivational factors such as physical fitness, risk-taking, affiliation, stress reduction,

and social facilitation for sport participants and spectators (Milne & McDonald,

1999).

Recent research by Kelley and Turley (2001) attempted to investigate the

importance of service attributes sports fans use when evaluating the quality of the

service experienced at sporting events. They initially generated a pool of 35 service

attributes of sporting events. In addition to the 35 service attributes, a set of

classificatory items was also added on the survey. The sample for this study was

collected from fans attending four basketball games during the month of February,

including two men’s games and two women’s games. After the data was collected

from the sporting events, a series of statistical methods were utilized for the data

analysis. According to the mean importance value for each of the sports marketing

service quality attributes, the quality of the game and outcome of the game were

identified as the most important attributes in the study (Kelley & Turley, 2001). By

conducting an exploratory factor analysis, they (2001) identified nine important

dimensions of service quality in sporting events: (1) employees, (2) price, (3)

facility access, (4) concessions, (5) fan comfort, (6) game experience, (7) showtime,

(8) convenience, and (9) smoking.

Theodorakis and Kambitsis (1998) have had success in the measurement of

44 H. D. Kim et al.

service quality in the sport setting. They developed the service quality instrument

called SPORTSERV, which measures spectators’ perceptions of service quality in

professional sports. The 22 items on the instrument include the following

dimensions of service quality: (1) access (four items: for example, parking being

available outside the stadium), (2) reliability (four items: for example, the team

delivering its services as promised), (3) responsiveness (six items: for example, the

team’s personnel providing prompt service), (4) tangibles (six items: for example,

the stadium being visually appealing), and (5) security (two items: for example,

feeling safe inside the stadium). The SPORTSERV scale is a

perception-performance based measurement.

While it may be comparatively easy to identify adequate dimensions for a

specific service, researchers have sought to identify whether there are generic

dimensions of service quality that can be identified (Jennifer, 1998). In this regard,

the five dimensions of service quality proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1988) have

been considered as the most widely accepted dimensions of service quality in

various settings. The five dimensions of service quality and their definitions are

illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1. Five Different Dimensions of Service Quality

Dimensions Explanations

Tangibles Physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel

Reliability Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately

Responsiveness Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.

AssuranceKnowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence

Empathy Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers

Note. From "SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of s service quality," by Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, 1988, Journal of Retailing, 64(1), p. 23.

Berry and Parasuraman (1991) emphasized that “among the five dimensions of

service quality, reliability is the foremost criterion customers consider in evaluating

a company’s quality of service” (p. 16). For this study, the five dimensions of

service quality proposed by Berry and Parasuraman (1991) have been adopted as the

factors of service quality for the assessment of perceived value of service quality.

To satisfy the fundamental objectives of a service-based organization, which are



the formations of high levels of customer satisfaction and customer retention, Rust

and Oliver (1994) suggested that “managing service quality basically involves three

distinct processes: designing the service product, designing the service environment,

and delivering the service” (p. 3). It is critical to note that if a service-based

organization desires to be successful in the market, the organization should do the

smaller things better than their competitors and always be aware of what its

employees and customers want and need (Berry & Parasuraman, 1991).

Customer Satisfaction

Understanding how satisfaction is generated has important implications for

management (e.g., product design, service delivery, and marketing mix allocations)

(Anderson & Fornell, 1994). Bhote (1996) indicated that:

“A full 90% of top managers from over 200 of the largest corporations in America

were convinced that “maximizing customer satisfaction maximized profitability and

market share” (p. 30)

Taylor and Baker (1994) emphasized the importance of understanding the

potential determinants of customer satisfaction. The researchers acknowledged that

“satisfaction” is a major outcome of marketing activity and serves to link processes

culminating in purchase and consumption with post purchase phenomena such as

attitude change, repeat purchase, and loyalty” (p. 491).

In Anderson and Fornell (1994), customer satisfaction is described as “a

postconsumption evaluation of perceived quality relative to expected quality” (p.

245). In this regard, expectation and perceived quality of a product or a service

provides a baseline or anchor for the evaluation of a customer’s level of satisfaction

in terms of the expectancy-disconfirmation paradigm.

Therefore, if managers or administrators working in service-based organizations

are able to identify how components of a product or service affect customer

satisfaction of their customers, they may be able to provide their customers with a

better customer experience to maximize customers’ satisfaction (Petrick & Backman,

2002).

Williams (1999) conceptualized consumer satisfaction as a cognitive appraisal of

the degree to which a product or service performs relative to a subjective standard.

Oliver (1997) indicated that “satisfaction is a judgment that a product or service

feature, or the product or service itself, provided (or is providing) a pleasurable

46 H. D. Kim et al.

level of consumption-related fulfillment, including levels of under or

over-fulfillment” (p. 13). Choi (2001) also mentioned that “one simple approach to

the concept of customer satisfaction is to understand it as a perceived value” (p.

26). Oliver (1997) also pointed out that that “satisfaction itself is a desirable end

state of consumption or patronization; it is a reinforcing, pleasurable experience” (p.

10). With regard to the fundamental concept of satisfaction, Anderson, Fornell, and

Lehmann (1994), noted that satisfaction has direct effects on profit through its

influence on customer retention. In contrast, dissatisfaction has the effect of

increasing the search for alternatives, resulting in a larger brand consideration set

than would have existed previously (Anderson et al., 1994). From a managerial

perspective, it seems reasonable to be concerned with such questions as, “When a

customer is dissatisfied, how can he or she be retained?” In accordance with the

question, Fornell and Wernerfelt (1987) suggested that firms should encourage

customers who are dissatisfied with their products or services to complain and then

management should respond to complaints in order to retain the customers. One

example would be the use of a 1-800 number to handle potential complaints from

customers (Anderson & Fornell, 1994). Thus, while preventing dissatisfaction is a

worthy and necessary goal, management should be more interested in what it can do

to foster satisfaction (Oliver, 1997).

Theodorakis et al. (2001) attempted to identify relationship between service

quality and customer satisfaction of spectators in professional sports. They found

that all five factors of service quality, including: (1) access, (2) reliability, (3)

responsiveness, (3) tangibles, and (5) security were positively correlated with

satisfaction of the spectators. In the study, the regression model, with the use of all

five factors of service quality as predictors, was statistically significant with 40% of

overall customer satisfaction explained by service-quality factors.

Repurchase Intention

Achieving higher levels of customer satisfaction may require a manger to be

concerned with such aspects of a service product as price, convenience, or

availability. Current literature supports satisfaction as a reliable predictor of

repurchase intentions (Bitner, 1990; Cho et al., 2004; Novatorov & Crompton, 2002;

Patterson & Spreng, 1997; Tian-Cole et al., 2002; Yoo, Cho, & Chon, 2003). For

instance, Tian-Cole et al. (2002), who conducted a study on service quality,



satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in the leisure and recreation field, found that

visitors’ future behavioral intentions were expected to be influenced positively by

both overall service quality and overall satisfaction.

Taylor and Baker (1994) examined the specific nature of the relationship

between service quality and consumer satisfaction, as well as how these two

constructs combine to impact consumer purchase intentions in four unique service

industries including health care, recreation (amusement park) services, transportation

(airline), and communications (long-distance telephone) services. The results of their

study indicated that satisfaction appeared to moderate the relationship between

service quality and purchase intention in the proposed models for the formation of

consumers’ purchase intentions (Taylor & Baker, 1994).

According to Petrick (1999), “the more loyal a consumer is to a service, the

more likely they will be satisfied with the service and the more likely they will

repurchase the service” (p. 28). Thus, loyalty has been directly related to intention

to repurchase.

In order to have a better understanding of the concept of repurchase intention, it

is critical to be concerned with potential difference between a pre-consumption

situation and post-purchase situation. Patterson and Spreng (1997) pointed out that

in a pre-consumption situation, customers are more likely to be influenced by such

extrinsic indications as brand image, price, store name, and market communication.

In contrast, in post-purchase situations, the customers now have the consumption

experience and are already familiar with those indications so the customers are less

likely to make a purchase decision under the influence of those extrinsic indications.

Specifically, the customers in post-purchase situations make a purchase decision on

the basis of their own satisfaction/dissatisfaction evaluations.

Much research indicated statistically significant and positive relationship between

customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. However, the managers in the

Korean basketball league should be aware of the fact that even when customers are

satisfied, nothing guarantees that they will be repeat customers (Bhote, 1996).

Attaining and maintaining high levels of repurchase intention should be an ongoing

process or a journey without end (Bhote, 1996).

In conclusion, the literature clearly demonstrated positive relationships between

service quality, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intentions in various settings.

Thus, the managers in the Korean Professional basketball league should be aware of

the various factors of service quality (i.e., tangibles, reliability, responsiveness,

48 H. D. Kim et al.

empathy, and assurance) that can ultimately predict customers’ satisfaction and

purchase intention.

Methodology

Sample and Data Collection

Data for this study was collected from the basketball stadium located in South

Korea during the professional basketball season of 2004 and 2005. The sample was

randomly drawn from spectators attending three men’s games held in Seoul during

the Korean Professional Basketball League of 2004 and 2005. Mail-back surveys

were distributed at the main gate of the basketball stadium. At the gate, every 3rd

individual was selected and received the survey packet. Participants were asked to

complete and mail back the questionnaire by using the pre-paid postage envelope

addressed to the researcher. Among the 1000 surveys distributed in the stadium, a

total of 745 surveys were returned, accounting for the final response rate of 73%.

The sample consisted of about 54% of male and 46% of female respondents.

Twenty-two incomplete questionnaires were excluded from the data analysis. Thus,

a total of 723 surveys were included for the final data analysis. Their participation

in this study was voluntary and the researcher ensured the confidentiality of their

responses.

Instrument Purification

The service quality instrument for this study was modified from Cronin and

Taylor’s (1994) performance-based service quality scale called SERVPERF. The

service quality instrument was originally composed of 20 items of five dimensions

of service quality. As proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1988), the five dimensions

for this study include: (1) tangibles, (2) reliability, (3) responsiveness, (4) assurance,

and (5) empathy.

Customer satisfaction and repurchase intention questionnaires were modified

from Chang’s (1998) instrument. Each of the questionnaires had five items.

A six-point Likert type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly



agree) was utilized for scoring the study instrument. Items in the demographic

information questionnaire were selected by the researcher to yield descriptive

information of the subjects. The demographic information questionnaire includes

such questions as gender, age, education, annual income, the number of attendance,

and season ticket holder status.

A panel of five American experts received the questionnaires to ensure construct

validity evidence. For the validation process, a panel of experts were selected

because of their extensive amount of knowledge and practical research experience in

the field of sport management. As suggested by Chatterji (2002), the panel of

experts was asked to perform a structured review of individual items on each factor

to ensure their content relevance and content representativeness.

The service quality scale modified from SERVPERF (Cronin & Taylor, 1992)

was required to be translated from English into Korean for research purposes due to

the language difference. The questionnaires written in English were translated by

two Korean experts who worked as sport management professors in American

Universities. Once the questionnaires had been translated into Korean, the same

questionnaires were translated back into English again by other Korean experts. The

intention of this back-translation process was to identify potential disagreements on

the underlying constructs that were influenced by the translation process as

suggested by Bracken & Barona (1991). The translated questionnaires were regarded

as representative of the original questionnaire.

Pilot Testing and Reliability of Each Factor

After the translation process, a pilot test was conducted with 70 spectators from

the basketball stadium. The samples for the pilot test were selected as planned for

the final data collection. As suggested by Patten (2002), the sample size for a pilot

study should be at least 20 respondents. In all, 65 spectators provided their

responses to the questionnaires. The results from the pilot test (n = 65) helped to

verify the utility, validity, and reliability for the questionnaires. Especially, the

potential respondents in the pilot test were asked to provide their comments about

the instrument in terms of wording, clarity, scoring routine, and adequacy as

recommended by Babbie (1998). Based upon the results of the pilot test, the

researcher made slight changes to the items on the instrument.

In order to estimate internal consistency among items within each dimension, the

50 H. D. Kim et al.

internal consistency reliability coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha) was computed on each

of the dimensions of the service quality scale, customer satisfaction scale, and

repurchase intention scale by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS,

v12.0) after the final data was collected. The reliability coefficients for each of the

five dimensions of the service quality scale and customer satisfaction and repurchase

intention scale were as follows: 1) tangibles (.88), 2) reliability (.90), 3)

responsiveness (.79), 4) assurance (.85), 5) empathy (.88), 6) customer satisfaction

(.92), and repurchase intention (.73). Since all of the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients

for the scales were greater than .70, the scales were deemed acceptable as suggested

by Cortina (1993).

Data Analysis

SPSS (v12.0) was used to compute and analyze the data. One-way analysis of

variance and post hoc test using Tukey’s HSD were primarily used to find out

whether significant differences existed among the mean levels of service quality in

relation to various demographic variables. Multiple regression analysis was

performed to examine the relationships between service quality, customer

satisfaction, and repurchase intention. The five dimension of service quality factor

was examined by factor analysis. Additionally, a regression coefficient from multiple

regression analysis was primarily used to identify the influential levels that service

quality factors have on measures of customer satisfaction. All the statistical

significance tests were performed at an alpha level of .05.

Results

The mean score of the overall service quality was 4.44 with a standard deviation

at 0.87. The overall mean score for the service quality scale, including the five

service quality factors was calculated by 1) combining the scores of all the items in

a scale and 2) dividing the combined scores by the number of items. Among the

five dimensions of service quality, the service assurance factor showed the highest

mean score of (M = 4.63, SD = 1.04), closely followed by the tangibles factor (M

= 4.61, SD = 1.05), the reliability factor (M = 4.58, SD = 1.06), and responsiveness

(M = 4.27, SD = .98). The mean score of the customer satisfaction scale was 4.69



(SD = 1.06) whereas the mean score for the repurchase intention scale was 4.50

(SD = .94). The results of descriptive statistics are as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Number of Items, Mean, Standard Deviation, and Reliability Coefficient on Each Factor

Measurements Factor N M SD Alpha

Service Quality Tangibles 4 4.61 1.05 .88

Reliability5

4.58 1.06 .90

Responsiveness4

4.27 .98 .792

Assurance 3 4.63 .1.04 .85

Empathy 4 4.13 1.11 .92

CustomerSatisfaction

5 4.69 1.06 .73

RepurchaseIntention

5 4.50 .94 .88

The results of the analysis of variance indicated that there were statistically

significant differences in the mean levels of service quality in terms of Gender (F

(1,722) = 14.380, p < .05), Age (F (4,719) = 5.120, p < .05), Education (F (4,719)

= 6.664, p < .05), Season ticket holder status (F (1,722) = 11.476, p < .05).

According to the results, male participants perceived the overall service quality

higher than female participants.

The age distribution of the respondents was categorized into five groups: 1) less

than 25 years old (n = 11), 2) 26 to 35 (n = 83), 3) 36 to 45 (n = 161), 4) 46 to

55 (n = 151), 5) over 55 (n = 28). The results of post-hoc test using Tukey’s HSD

shows statistically significant mean differences between the groups of less than 18

years (M = 4.74), 19 to 25 years (M = 4.40), and 26 to 35 years (M = 4.31).

The highest educational level was categorized into five different levels: 1) Less

than High School Graduate (n = 131), 2) High School Graduate (n = 175), 3)

2-year College Graduate (n = 154), 4) Attending University or Bachelor’s Degree (n

= 243), and 5) Graduate Degree or Higher (n = 23). The results of the multiple

comparison test indicated that the mean score for the group of less than high school

graduate was statistically significant and higher (p < 0.5) than the mean scores of

other categorical variables in the groups of education.

52 H. D. Kim et al.

Statistically significant mean difference was also found for the season ticket

holder status. For more detail, participants who purchased a season ticket (M =

4.57) perceived the overall service quality higher than the non-season ticket holders

(M = 4.57).

The final five dimensions of service quality factors were based on the following

criteria: (a) a factor had an eigen-values equal to or greater than 1; (b) an item had

a factor loading equal to or greater than .40 without double loading. The results

showed that five factors were extracted for service quality factor. A total of 20

items were retained, the factors loading are showed in Table 3.

Table 3. The Factor Analysis for Five Dimension of Service Quality

Item F1 F2 F3 F4 F5

SQ1SQ2SQ3SQ4

.672

.568

.529

.594

SQ5SQ6SQ7SQ8SQ9

.615

.600

.624

.608

.588

SQ10SQ11SQ12SQ13

.403

.716

.674

.471

SQ14SQ15SQ16

.481

.710

.703

SQ17SQ18SQ19SQ20

.801

.804

.653

.705

Note: F1: Tangibles Factors, F2: Reliability Factors, F3: Responsiveness Factors

A multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the relationships

among service quality, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intention for the

spectators in attendance at the games. The results of the regression analyses

indicated that the effects of the five service quality factors on the customer

satisfaction was statistically significant (F (5,718) = 198.18, p < .05) while 58% of

the overall customer satisfaction was explained by the five factors of service quality.



Additionally, a regression coefficient from multiple regression analysis was used to

identify the influential level that service quality factors have on the overall customer

satisfaction. The coefficients indicated that the factors of assurance ( β = .38, p =

.000) and reliability ( β = .21, p = .007) exerted the strongest influence on the

overall customer satisfaction, closely followed by the factors of tangibles ( β = .11,

p = .007) and empathy ( β = .10, p = .001). The factor of responsiveness did not

show a statistically significant unique relationship with the overall customer

satisfaction (see Table 4).

Table 4. The Influence of the Five Service Quality Factors on Customer Satisfaction

Variables Beta t Sig.

Model 1

Tangibles .112 2.698 .000*

Reliability .211 4.602 .007*

Responsiveness .067 1.554 .121

Assurance .389 9.954 .000*

Empathy .106 3.221 .001*

Note. *p < .05

To investigate the influential levels of five service quality factors on the overall

repurchase intention, the multiple analysis method was also applied. This regression

model considered repurchase intention to be a dependent variable and the five

factors of service quality to be an independent variable was statistically significant

(F (5, 718) = 103.828, p =.00), and 42% of overall repurchase intention was

explained by the five factors of service quality. The regression coefficients revealed

that the factors of empathy ( β = .27, p = .000), assurance ( β = .22, p = .000),

responsiveness ( β = .11, p = .017), and tangibles ( β = .10, p = .028) indicated

statistically significant unique relationships with the overall repurchase intention as

illustrated in Table 5.

54 H. D. Kim et al.

Table 5. The Influence of the Five Service Quality Factors on Repurchase Intention

Variables Beta t Sig.

Model 2

Tangibles .107 2.197 .028*

Reliability .065 1.213 .226

Responsiveness .112 2.397 .017*

Assurance .223 4.861 .000*

Empathy .271 6.974 .000*

Note. *p < .05

Discussion

This study provides some interesting findings that help us further our knowledge

of various services provided within the Korean professional basketball league.

Among the six demographic variables, four demographic variables, including

gender, age, season ticket holder status, and education level were found to be

significantly related to the overall perception of service quality. That is, it is

concluded that the demographic variables which showed statistically significant

differences in the mean levels of service quality are influential factors on the overall

service quality. It may be beneficial for managers in the sport organization to

develop new strategies based on these findings. In other words, segmenting

customers on the basis of their gender, age, season ticket holder status, and

education level should be considered for marketing efforts to be targeted

appropriately. Mullin et al. (2000) acknowledged that market segmentation is one of

the key strategies that creates the bridge between managerial analysis and

managerial action. Knowing customers from the demographic data can assist sport

managers to pinpoint areas that need improved quality of service.

The findings from the regression model considered the five factors of service

quality as independent variables and customer satisfaction as the dependent variable

suggested that the factors of assurance and reliability were the most influential

factors on the overall customer satisfaction. The factors of assurance and reliability

are primarily associated with human performance (Parasuraman et al., 1988). For

instance, the factor of assurance refers to knowledge and courtesy of employees and

their ability to inspire trust and confidence. Additionally, the performances of



service encounters have considerable potential for making a significant impression

on customer perceptions of service attributes at the sport event. Thus, education and

training for the managers who are in charge of training and educating their staff

members should be taken into consideration by the management. Most importantly,

the managers in the sport context should utilize management audits to continually

evaluate and monitor the overall service environment from the customers’

perspectives. The management audits will facilitate sport managers’ knowledge

about the services they offer and the performances of service encounters as

suggested by Bhote (1996).

The findings of the regression model involving the five factors of service quality

and repurchase intention indicated that the factors of empathy, assurance,

responsiveness, and tangibles were identified as most critical factors in the overall

repurchase intention (see Table 4).

Whether it may be a point of sale for goods, directions to a particular service,

or resolving a customer complaint, managers in the Korean basketball league may

improve the quality of service and increase customer satisfaction and repurchase

intention by establishing a sound managerial philosophy of practicing appropriate

responsiveness, assurance and empathy to spectators.

According to Theodorakis et al. (2001) who found the tangible aspect of service

quality as an important predictor of customer satisfaction and repurchase intention,

managers in a service based organization should make major improvements in all

the aspects of service in order to enhance the level of overall service quality when

the resources are limited. To be effective, the factors of service quality should be

prioritized based on the findings of this study to provide competitive advantages in

delivering superior levels of customer satisfaction that may positively influence the

overall repurchase intention.

Additionally, because tangible aspects of service were also identified as one of

the most influential factors on the study variables, managers may implement a

reward system for each single game attended by a consumer in order to retain

repeat season-ticket holders and encourage potential season-ticket holders. The

rewards may be food or merchandise coupons for arena purchases or coupons to be

used off-site. This managerial action could stimulate customers to increase

repurchase intentions (i.e. future season-tickets, merchandise and concession sales) at

future events.

Although results in this study indicated tangibles, assurance, empathy, and

56 H. D. Kim et al.

reliability as predictors of service quality, researchers can extend studies to

incorporate other demographic variables such as fan involvement, loyalties to

particular players or teams, attitudinal preferences, and number of years of

season-ticket holders to more closely examine how they interrelate with factors of

service quality, customer satisfaction, and purchase intention. The sport service

marketers should manage the five dimension service quality of service marketing in

order to reinforce the desired attitudes and behavior during service delivery.

Additionally, researchers can also enrich the theoretical foundation for the

relationships among the study variables by utilizing structural equation modeling

(SEM).

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