Understanding Cleveland As a Sports Destination

! UNDERSTANDING CLEVELAND AS A SPORTS DESTINATION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF BRAND PERSONALITY THEORY A thesis submitted to the Kent State University College and Graduate School of Education, Health, and Human Services in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science by Jiayi Wang May 2016 ! ! ! Thesis written by Jiayi Wang B.A., Shanghai Normal University, 2013 M.S., Kent State University, 2016 Approved by _______________________, Director, Master’s Thesis Committee Phillip Wang _______________________, Member, Master’s Thesis Committee Theresa Walton-Fisette _______________________, Member, Master’s Thesis Committee Ju Yup Lee Accepted by _______________________, Director, School of Foundations Leadership Kimberly Schimmel and Administration _______________________, Dean, College of Education, Health and Human Mark Kretovics Services ii! ! ! WANG, JIAYI, M.S., May 2016 Hospitality and Tourism Management UNDERSTANDING CLEVELAND AS A SPORTS DESTIONATION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF BRAND PERSONALITY THEORY (76 pp.) Director of Thesis: Phillip Wang, PhD In this globalizing world, sporting events play an important role in improving the attractiveness and competitiveness of a city. Sports tourism and sporting events are viewed as a growing niche market. This is reflected by the contribution that sports tourism brings to a destination. As a consequence of sports being attractions or activities that tourists seek to experience in the destination, it is paramount for a destination to be able to offer them. Cleveland’s continuously increasing sports offering is making the city an appealing tourist destination to wider groups of tourists. Brand personality theory provides the theoretical support for the present study. The purpose of the study is to test the brand personality framework in the context of sports tourism, explore the brand personality of Cleveland as a sports destination, and apply the theory into destination marketing. Two types of quantitative data analysis were performed in the present study to test the hypotheses and gain meaningful information from the study. The results of the present study contributed to the knowledge of promoting sports tourism in Cleveland and limitations and future research were discussed. ! ! ! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Theresa Walton-Fisette and Dr. Ju Yup Lee, for their time, support and guidance to my work. Their inspiration, expertise, and advice have improved the work and made the whole process a pleasant and enjoyable learning experience. I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to Dr. Phillip Wang, my thesis advisor and committee director, for supporting my research and guiding me throughout my graduate program. His patience and encouragements gave me the strength and direction to continuously focus on my thesis to achieve my goals. I would also like to thank my all friends for their continued support. I am grateful to have such positive people around me. Lastly, I would like to sincerely thank my parents, Yongjun Wang and Jie Li, for all their endless and unconditional love, support, and encouragement throughout my graduate program as it would not have been possible without them. iii! ! ! TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi CHAPTER Page I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................1 Sports Tourism ..............................................................................................................1 Major Events ..........................................................................................................1 Destination Cities ...................................................................................................2 Impacts ...................................................................................................................4 Resident Perceptions and Attitudes .......................................................................5 Cleveland as a Sports Destination .............................................................................6 Major Attractions in Cleveland ..............................................................................7 New Hotels Added to the City ...............................................................................7 Sports Events that Cleveland Successfully Hosted ................................................8 Principles of Destination Development .................................................................8 Destination Image .....................................................................................................10 Theoretical Framework .............................................................................................12 Brand Personality Theory ....................................................................................12 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ..............................................................................................15 Sports Tourism Origins and Development ...............................................................15 Traveler Type ............................................................................................................18 Brand Personality Theory .........................................................................................21 Destination Personality .............................................................................................26 Cleveland Comparable to Other Cities in the United States .....................................28 III. METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................29 Instrument Design .....................................................................................................30 Focus Group .........................................................................................................30 Pilot Study ............................................................................................................31 Main Survey .........................................................................................................32 Data Collection .........................................................................................................35 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................36 IV. RESULTS ....................................................................................................................38 Description of the Sample .........................................................................................38 Focus Group ..............................................................................................................39 Brand Personality of Cleveland ................................................................................40 Interest in Cleveland Attractions ..............................................................................41 iv! ! ! Attractiveness of Cleveland Sporting Events ...........................................................43 Desire to Visit Cleveland ..........................................................................................44 Interest in Cleveland Attractions and Desire to Visit Cleveland ..............................44 Attractiveness of Cleveland Sporting Events and Desire to Visit Cleveland ...........46 Traveler Type and Desire to Visit Cleveland ...........................................................47 Personal Background and Desire to Visit Cleveland ................................................48 V. DISCUSSION ...............................................................................................................50 Implications ...............................................................................................................52 Limitations ................................................................................................................54 Future Research ........................................................................................................55 Reflections of the Study ............................................................................................55 Destination Development .....................................................................................55 What Other Cities Can Learn from Cleveland .....................................................56 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................57 APPENDIX A. KSU INSTITUTION APPROVAL FORM ......................................58 APPENDIX B. RESEARCH FOCUS GROUP ..........................................................60 APPENDIX C. RESEARCH SURVEY .....................................................................62 APPENDIX D. CONSENT FORM ............................................................................67 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................70 v! ! ! LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1! Cohen’s Typology of Tourist Type ....................................................................19 2! Allocentric and Psychocentric Travelers ...........................................................20

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