Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2008 An Integrated Model of Value Equity in Spectator Sports: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Results Daniel Robert Sweeney Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AN INTEGRATED MODEL OF VALUE EQUITY IN SPECTATOR SPORTS: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND EMPIRICAL RESULTS DANIEL ROBERT SWEENEY A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sport Management, Recreation Management, and Physical Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded Spring Semester, 2008 Copyright © 2008 Daniel Robert Sweeney All Rights Reserved The members of the committee approved the Dissertation of Daniel Robert Sweeney defended on March 6, 2008. ________________________ Jeffrey D. James Professor Directing Dissertation ________________________ J. Joseph Cronin, Jr. Outside Committee Member ________________________ R. Aubrey Kent Committee Member ________________________ Steven McClung Committee Member Approved: _________________________________________________________________ Cheryl Beeler, Chair, Department of Sport Management, Recreation Management, and Physical Education The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. iii To my remarkable wife Jamie – for her infinite patience, understanding, and love. She has made significant sacrifices over the last five years to see me pursue my dreams and accomplish my goals. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am especially indebted to Dr. Jeffrey James, my committee chair and program advisor, for his guidance throughout the research process as well as the last four years. His continued support through difficult times made all the difference. I also thank my committee members: Dr. Aubrey Kent, Dr. Joe Cronin, and my pinch hitter Dr. Steven McClung, who stepped in midway through the process when asked. The committee members provided valuable insight and I appreciate their time and effort. I would also like to thank Dr. Harry Kwon for his early involvement in the project. His comments and critiques during the proposal stage of this project were very helpful. My PhD colleagues, past and present, were an inspiration and a source of support to me. I also thank everyone past and present in the SMRMPE office, including Cynthia Bailey, Kerry Behnke, Harriet Kasper, and Shannon Barksdale for their help. The little things really meant a lot to me. This research would not have been possible without the cooperation of Ben Zierden, Director of Ticket Operations for the Florida State University Department of Athletics and Kirk Goodman, former General Manager of the Jacksonville Suns. I thank them for providing me access to their facilities, and more importantly to their valued customers. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge and thank Jamie, Carly, Derek, Justin, Birgit, Masa, Young, Yuko, Katie, and Sean for giving up their time to help distribute surveys. My family was very much a part of this success. I thank my mother and father who instilled in me from a young age the value of an education. My sister Carly deserves considerable praise for unknowingly pushing me to stay one-step ahead of her;). Thanks to my gramma Eleanor, for the unshakeable confidence she has that her grandson Dani can do no wrong (except for wet towels left in a pile on the floor of her apartment of course!). I also want to thank the Metz’s and Crumley’s, my new family, v for supporting me throughout this process as I continue to drag their daughter across the country. Finally, I wish that my grandmother Reva and grandfathers Bernie and Matthew were here to see this moment. I know they would have enjoyed it and somewhere up there, I know they are proud of me and happy for me. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables................................................................................................................... x List of Figures.................................................................................................................xii Abstract.........................................................................................................................xiii 1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 1 Statement of the Problem................................................................................ 2 Purposes of the Study..................................................................................... 6 Research Questions...................................................................................... 11 Limitations of the Research........................................................................... 11 Contributions of the Research....................................................................... 11 Definition of Terms ........................................................................................ 12 Organization and Structure of the Dissertation.............................................. 13 2. LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................ 14 Customer Equity............................................................................................ 14 Components of Customer Equity .................................................................. 21 Value Equity ....................................................................................... 22 Brand Equity....................................................................................... 45 Relationship Equity............................................................................. 58 Scale Development ....................................................................................... 67 Initial Data Collection.......................................................................... 72 Purification of the Measure................................................................. 72 Reliability....................................................................................................... 72 Validity........................................................................................................... 74 3. METHODOLOGY & PILOT STUDY ......................................................................... 80 Research Objectives ..................................................................................... 80 Research Design........................................................................................... 81 Steps 1 and 2: The Specification of the Domains of Construct and Generation of Sample Items ............................................................. 81 Entertainment Value........................................................................... 82 Social Value ....................................................................................... 83 Service Quality ................................................................................... 87 Perceived Price .................................................................................. 87 Epistemic Value.................................................................................. 91 vii Satisfaction......................................................................................... 91 Step 3 – First Data Collection: Pilot Study .................................................... 92 Introduction......................................................................................... 92 Population and Sample ...................................................................... 92 Data Collection ................................................................................... 93 Instrument Development .................................................................... 93 Step 4 – Reliability and Validity Assessment of First Data Collection ........... 94 Data Analysis ..................................................................................... 94 Results ............................................................................................... 96 Pilot Study Discussion................................................................................. 124 4. METHODOLOGY................................................................................................... 135 Step 6 – First Data Collection of the Main Study......................................... 135 Target Population and Sample Design............................................. 135 Step 7 – Assessment of Reliability and Validity........................................... 137 Data Analysis Procedures ................................................................ 137 Step 8 – Development of Norms ................................................................. 146 5. RESULTS............................................................................................................... 147 6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................... 184 Introduction ................................................................................................. 184 Discussion of the Results............................................................................ 185 Entertainment Value......................................................................... 185 Perceived Service Quality ...............................................................