Proceedings of 24th International Business Research Conference
12 - 13 December 2013, Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, USA, ISBN: 978-1-922069-37-5
Female Spectator Satisfaction of Service Experienced on
University Sporting Grounds
Johannes Arnoldus Wiid*, Michael Colin Cant ** and
Catherine Mpolokeng Sephapo***
The sophistication of consumers in terms of their buying behaviour has
forced companies to place more value on the total service they provide to
their target market. No longer can organisations take for granted the impact
that the service provided has on consumer satisfaction. This principle also
applies to sporting organisations and it is for that reason the study aimed to
determine the quality of service experienced by female spectators at sporting
events. Customer satisfaction is crucial in the long-term survival of a
business or sport type and this is influenced by a number of factors and
sport organisations. Literature suggests that customer satisfaction comprises
of the following factors; core service, human element of service delivery,
systematisation of service delivery, tangibles of services and lastly social
responsibility. Existing literature has presented a gap since the Sportserve
model has not been sufficiently applied to the South African sports spectator;
therefore this research significantly contributes to the body of knowledge. In
addition, the objective of the study further aimed to establish if there is a
relationship between a core sport product and the product servicescape in
conjunction to female spectator satisfaction. In order to achieve the
objectives of the study a survey was distributed to female spectators who
watched soccer and basketball games on the grounds of a particular
university. A total of 46 questionnaires were obtained and analysed. The
population from which the sample was drawn were the spectators who
attended the matches on the specific days during which the research was
conducted. A non-probability, convenience sampling method was utilised.
Although this presents a higher probability of not being representative of the
target population, the nature of the population under study as well as the
objective of the study which is on testing an existing sport service model
rather than making inferences to a larger spectator population, makes the
method suitable for the study. The respondents were exposed to the
services, staff and activities in and around the stadium before, during and
after the matches to ascertain total female satisfaction of the sporting event.
The findings showed that female respondents lack opinion of the stadium
employees and staff regarding their reliability and responsiveness. The
investigation found that female spectators are concerned with components of
the service experience other than the core product as no correlation
between the core sport product and female spectator satisfaction.
Keywords: Sport service quality, satisfaction, female spectators.
*Professor Johannes Arnoldus Wiid, Department of Marketing and Retail Management, University of
South Africa, South Africa. Email: Jwiid@unisa.ac.za
**Professor Michael Colin Cant, Department of Marketing and Retail Management, University of South
Africa, South Africa. Email: cantmc@unisa.ac.za
***Catherine Mpolokeng Sephapo, Department of Marketing and Retail Management, University of
South Africa, South Africa. Email: sephacm@unisa.ac.za
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