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<strong>ASAC</strong> <strong>2010</strong><br />

<strong>Regina</strong>, <strong>Saskatchewan</strong><br />

<strong>Xiaoyan</strong> <strong>Xing</strong><br />

<strong>Faculty</strong> <strong>of</strong> Management<br />

Laurentian University, Canada<br />

Ping Yang<br />

Capital Institute <strong>of</strong> P.E., China<br />

Norm O’Reilly<br />

David Falk Center for Sport Management<br />

Syracuse University<br />

PARTICIPANT MOTIVATIONS TO ATTEND AN AEROBICS EVENT IN CHINA:<br />

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES ACROSS SEGMENTS AND PREDICTORS OF EVENT<br />

SATISFACTION AND FUTURE ATTENDANCE INTENTION<br />

A survey was conducted among participants (n=174) at a national<br />

Aerobics event in China. Beard and Ragheb’s (1983) Leisure<br />

Motivation Scale was revised for the cultural and sport contexts.<br />

Results reveal six motivational factors for participation. The findings<br />

point to culture and subculture characteristics in sport participation.<br />

The International Association for the Study <strong>of</strong> Obesity (IASO) notes the increasingly sedentary<br />

lifestyles <strong>of</strong> youth in developed countries around the globe as supported by the drastic rise in obesity and<br />

diabetes (IASO, 2008). These trends, and others, have led governments and organizations to increase their<br />

efforts to promote active lifestyles (James & Johnston, 2004). Consequently, research in related areas <strong>of</strong><br />

health, including sport participation, has been drawn upon to develop polices, programs and strategies.<br />

Although sport varies in its composition and culture from country to country, promoting sport<br />

participation through policy initiatives such as sport for all is an important global effort that is sponsored<br />

and endorsed by major international sports organizations (e.g., International Olympic Committee), health<br />

organizations (e.g., World Health Organization), and national governments (cf. International Olympic<br />

Committee, 2009; World Health Organization, 2003). In North America, nearly 85 million <strong>of</strong> the 205.9<br />

million adults in the United States participated in sport and physical activities and spent an estimated<br />

US$73.3 billion on sport consumption in 2002 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004-2005), while in Canada, 7.3<br />

million people participate in sport spending CDN$15.8 billion annually on related consumption (Statistics<br />

Canada, 2008; Heritage Canada, 2008). These numbers demonstrate the large consumer base for<br />

participatory sport events which exists in North America and, by extension, developed countries <strong>of</strong> the<br />

world. Coupled with government and organization support (James & Johnston, 2004), opportunities to<br />

increase sport participation are considerable. In this regard, it is essential that the governments and<br />

organizations charged with developing and delivering sport policies, programs and events in order to<br />

increase sport participation in their respective jurisdictions must cater to the needs <strong>of</strong> current and potential<br />

participants (i.e., a marketing approach). Indeed, past research has empirically demonstrated that sport<br />

programs adapted to target groups with different skill levels and behavioral characteristics are conducive<br />

to enhance participation and deliver the physical, social, and psychological benefits associated with sport<br />

participation (Green, 1997).<br />

1


A variety <strong>of</strong> strongly supported theories <strong>of</strong> human behavior exist that outline why and how<br />

certain actions occur. As suggested by Berger et al. (2008) in their work on urban youth sport<br />

participation, future research and strategic intervention need to build on previous strategic frameworks <strong>of</strong><br />

social marketing (i.e., behavior change). One such theory (see Rothschild, 1999) outlines that achieving<br />

behavior change in the target individual is constrained by three factors: motivation, opportunity and<br />

ability. One <strong>of</strong> the eight target market scenarios identified by Rothschild is when the target is not<br />

motivated to partake in the sought behavior but has the opportunity and the ability to behave, so<br />

motivation is the key driver. Adapting this scenario to the case <strong>of</strong> sport participation behavior, implies<br />

that when (i) the available facilities and external environment are conducive to sport participation<br />

(‘opportunity’) and (ii) the support network – parents, peers, coaches, teachers, etc. – to participate are in<br />

place (‘ability’), the participant’s (or potential participant’s) motivation to behave becomes the pivotal<br />

aspect. Thus, enhancing motivation to participate in sport is the general area <strong>of</strong> focus <strong>of</strong> this research<br />

paper.<br />

In addition to the theoretical justification to look at sport participation from a marketing<br />

perspective, there is a practitioner argument as well. As noted by Green (1997; 2005), in order to develop<br />

effective sport programs and events, it is necessary to understand the motivations that drive sport<br />

participation. Previous research has provided considerable knowledge in the area. A substantial amount <strong>of</strong><br />

work has been done that examines why people travel to attend sport events (e.g., Crompton & McKay,<br />

1997; Green, & Chalip, 1998; Nadeau et al., 2008) and pursue leisure activities (e.g., Beard & Ragheb,<br />

1983; Manfredo & Driver, 1996; Mannell & Iso-Ahola, 1987; Skar, Odden, & Vistad, 2008). Notably, the<br />

work <strong>of</strong> Beard and Ragheb is considered seminal in the area and much follow-up research and application<br />

has resulted. Based on an extensive review <strong>of</strong> the previous work, they (Beard & Ragheb, 1983) grouped<br />

leisure motivations along four dimensions: intellectual motivation, social motivation, stimulus-avoidance<br />

motivation, and competence-mastery motivation. The intellectual dimension posits that people engage in<br />

leisure activities because these activities allow them to learn, to discover, to imagine, and to create. In<br />

terms <strong>of</strong> the social dimension, it is believed that leisure activities meet the needs for friendship and the<br />

esteem <strong>of</strong> others. Regarding the competence-mastery dimension, participation in leisure activities renders<br />

a sense <strong>of</strong> achievement, challenge, mastery, and competition. Finally, the stimulus-avoidance dimension<br />

has to do with escaping from life situations and social contacts, and to seek rest and to unwind.<br />

These dimensions are germane to the reasons why people participate in sport events (Filo, Funk,<br />

& O’Brien, 2008) and have been extensively used across a wide variety <strong>of</strong> leisure activities and settings<br />

(Kim & Chalip, 2004; Mohsin, 2005; Staempfi, 2007). However, one limitation <strong>of</strong> the Beard and<br />

Ragheb’s dimensional leisure motivation structure is that it was derived from studies taking place in<br />

Western cultures (i.e. Europe and North America), leaving some uncertainty around its applicability in the<br />

rapidly developing Eastern cultures. There exists empirical evidence supporting that it may not be directly<br />

applicable in these contexts. For example, Kay and Mannell (1990) found six factors when administering<br />

the scale to a group <strong>of</strong> female Chinese Canadians whereas a five solution structure was obtained when<br />

assessing the leisure motivations <strong>of</strong> Japanese managers in the U.K (Murray & Nakajima, 1999). Based on<br />

this uncertainty, this paper seeks to better understand participants’ motivation to attend a sport event in an<br />

Eastern culture.<br />

2


Research Focus<br />

Currently, a gap exists in the sport management literature around participant motivations and<br />

compositions (segments) in leisure or recreational sport in non-Western countries. As outlined in the<br />

introduction, in order to understand why participants in Eastern cultures participate in sport, a requisite<br />

step is to identify the motives for participation. Specifically, this research will seek 1) to expand our<br />

understanding <strong>of</strong> the various motivations <strong>of</strong> sport participation in Eastern cultures, (2) from a market<br />

segmentation perspective, to compare motivational characteristics across group participants, and (3) to<br />

identify key factors that affect participation satisfaction and future attendance intention to a sport event in<br />

an Eastern culture. In order to address these three issues, this study will survey the motivations,<br />

identification with a sport subculture, satisfaction levels, intention for future attendance, and level <strong>of</strong><br />

physical activeness <strong>of</strong> the participants in an aerobics competition series in China. Three particular<br />

research questions are put forward.<br />

1. What are the motives and dimensions for participants who had decided to attend an aerobics<br />

event in an Eastern culture (China)<br />

2. What are the similarities and differences in sport subculture identification, participation<br />

motivations, and physical activeness level <strong>of</strong> the participants competing in different categories (or<br />

segments)<br />

3. How does identification with the aerobics subculture, motivational dimensions, and physical<br />

activeness level affect the participants’ satisfaction toward the event, and their intent to attend the<br />

event in the future<br />

Method<br />

The methodology followed is described here, including descriptions <strong>of</strong> the event, its participants<br />

and the measures used to address the three research questions.<br />

The event. The Chinese National Aerobics Competition is an event that has been held annually<br />

since 2003. It is sanctioned and organized by the Chinese Aerobics Association in order to promote<br />

grassroots participation in aerobics. Qualification events at the local and regional levels are held from<br />

September to December each year. The finalists then are able to enter the national competition which is<br />

held annually in late December. The national event typically draws around 1,500 participants competing<br />

in the four categories <strong>of</strong> middle school students, college students, employees, and senior.<br />

Participants. Participants were recruited for this study by the second author. In total, 174 participants<br />

in the regional qualification event in Beijing took part in the study. The Beijing event was held in 2009,<br />

as a qualifying event for the 6 th National Aerobics Competition. The participants were largely female<br />

(84.5%) with ages ranging from 11 years to 68 years (Mean=30StdDev=14.5). Thirty one participants<br />

were middle school student, 35 college students, 65 employees, and 41 seniors. The sample is considered<br />

representative because the demographic characteristics resemble the population attending the event.<br />

Measurements. Beard and Ragheb’s (1983) Leisure Motivation Scale was adapted for an aerobics<br />

event in China. This adaptation involved three steps. First, the 48 items in the Leisure Motivation Scale<br />

were translated to Chinese by the first author who is bilingual. Second, the second author who is also<br />

bilingual reviewed the translation to make sure that the translation was <strong>of</strong> high quality English and<br />

idiomatic in Chinese. Disagreements were fully discussed and the translations were revised until<br />

3


consensus was reached. Second, the authors examined each item to assess its suitability for describing the<br />

Chinese participants’ motives. Items deemed inappropriate were removed. Items not included in Beard<br />

and Ragheb’s scale but that were important and salient in describing the Chinese participants’ motivations<br />

were added and worded in a consistent fashion to the survey and the event. Third, the items were<br />

reviewed by two aerobic experts in China, who were instructed to assess whether the items captured the<br />

meanings sought and that they were applicable for the Chinese aerobics participants. Items deemed<br />

inappropriate by both experts were removed.<br />

The resulting scale included 6 items for the intellectual component, 6 items for the social<br />

component, and 9 items for the competence-mastery component. Since participation in sport events<br />

differs from engagement in leisure activities, 4 items from Beard and Ragheb’s stimulus-avoidance<br />

component were included to reflect the escape/adjustment part <strong>of</strong> the component. Two additional<br />

components arose from event, sport, and cultural contexts: 3 items form a sport-specific component that<br />

assesses the extent to which the participants are motivated to attend the event because <strong>of</strong> their relationship<br />

with aerobics as a sport, and 3 items consist <strong>of</strong> a group representation component that assesses the extent<br />

to which the participants are motivated to attend the event because the participation enables them to<br />

represent their respective organization. All <strong>of</strong> these items are depicted in Table 1 below.<br />

Table 1 List <strong>of</strong> motivational items<br />

Component/Item<br />

Intellectual<br />

to expand my interests.<br />

to be creative.<br />

to use my imagination.<br />

to make things more meaningful to me.<br />

to expand my knowledge.<br />

to learn about myself.<br />

Competence-Mastery<br />

to gain a feeling <strong>of</strong> achievement.<br />

to see what my abilities are.<br />

to challenge my abilities.<br />

to test my skill and ability in aerobics.<br />

to be active.<br />

to develop physical skills and abilities.<br />

to keep in shape physically.<br />

to develop physical fitness.<br />

to exercise.<br />

Aerobics<br />

because I like the sport <strong>of</strong> aerobics.<br />

because aerobics is easy to learn.<br />

because aerobics are not demanding on the<br />

physical skills.<br />

Component/Item<br />

Social<br />

to gain a feeling <strong>of</strong> belonging.<br />

to gain other’s respect.<br />

because attending the event and winning prizes will<br />

make others think highly <strong>of</strong> me.<br />

to meet new and different people.<br />

to build friendships with others.<br />

Because it is fun to be with a large group <strong>of</strong> people.<br />

Adjustment/Escape<br />

to relax mentally.<br />

to enrich my life.<br />

to avoid the hustles and bustles <strong>of</strong> daily activities.<br />

because preparing the event <strong>of</strong>fers me a justifiable<br />

excuse not to work/study.<br />

Group Representation<br />

to bring glory to my organization.<br />

because I represent my organization/school<br />

to win prizes.<br />

In order to gauge the participants’ sport subculture identification, two sub-constructs (aerobics<br />

subculture self identity and aerobics subculture social identity) were measured. Five items from Shamir’s<br />

4


(1992) Leisure Identity Salience scale were used to measure the participants’ aerobics subculture self<br />

identity. The participants were asked to rate, on a scale from 1 to 7, whether practicing aerobics is<br />

important to their self-feeling, affirms their values, allows them to express themselves, enables them to<br />

realize their aspirations, and contributes to their self-esteems. Four items from Callero’s (1985) Social<br />

Commitment Scale were included to measure the participants’ social identity <strong>of</strong> practicing aerobics. The<br />

participants were asked to rate their agreement with four statements on a 7-point scale with 1 being<br />

strongly disagree and 7 being strongly agree. The four statements were: (i) people think that aerobics is<br />

important to me, (ii) it is important to my friends and relatives that I continue to practice aerobics, (iii)<br />

many people would probably be disappointed if I just decided to stop practicing aerobics, and (iv) many<br />

<strong>of</strong> the people that I know expect me to continue practicing aerobics. Finally, Voss, Parasuraman, and<br />

Grewal’s (1998) four-item satisfaction scale was used to measure the participants’ satisfaction toward the<br />

event. The participants were asked to report the average time (no less than 30 minutes) <strong>of</strong> exercise each<br />

week and practicing aerobics each week. Also included in the survey were questions that seek to learn<br />

participants’ intentions to attend the event next year and their demographic characteristics.<br />

Data analysis. Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) were conducted to test the dimensionality <strong>of</strong><br />

the participation motives. ANOVA analyses were applied to compare the differences across participants<br />

groups. And regression analyses with stepwise methods were used to test effects <strong>of</strong> identification with the<br />

sport, participation motivations, and physical activeness level on satisfaction toward the event, and future<br />

attendance intention.<br />

Results<br />

Findings associated with each research question are presented in this section.<br />

Participation Motivations. The first research question considers the participation motives and<br />

dimensions <strong>of</strong> these motives to attend the aerobics event. The descriptive statistics <strong>of</strong> the motives were<br />

first determined. Further, given the relatively small sample size (n=174, including questionnaires with<br />

missing values) in relation to the number <strong>of</strong> motive items (31), the dimensionality <strong>of</strong> each <strong>of</strong> the<br />

motivation components was examined individually. EFA, with Varimax rotations and Eigenvalue greater<br />

than 1, was used to examine whether items in each component were loaded on the dimension as expected.<br />

If the items were loaded on more than one dimension, an additional EFA was conducted to group the<br />

items. The choices <strong>of</strong> groupings were guided by literature in sport consumption, the content <strong>of</strong> the items,<br />

and the results <strong>of</strong> the analysis. The findings are shown below in Table 2.<br />

Table 2 Results about participation motivations<br />

Component/Item Means Loadings<br />

Intellectual<br />

to expand my interests.<br />

to be creative.<br />

to use my imagination.<br />

to make things more meaningful to me.<br />

to expand my knowledge.<br />

to learn about myself.<br />

6.29<br />

5.36<br />

4.79<br />

6.19<br />

6.12<br />

5.01<br />

.588<br />

.740<br />

.817<br />

.729<br />

.636<br />

.802<br />

Social<br />

to gain a feeling <strong>of</strong> belonging.<br />

to gain other’s respect.<br />

4.36<br />

4.20<br />

.795<br />

.789<br />

Eigenvalue: 3.140<br />

% <strong>of</strong> Variance:<br />

52.326<br />

Alpha: .816<br />

Eigenvalue: 3.792<br />

% <strong>of</strong> Variance:<br />

63.193<br />

5


ecause attending the event and winning prizes will make<br />

others think highly <strong>of</strong> me.<br />

to meet new and different people.<br />

to build friendships with others.<br />

because it is fun to be with a large group <strong>of</strong> people.<br />

Competence-Mastery<br />

to gain a feeling <strong>of</strong> achievement.<br />

to see what my abilities are.<br />

to challenge my abilities.<br />

to test my skill and ability in aerobics.<br />

to be active.<br />

to develop physical skills and abilities.<br />

to keep in shape physically.<br />

to develop physical fitness.<br />

to exercise.<br />

Group Representation<br />

to bring glory to my organization.<br />

because I represent my organization/school<br />

to win prizes.<br />

Sport and Life Enjoyment<br />

to relax mentally.<br />

to enrich my life.<br />

because I like the sport <strong>of</strong> aerobics.<br />

Sport and Negative Escape<br />

to avoid the hustles and bustles <strong>of</strong> daily activities.<br />

because preparing the event <strong>of</strong>fers me a justifiable excuse not<br />

to work/study.<br />

because aerobics is easy to learn.<br />

because aerobics are not demanding on the physical skills.<br />

3.75<br />

4.82<br />

5.58<br />

5.35<br />

4.79<br />

5.52<br />

5.96<br />

4.95<br />

5.94<br />

6.25<br />

5.39<br />

5.94<br />

6.40<br />

5.56<br />

3.65<br />

3.20<br />

4.84<br />

6.20<br />

6.34<br />

1.99<br />

1.59<br />

2.40<br />

2.80<br />

.794<br />

.849<br />

.760<br />

.780<br />

.620<br />

.801<br />

.736<br />

.778<br />

.865<br />

.782<br />

.712<br />

.791<br />

.744<br />

.658<br />

.821<br />

.847<br />

.711<br />

.862<br />

.703<br />

.767<br />

.641<br />

.791<br />

.788<br />

Alpha: .882<br />

Eigenvalue: 5.220<br />

% <strong>of</strong> Variance:<br />

58.004<br />

Alpha: .899<br />

Eigenvalue: 1.825<br />

% <strong>of</strong> Variance:<br />

60.824<br />

Alpha: .676<br />

Eigenvalue: 1.744<br />

% <strong>of</strong> Variance:<br />

58.140<br />

Alpha: .614<br />

Eigenvalue: 2.246<br />

% <strong>of</strong> Variance:<br />

56.151<br />

Alpha: .738<br />

The results presented in Table 1 support that three motivational components (intellectual, social,<br />

and competence-mastery) are consistent with the Beard and Ragheb’ (1983) conceptualization. Six items<br />

in the intellectual motivation component loaded on one dimension with factor loadings ranging from .588<br />

to .817. The items had high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=.816), and explained 52.3% <strong>of</strong> the<br />

variance. These results support that event participants attended the event, in part, to seek intellectual<br />

significance such as being creative, stimulating imagination, expanding interest and knowledge, and<br />

creating meanings through activities associated with attending the event. Six items in the social<br />

motivation component loaded on one dimension with factor loadings ranging from .760 to .849. The<br />

items had satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=.882), and explained 63.2% <strong>of</strong> the variance.<br />

In this case, the results support that one <strong>of</strong> the key reasons why participants were attracted to the event is<br />

because it enabled them to socialize with others through making friends, and meeting people, and to<br />

reinforce self-esteem through achieving a sense <strong>of</strong> belongingness and gaining respects. Nine items in the<br />

competency-mastery motivation component loaded on one dimension with factor loadings ranging<br />

from .620 to .865. The items had satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=.899), and<br />

explained 58.0% <strong>of</strong> the variance. An examination <strong>of</strong> the item contents shows that the study respondents<br />

believed that they were able to test their skill and ability in aerobics through participating in the event.<br />

The acquirement <strong>of</strong> these skills rendered a feeling <strong>of</strong> mastery and the competency developed was closely<br />

6


associated with one’s physical fitness level. In other words, the respondents were oriented to the healthy<br />

benefits in mastering aerobic skills and developing physical abilities when attending the event.<br />

The three items in the group representation motivation component loaded as expected. The factor<br />

loadings ranged from .658 to .847. The items explained 60.8% <strong>of</strong> the variance. Nonetheless, the items did<br />

not achieve satisfactory internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha=.676). In general terms, these<br />

results support that participants were motivated to attend the event because it allows them to represent<br />

their group and boost group esteem through winning prizes.<br />

The aerobics component and the adjustment/escape component were found to form two new<br />

dimensions. The dimensionalities <strong>of</strong> these items were tested both separately and together (i.e., items for<br />

both dimensions were entered in one EFA). Both methods yielded the same results. Only the results from<br />

the individual EFAs were presented in Table 2. The first derivative dimension includes the reasons<br />

participants attended the event: (i) to relax mentally, (ii) to enrich life, and (iii) because one likes the sport<br />

<strong>of</strong> aerobics. A close examination <strong>of</strong> the item contents reveals that this dimension is based on the<br />

enjoyment <strong>of</strong> practicing aerobics and the activity as a beneficial addition in one’s life. This dimension<br />

was thus named sport and life enjoyment. The factor loadings <strong>of</strong> the three items range from .703 to .711.<br />

They explain 58.1% <strong>of</strong> the variance. However, their internal consistency liability is less than satisfactory<br />

(Cronbach’s alpha=.614).<br />

The second derivative dimension includes four items why participants attend the event, which are:<br />

(i) to avoid the hustles and bustles <strong>of</strong> daily activities, (ii) because preparing for the event <strong>of</strong>fers one a<br />

justifiable excuse not to work and/or study, (iii) because aerobics is easy to learn, and (iv) because<br />

aerobics are not physically demanding. This factor was named sport and negative escape which is the<br />

opposite to the enjoyment dimension which denotes that one approaches sport in order to enrich life rather<br />

than use sport as an escape from life. The factor loadings <strong>of</strong> the four items range from .641 to .791, and<br />

explain 56.2% <strong>of</strong> the variance. Their internal consistency reliability is somewhat poor (Cronbach’s<br />

alpha=.738). It is noteworthy that the means <strong>of</strong> the four items were all below the 3.5 mid-point ranging<br />

from 1.99 to 2.80, meaning that the participants, on average, disagree with both the statements that (i)<br />

they attended the event for the purpose <strong>of</strong> escape and (ii) they chose aerobics because it is easy and not<br />

physically demanding.<br />

Group differences. The second research question sought to identify the similarities and<br />

differences in sub-culture identification, participation motivations, and physical activeness level for the<br />

participants competing in different categories. Initial statistical analyses indicate that participants in the<br />

four categories (middle school students, college students, employees, and senior) differed significantly in<br />

age, education, and income (p ≤ .001). Further, these groups also differ in organizational contexts as they<br />

represent their respective organizations (i.e., middle school, college or university, company or<br />

organization for the employee group, and self-sponsored and <strong>of</strong>ten community-based in the case <strong>of</strong> senior<br />

participants). These social, economic, and demographic factors may affect the participants’ aerobics<br />

subculture self identity and social identity, event participation motivations, exercise and aerobics practice<br />

levels. ANOVA analyses were conducted to discern these differences across groups. As shown in Table 2,<br />

items corresponding to each motivational component were loaded uni-dimensionally. Another EFA<br />

confirmed that the five aerobics subculture self identity items formed one factor and the four aerobics<br />

subculture social identity items formed a separate factor. Consequently, to simplify the analysis and<br />

enhance parsimony, aggregate scores summing item scores in self-identity, social identity, and<br />

motivational components were used. he groups were similar in social identity, sport and negative escape<br />

motivation, sport and life enjoyment motivation, social motivation, and intellectual motivation, significant<br />

differences exist in self identity, group representation motivation, and exercise and aerobics practice<br />

levels. Specifically, the senior participants had significantly higher subculture self-identity compared to<br />

7


college students (P=.040) and employee participants (P=.008). In terms <strong>of</strong> group representation<br />

motivation, the employee participants scored significantly higher than the middle school student group<br />

(P=.003), college student group (P=.001), and senior group (P=.000). Further, both middle school and<br />

college students exercised more compared to employee group (P=.005 for middle school student group,<br />

and P=.000 for college student group) and senior participants (P=.029 for middle school student group,<br />

and P=.000 for college student group). Finally, middle school students practiced more aerobics compared<br />

to the other three groups (P=.000), and the college students also practiced more aerobics compared to the<br />

employee group (P=.021).<br />

Satisfaction towards the event and future attendance intention. The third research question<br />

examined the extent to which participants’ identification with the aerobics subculture, their participation<br />

motivations, and their exercise and aerobics practice levels affect their satisfaction toward the event, and<br />

their future attendance intention. Regression analyses were conducted to attempt to respond to this<br />

question. Aerobic subculture self-identity, social identity, the six motivational components, and exercise<br />

and aerobics practice levels were entered as predictors, and the dependent variables were set as,<br />

respectively, satisfaction toward the event and future event attendance attention. Because the predictors<br />

were correlated (i.e., the highest correlate coefficient is .796 between intellectual motivation and masterycompetency<br />

motivation), it was necessary to control colinearity and, as such, stepwise regression was<br />

used.<br />

In terms <strong>of</strong> satisfaction toward the event, it was found that sport and life enjoyment motivation<br />

and aerobics subculture social identity were significant predictors and other predictors were excluded<br />

from the model. The model explains 28.6% (adjusted R square) <strong>of</strong> the variance. Both sport and life<br />

enjoyment motivation and social identity positively affect participants’ satisfaction toward the event<br />

(Beta=.397 for enjoyment, and Beta=.269 for social identity).<br />

In terms <strong>of</strong> future event attendance intention, four predictors were found to be significant. These<br />

predictors are sport and life enjoyment motivation (Beta=.383), aerobics practice level (Beta=.302), group<br />

representation (Beta=.345), and sport and negative escape motivation (Beta=-.215). Thus, the higher the<br />

enjoyment motivation, aerobics practice level, and group representation motivation, the more likely the<br />

participants will attend the event next year. On the other hand, the higher the sport and negative escape<br />

motivation, the lower the likeliness that the respondent will return next year. The resulting model is<br />

responsible for 25.5% (adjusted R square) <strong>of</strong> the variance.<br />

Discussion<br />

It is well established that event participation motivations are contextually and culturally specific.<br />

This research sought to further explore participation motivations in the context <strong>of</strong> a specific event held in<br />

China. In this study, event participants entered an aerobics event in China in an effort to represent their<br />

respective work/school/community groups in competition. Most were motivated to win prizes and bring<br />

glory to their group. Indeed, the extent to which the event allows the participants to represent their group<br />

has a statistically discernable effect on their future attendance intention. This has implications for event<br />

managers and marketers in that affiliation to a group needs to be emphasized. Practically, tactics such as<br />

emphasizing each participant’s membership to their group, including group representations on schedules<br />

and results, and <strong>of</strong>fering team/group level awards are examples <strong>of</strong> ways for practitioners to take<br />

advantage <strong>of</strong> this finding.<br />

8


The participants’ relationships with the specific sport also play an important role in their<br />

participation motivations. Notably, participant interests in aerobics, mental relaxation, and life enrichment<br />

loaded together. On the other hand, one factor was formed from (i) practicing aerobics because it is easy<br />

to learn and since it is not demanding on physical skills and (ii) escaping from daily routines, school, and<br />

work. Interestingly, this finding supports that participants form different relationships with the sport they<br />

are participating in. This, in turn, may orient these individuals to seek different benefits from participating<br />

in a particular sport event. For example, those who are attracted to the nature <strong>of</strong> aerobics, attending the<br />

aerobics competition could provide the benefits <strong>of</strong> relaxation and life enrichment, while those who picked<br />

the sport because it is easy to learn and physically less demanding, the benefits may be passive in the<br />

form <strong>of</strong> escaping from one’s mundane life. This has particular implications for both future research<br />

(exploring the participant-sport ‘fit’) and practice (target marketing for potential participants based on<br />

certain characteristics, for example).<br />

Results further indicate that a high level in sport and life enjoyment motivation is required in<br />

order to obtain a satisfactory event experience. In other words, although the opportunity to escape<br />

provided by attending the event constitutes a motivation for the event attendees, the escape motivation<br />

does not augment satisfaction. In order to deliver a satisfying attendance experience it is necessary for<br />

organisers to nurture a genuine interest in the sport, as well as provide an all-around holistic experience<br />

for participants so they can truly feel that they have ‘escaped’ from normal life during the event<br />

experience. This has both practical and research implications. Managers and marketers <strong>of</strong> sport events<br />

need to segment, assess and position their events with interest and sport-based objectives. Similarly,<br />

future research should examine how sport participants perceive a sport and how their views on the sport<br />

affect their sport consumption experience and outcomes in order to inform the development <strong>of</strong> practices<br />

and programs that enhance participation satisfaction and improve retention.<br />

Similarities and differences in motivation, subculture identification, and activeness levels are also<br />

indicative <strong>of</strong> the need for market segmentation in promoting sport participation. In terms <strong>of</strong> event<br />

attendance motivation, the groups did not differ in most <strong>of</strong> the motivations except the group<br />

representation motivation. While there are some universal appeals, participant-oriented contextual<br />

variations give rise to motivations specific to a culture or a sub-group within a culture. Compared to the<br />

Western culture, the Chinese culture is <strong>of</strong>ten considered as a collectivist culture. In addition, substantial<br />

variations <strong>of</strong>ten exist within a culture. Results indicate that substantial heterogeneity exists within the<br />

Chinese culture when the collectivist orientation is expressed in aerobics event participation. This finding<br />

demonstrates that the employee group’s representation motivation was significantly higher than the other<br />

three groups. A few factors may contribute to this difference. First, substantial research provides evidence<br />

<strong>of</strong> a global trend that argues that younger generations are more individualistic. This may explain, in part,<br />

why the student groups were not highly motivated to compete for their schools at the event. Second, for<br />

the senior group, the close relationship with the work unit was severed after retirement, thus, the social<br />

context may weaken their group representation motivation. Bringing it together, it can be concluded that<br />

both generational and contextual factors affect motivational levels on segments within a culture. This,<br />

again, strongly points to the importance <strong>of</strong> market segmentation as a tool for practitioners and as an area<br />

<strong>of</strong> future research need.<br />

In summary, the results revealed that the aerobic subculture self identity was particularly salient<br />

to the senior group. It is likely that since aerobics are not commonly practiced among the senior age group,<br />

there is a higher threshold to overcome when attending the aerobics event. On the other hand, aerobics<br />

subculture social identity was a significant predictor <strong>of</strong> satisfaction toward the event participation across<br />

groups. Hence, fostering a supportive social environment which project other’s favorite views on<br />

practicing a sport in the participants’ minds may be effective in enhancing their satisfaction toward the<br />

event and continuing to practicing the sport.<br />

9


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