The Antecedents of Tourists’ Behavioral Intentions at Sporting Events: The Case of South Korea

Yunduk Jeong, Andrew Yu and Suk-Kyu Kim
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Yunduk Jeong: Department of Sport Management, Kyonggi University, Suwon 16277, Korea
Andrew Yu: Cypress College, Cypress, CA 90630, USA
Suk-Kyu Kim: Department of Sports Science, Dongguk University, Gyeongju 38066, Korea

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Mega-sporting events can bring diverse benefits to the hosting areas, such as job creation and image improvement. However, only a handful of studies have explored the antecedents of destination image—which plays a crucial role in eliciting certain tourist behaviors—and personal involvement. To fill this gap, this study evaluates the relationships among personal involvement, destination image, place attachment, and behavioral intentions in the context of sporting event tourism to provide destination managers useful information for sustainable sports tourism development. We gathered information from 374 international tourists at the FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation—International Swimming Federation) World Masters Championships Gwangju 2019 in South Korea. We used structural equation modeling was used along with maximum likelihood estimation to examine the predicted relationships. The findings show the positive impacts of (a) personal involvement on destination image, (b) destination image on place attachment, and (c) place attachment on behavioral intentions. Furthermore, (d) place attachment dictated the relationship between destination image and behavioral intentions. The findings confirm the significant role personal involvement plays in the improvement of a destination’s image. To ensure sustainable sports tourism, destination managers are advised to pay close attention to research findings on destination image in the development of their plans.

Keywords: personal involvement; destination image; place attachment; behavioral intention; sporting event tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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