Leisure constraints experienced by university students in Greece

Submitted by: Amalia Drakou, George Tzetzis, and Kyriaki Mamantzi

ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was (a) to investigate students’ leisure constraints; (b) to identify students’ profiles; and (c) to explore the effects of gender, residence, participation in physical activities, and health habits on the intensity of constraints experienced. Using the scale developed by Alexandris and Caroll (1997), it was observed that students’ perceived their leisure activities to be constrained by, mainly, accessibility and facilities. Analyses of variance employing constraints as the dependent variables, with (a) residence before age 18 and (b) health habits as independent variables, showed, for the dimension “lack of company,” some statistically significant differences between students born and raised in small cities and those born and raised in big cities. Furthermore, students from small cities reported significantly more constraints arising from lack of company during leisure activities. In contrast, in four of the seven constraint dimensions, students who paid much attention to their nutrition habits (i.e., who ate more healthily) perceived fewer constraints on leisure activities than did students paying no attention to nutrition. Providing leisure and sport education, inculcating positive attitudes about participation, might reduce students’ experience of leisure constraints and should be developed as a strategic marketing effort to involve both private and public sectors, since it is undeniable that an active lifestyle is healthier than a sedentary lifestyle.

INTRODUCTION
Leisure constraints research focuses on investigating factors that inhibit or prohibit participation and enjoyment in leisure (Jackson, 2000). As a scientific field, it belongs to the broader field of leisure studies, and only in the last two decades has it arrived as a distinct field, thanks to systematic research (Jackson, 2005). Studying leisure constraints might lead to both humanitarian and managerial outcomes. From a humanitarian point of view, it would be valuable to understand the reasons underlying the final decision to participate in activities, since participation, even in soft forms of physical activity, has been found to offer various benefits to participants, such as a high level of self-esteem, freedom from some diseases, a high quality of life, and improvement of cardiac health (Strauss, 2000). From a managerial point of view, probing the source of leisure constraints may ultimately help in better organizing and promoting leisure activities. Research may also become valuable in the development of focused leisure policies and strategies for every institute or company that provides organized leisure activities.

Furthermore, a thorough understanding of what keeps people away from physical activities is essential for the identification of appropriate points of intervention to promote active lifestyles and the health benefits they offer (Davison & Lawson, 2006). Additionally, as Larson (2000) noted, leisure is a crucial developmental context for young people and adolescents. From this point of view, investigating leisure constraints among the specific age-based category of young students is vital. Knowledge gained could improve the implementation of leisure services for youth—the future, hopefully healthier, society.

It is valuable to investigate leisure constraints, since they seem to determine to a great degree actual participation in activities (Alecandris, Tsorbatzoudis & Grouios, 2002). Moreover, identifying the strongest constraints may provide information helpful in creating strategies to promote leisure and sport activities. Understanding differences in perceived constraints associated with gender, age, participation, and nutrition habits, should be useful for planning, promoting, and managing organized leisure sport activities.

The present study aimed to (a) identify the leisure constraints experienced by students in Thessaloniki in northern Greece; (b) depict students’ profiles in terms of their health habits; (c) identify the hierarchy of intensity of the experience of constraints; and (d) investigate differences in constraints experienced, by gender, residence, participation in physical activities, and nutrition habits.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Leisure constraints began to be systematically investigated in the 1980s. At that time, they were closely related to participation, presenting “barriers” that existed between a person’s desire to participate actively in a leisure activity and his/her actual participation. (Jackson, 2005) The optic angle changed greatly throughout the 1980s and 1990s (Jackson & Scott, 1999), as the variety of constraints acknowledged to wield an influence grew. This was the outcome of such new methodological approaches as factor analysis and cluster analysis (Hawkins & Freeman, 1993; Norman, 1996; Norman, 1995; Stodolska, 1998).

Constraints, however, are no longer considered the only factors that influence participation. In other words, a person’s experience of constraints does not necessarily lead to non-participation (Jackson, 2005). Crawford and Godbey (1987) distinguished three categories of leisure constraints: (a) intrapersonal constraints, including negative individual psychological states and/or other characteristics of an individual that interact with personal preferences (e.g., self-esteem and perceived physical skills); (b) interpersonal constraints, stemming from interactions and relationships among individuals (e.g., access to partners’ or friends’ company for leisure activities); and (c) structural constraints, which intervene between leisure preferences and participation (e.g., costs of participating and problems with facilities). Crawford and Godbey’s classification of leisure constraints (1987) reflects the dimensionality underlying leisure constraints and has been well supported by subsequent research (Backman, 1991; Henderson, Stalnaker, & Taylor, 1998; Hultsman, 1995; Jackson, 1991).

The hierarchical model by Crawford, Jackson and Godbey (1991), which was based on earlier work by Scott (1991), assigns intrapersonal and interpersonal constraints the strongest influence on formation of leisure habits, relegating structural constraints to a role of least importance. Individuals experience the three types of constraint hierarchically, according to the model, through the participation decision-making process; constraints interact with motivations and preferences and shape the level of participation. Individuals may, however, negotiate their way through constraints, finding ways to participate in the face of them.

Time- and cost-related constraints rank among the most frequent and powerful constraints on leisure activities generally (Jackson, 2005). Walker and Virden (2004) noted that constraints on time are the strongest ones, and the ones most common in relevant studies.

Leisure constraints and gender
Most of the relevant studies (Alexandris & Carroll, 1997; Jackson, 2005; Horna, 1989; Jackson & Henderson, 1995; Rocklynn, 1998) have come to the common conclusion that women face more intense leisure constraints than men, and this results mainly from lack of time. They tend to suggest that women’s place within society, women’s roles and responsibilities, often limit women’s freedom of choice. Furthermore, lack of technical skills, of private transportation, and of financial resources are also experienced by women more intensely than men (Harahoussou, 1996; Harrington & Dawson, 1995).
Leisure constraints, educational level, age and marital status

Leisure constraints have also been found to be related to demographic data other than gender, such as education, age, and marital status (Alexandris & Carroll, 1997; Jackson & Henderson, 1995; Witt & Goodale, 1981). People with more education have been found to experience a lower level of constraints, while older people report greater time constraints and married people report more constraints related to family responsibilities.
Leisure constraints and residence

The direct relationship between leisure constraints and residence has not previously been investigated. However, in a national survey in the United States (Klepeis et al., 1996) concerning energy expenditure for leisure-time physical activity, differences were reported among the country’s regions. Inhabitants of the Pacific region (California, Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii) were more physically active than those of the Central region (Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri), for example.

Leisure constraints and participation in leisure activities
During the process of deciding to participate in leisure activities, experienced constraints may affect individuals’ preferences, interests, and enjoyment derived from participation. Alexandris, Tsorbatzoudis, and Grouios (2002) found that leisure constraints may affect frequency of participation in activities, sometimes leading even to complete non-participation. However, studies exist flatly countering that conclusion (Kay & Jackson, 1991; Scott, 1991). This discrepancy between findings makes the present investigation of leisure constraints and frequency of participation of some importance.
Leisure constraints and nutrition habits

Many studies demonstrate that regular participation in physical activity is part of a healthy lifestyle (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). Physical activity may prevent those diseases fostered by the under-mobility characterizing everyday life; they may also enhance quality of life more generally (Berlin & Colditz, 1998; Blair & Morrow, 1998; Corbin, Lindsey & Welk, 2000). It is also undeniable that healthy nutrition habits are important for good health (Twisk, Van Mechelen, Kemper & Post, 1997; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999).

Nutrition habits have been studied in relation to exercise habits (Pitsavos et al., 2005; Rimal, 2002; Schnohr et al., 2004), establishing that physically active people have healthier nutrition habits than those who are less physically active. However, nutrition habits have not previously been investigated in terms of their relation to leisure constraints. The authors of the present study asked whether constraints experienced on healthful leisure activities might have a negative association with healthy nutrition habits, in a context of a healthy modus vivendi.

Leisure constraints, smoking, and alcohol use
Smoking has also been studied in relation to participation in leisure activities (Schnohr et al., 2000; Theodorakis & Hassandra, 2005). Study results suggest in common that physically active people are less likely to smoke than inactive people, and there are similar findings concerning alcohol use (Krick & Sobal, 1990; Schnohr et al. 2000), in that physically inactive people were found to be relatively likelier to drink heavily. The present study’s direct exploration of a relationship between leisure constraints and smoking and drinking should pinpoint these habits’ roles in decisions about participating (the negotiation process) in activities.

METHOD
Participants and procedure
The present research was conducted among university students in Greece. Self-report questionnaires were distributed at student clubs and in teaching classrooms, between December 2005 and February 2006. Of 380 questionnaires distributed, 320 were returned (a response rate of 84%).

Instrument
Alexandris and Caroll’s scale (1997), which was developed and standardized for the general adult population in Greece, was used to measure experienced (or perceived) constraints. The scale comprises 39 statements, classified in seven dimensions, or constraint categories, about students’ current participation in leisure activities. The seven-point Likert-type scale offers responses ranging from “very important” (1) to “not important” (7). Questions about demographic details followed.

RESULTS
Of the surveyed students, 57.2% were women and 42.8% were men. The mean age was 21.60 years (S.D. = 2.11). As to residence, 33.8% had grown up in one of the two biggest urban centers in Greece, Athens and Thessaloniki, while 18.8% came from cities of no more than 200,000 inhabitants; 18.4% came from cities of no more than 50,000 inhabitants; 17.5% from cities of 25,000 or fewer inhabitants; and 11.6% from cities of 15,000 or fewer inhabitants. Students were asked for information about their nutrition, alcohol consumption, smoking, and drug use. The results are shown in table 1.

Table 1
Health habits

Nutrition	Alcohol	Smoking	Drugs
Always consume healthy food 10.3%	Never drink 17.8%	Non-smoker 71.9%	Never used 90%
Mostly healthy food 34.7%	1 time per month 21.9%	1-3 per day 5.6%	<1 time per month 6.6%
Sometimes healthy food 41.6%	1 time per week 42.2%	4-10 per day 6.9%	1-3 times per month 1.3%
Do not consume healthy food 13.4%	>1 per week 18.1%	11-20 per day 9.7%	1 time per week 2.1%
		>20 per day 5.9%

Students were also asked about their behavior concerning physical activity. More precisely, they were asked how often weekly they visited private gyms, whether they considered themselves to be athletes, how often they participated in university sport programs, and how often they practiced individually. All these questions were referred to weekly participation.

Table 2

Participation in physical activities (hourly totals per week)

	Not at all	1-2 hours	3-4 hours	5-6 hours	>7 hours	Total
Private gyms	76.3%	8.4%	6.6%	4.1%	4.6%	100%
Sport clubs	83.4%	4.1%	4.4%	2.8%	5.3%	100%
University	81.9%	5.3%	5.9%	3.1%	3.8%	100%
Individual	41.9%	37.2%	15.9%	2.5%	2.5%	100%

Descriptive statistics derived from the leisure constraints scale are contained in Table 3, which also presents the results (alpha scores) of reliability testing of each dimension’s measure.
Table 3
Descriptive statistics from scale, including reliability

Dimensions	M	SD	Alpha
Lack of access	3.59	1.76	.77
Lack of facilities	3.92	1.49	.81
Lack of company	4.37	1.50	.78
Lack of time	4.54	1.09	.60
Lack of knowledge	5.00	1.71	.84
Lack of interest	5.33	1.40	.85
Psychological dimension	5.72	1.13	.89

The dimension “lack of access” is perceived as the most important constraint, followed by “lack of facilities” and “lack of company.” The reliability of the dimensions ranges from .60 to .89.

Anova
Students’ residence prior to age 18
The ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences (F4,313=2.52, p<.05) in the dimension “lack of company” based on place of residence before age 18; the post hoc Scheffe test showed that students who had lived in cities of 15,000 citizens (M=3.90) found lack of company to be a more important constraint than did students from the biggest cities (M2 = 4.60).
Nutrition habits

The ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences related to students’ nutrition habits in four out of seven constraint dimensions. The dimensions in which there were significant differences were: (a) lack of time (F3,316 = 4.58, p<.05); (b) psychological dimension (F3,316=6.33, p<.05); (c) lack of company (F3,314=4.69, p<.05); and (d) lack of interest (F3,314=5.44, p<.05). The post hoc Scheffe test revealed that (a) for students who did not pay attention to nutrition and did not consume healthy food (M=4.29), time was a more important constraint than for students who paid much attention to nutrition and consumed healthy food (M=5.08); (b) for students who did not pay attention to nutrition and did not consume healthy food (M1=5.21), the psychological dimension was a more important constraint than for students who paid attention to nutrition and consumed healthy food (M2=6.29); (c) for students who did not pay attention to nutrition and did not consume healthy food (M1=3.74), “lack of company” was a more important constraint than for students who paid attention to nutrition and consumed healthy food (M2=4.76); and (d) for students who did not pay attention to nutrition and did not consume healthy food (M1=4.79), “lack of interest” was a more important constraint than for students who paid attention to nutrition and consumed healthy food (M2=5.71). No statistically significant differences were seen according to gender or to weekly sport participation.

DISCUSSION

Students’ profile
The majority of the students in the sample were undergraduate men beginning the third decade of life. Most were born and had grown up in cities of more than 200,000 inhabitants; they were largely non-smokers and mainly social drinkers. They tended to give little or no attention to nutrition habits. As far as participation in physical activities, the majority did not participate in university leisure or sports programs, nor were they active athletes at sport clubs. However, almost one-third of them did regularly visit private gyms, and most spent from one to seven or more hours per week in individually organized physical activities. These results seem to be in accord with similar studies (Pitsavos et al., 2005; Rimal, 2002; Schnohr et al., 2004), in that physically active people have previously been found to have more healthy nutrition habits than physically inactive people.

Leisure constraints
In the present study, “lack of access” was the dimension deemed their most important constraint by the students. Perceived “lack of facilities” was the second most important constraint, and “lack of company” was the third. This finding accords with findings of previous studies, throughout which these three dimensions usually constitute the most important factors preventing people from participating in leisure activities (Alexandris & Carroll, 1997; Alexandris & Carroll, 1999).

A possible explanation for the importance of “lack of access” is that students lack opportunity to participate in physical activities close to home, since most live in the center of a city. Transportation often demands time, with traffic jams a daily problem in, for example, Thessaloniki. In addition, students, especially those living in Thessaloniki on a temporary basis, to study, typically do not own cars. By its unpunctuality, furthermore, public transportation apparently discourages students from using it.

The finding concerning lack of facilities may reflect the low quality of some sport and leisure facilities, including overcrowding. Studies conducted in Greek environments have showed that leisure services, especially in public and municipal facilities, are not satisfying, mainly due to insufficient promotion of sport and leisure activities for all (Alexandris & Carroll, 1999). As Alexandris (1998) noted, insufficient sport facilities and limited opportunities in leisure programs are often responsible for low participation.

Facilities-related problems also give an idea of how students feel about university facilities and programs. One statement from the instrument, “I do not like activities that are offered in organized programs,” was indicated by the students to be a significant constraint; they report preferring individual activities in high-quality facilities, according to the descriptive statistics.

Finally, “lack of company,” the third most important dimension of constraint in this study, may be explained by the generic phenomenon of isolation, which seems stronger in big cities. However, the finding may also reflect the fact that, after all, young people prefer other kinds of activities in their free time, despite declaring that they would participate in physical activities if accompanied by a companion. As Aittasalo, Miilunpalo, and Suni (2003) pointed out, in technologically developed countries, a sedentary lifestyle is adopted by more and more people.

The dimension “lack of time,” which is characterized as the most common and strongest constraint by Jackson (2005), in this study ranks only fourth in the hierarchy of intensity. In other words, one might argue that students do not experience time as a strong constraint on their leisure activities. A reason may be that students’ daytime programs comprise studying and attending lectures only some of which are compulsory. Therefore, students have more free time than those adults who are already in the labor market.

Regarding residence before age 18, students from towns of no more than 15,000 inhabitants experienced the constraint “lack of company” more intensely than did students who came from the two biggest cities in Greece. In other words, it was more common among students born and raised in small communities to feel a lack of friends or partners for leisure activity companionship. This is straightforward. People from small communities have more opportunity to develop friendly relations and interactions with people than do city dwellers. When they move to a bigger city (as many students in the sample had, in order to attend college), such people experience “lack of company” comparatively intensely.

Regarding students’ nutrition habits, the statistically significant differences that were observed distinguished “students who paid much attention to their nutrition by always consuming healthy food” from “students who did not pay any attention at all to their nutrition habits.” More precisely, students who paid attention to nutrition experienced leisure constraints at a lower level than students unconcerned with the food they consumed. It seems, then, that students who take care of themselves in terms of diet do the same in terms of physical activity, their approach counterbalancing any constraints experienced. As Twisk et al. (1997) pointed out, physical activity and diet are two important components of contemporary life. Healthy food and regular participation in leisure activities, or physical activities of soft form, seem to play an important part in good health. While nutrition habits have previously been studied in relation to participation in physical activities (Pitsavos et al., 2005; Schnohr et al., 2004; Rimal, 2002), the results of the present study represent a more sensitive approach and lead to the conclusion that people with healthy nutrition habits feel less constrained in their leisure physical activities than do people unmindful of their nutrition habits.

The portion of this study examining smoking and drinking in a context of leisure constraints showed no statistically significant differences between smokers/drinkers and non-smokers/non-drinkers. However, it has been found that smoking and drinking can affect leisure participation (Krick & Sobal, 1990; Schnohr et al., 2000; Theodorakis & Hassandra, 2005). The “bad” habits of smoking and alcohol use do not seem strong enough to affect constraints; they affect actual participation, but not the beginning of decision making, where negotiation plays a part.

The novelty of the current study lies in the fact that it directly links leisure constraints to nutrition habits. So far, nutrition habits have been examined for their relevance to actual participation. One could argue that this finding highlights even more clearly the important role that healthy nutrition habits can play in a balanced, high-quality life.

The fact that most of the students did not participate in university leisure and sport programs should, first of all, put university leisure and sport program providers on alert. Students experienced problems with facilities; overcrowding might mean facilities were inadequate to cover students’ needs, or perhaps that there were some very popular activities. University leisure providers should pinpoint student needs and preferences, then redesign their programs as necessary. This could be achieved with such marketing tools as SWOT analysis, which focuses on gathering data about potential participants and describing their needs.

Of course, students’ characteristic preference for individually organized activities might be another indication of the social alienation that people experience and/or prefer in big cities. This is an important issue, though one beyond the authors’ scope. Access to sport facilities seems to be another constraint for students. It is in part an issue of urban planning concerning local authorities and public transportation officials; but as far as universities are concerned, student buses could be provided to transport students from a department or other central point on campus, to exercise facilities or sites for outdoor recreation.

In conclusion, providing leisure and sport education and fostering positive attitudes towards lifelong fitness could prevent the experience of leisure constraints. Such education should not be approached, however, as an effort to be made only by individual leisure and sport providers. It should be developed as a strategic marketing plan involving the private and the public sector, since it is undeniable that participating in leisure and sport activities promotes health.

Lead author: Amalia Drakou
1, Alexandrou Svolou Street
546 22 Thessaloniki
Greece
Email: adrakou@phed.auth.gr

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U.S. Sports Academy2013-11-27T19:26:11-06:00January 7th, 2008|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Exercise Science, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Impact of Media Coverage of the 42nd World Archery Championships on Audience Attendance and Purchases

Submitted by: Ping-Kun Chiu and Chiung-Hsia Wang

ABSTRACT
Sports and the media, two of the most prevalent elements in contemporary society, rely on each other to prosper and have been deeply ingrained in our daily lives. While studies have been conducted on the influence of media on the consumption of major spectator sports (Bernstein & Blain, 2003; Donnelly, 1996; Real & Mechikoff, 1992; Schultz, 2002; Verveer, 2001;), to date no one has studied how media coverage influences an audience’s attendance at and involvement in archery events. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between media coverage and spectator attendance at the 42nd World Archery Championships in New York City. The variables studied were two: (a) media coverage, including TV, radio, sports pages of newspapers, and professional archery magazines; and (b) audience demographic characteristics, including gender, income, education, occupation, and marriage. After evaluating 250 usable responses, results indicate that radio coverage of the event and Internet communication were the primary media that influenced attendance at the event. In addition, TV advertisements, an archery Web site, and viewing the televised event also influenced attendance at the World Archery Championships.

INTRODUCTION
Global impact of sports
Sports influence our daily lives, playing a key role in our socialization and entertainment. The Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games, hosted every four years, attract billions of viewers who enjoy the competitions through the global media. In 1996, the Centennial Olympic Games, which were hosted by Atlanta, Georgia, attracted almost a quarter million people and media representatives to the city to enjoy the gala. It was estimated that an additional 1.5 billion people watched the games through network and cable television (Marketing Matters, 1996). Verveer (2001) stated that the Sydney Olympics were broadcast to 220 countries and territories, making them the most-watched television sports event in history. In Dayan and Katz’s view (1995), the hallmark of media events is their rarity and, therefore, their ability to interrupt our daily lives; media events are live and unfolding, and both broadcasters and audiences adjust their schedules in order to attend them (1995).
Importance of media coverage

The growth of modern sports is considered to provide an interesting example of globalization. Sports not only provide an attraction to bring people together, they also work to attract media involvement. A comparative study of television coverage in the context of sports (Bernstein & Blain, 2003) reported that the opening ceremony at the Barcelona Olympics drew 28 broadcasters from around the world. The media includes not only broadcasters but newspapers, magazines, books, movies, and the Internet. The media often serve the interests of people who have power and wealth, usually emphasizing images and messages consistent with dominant ideologies. The impact of global processes on sports may emphasize either globalization or processes such as Americanization, modernization and post-modernization, as well as cultural imperialism and cultural dominance (Donnelly, 1996).

Through television and the other media, we can appreciate the outstanding performances of elite athletes. This process will get more people involved in sports, bringing more media participation, creating a positive circle. The more sports broadcasts, the larger the audience involved in sports. According to the Web site Tour de France á la Voile 2002, during 2001, 1,027 programs about the Tour de France were broadcast. The advertising value of the 2001 Tour de France television coverage has been estimated at 42 million francs (we141.lerelaisinternet.com). Do sports depend on the media? Do the media depend on sports? In reality, they have a reciprocal relationship, depending on each other. Sports produce a unique form of news and entertainment. Media coverage of sports enhances enjoyment of daily life. However, keep in mind that mass media do not shape sports, but rather intensify and extend the process and effects of commercialization of sports. They bring us information, interpret it for us, and entertain us. This process “re-presents” reality. As Real and Mechikoff (1992) state, specific media technology and commercial advertising provide the structure through which the public accesses media sports. Sporting events are becoming more common in society because of media that provide a connection between sports audiences and favorite teams and athletes. Sports have many dimensions, not just the shape presented by the media. And there is much more to the media than sports. In newspapers, sports sections provide more daily coverage of sports than any other single topic receives elsewhere in the edition. Televised sports events, a major part of programming, have continued to gain advertising revenue. A number of channels are now exclusively dedicated to sports and sports events, focused media packages satisfying people’s demonstrated needs.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study may be the first one of how media coverage influences audience attendance at archery events. Undoubtedly, without mass media and adequate audiences participating in archery events, sponsorship and the general awareness of archery would not grow; archery as part of major competitions could even be terminated.

The International Archery Federation (FITA) Congress held in Helsinki in 1955 introduced the “FITA Round,” which to today’s audiences likely would seem a very boring competition format. From 1955 until 1985, world championships were to be determined in a “Double FITA Round,” comprising a similarly dull format. It was, in short, a style poorly suited to the modern broadcasting style because it lacked excitement. Therefore, in 1988 FITA introduced the “Grand FITA Round,” which later became today’s “Olympic Round.” The new formats were meant to enhance interest in archery within the media.

With the FITA revisions in mind, the main purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between media coverage and a major archery event held in New York City. It is important to consider this relationship, because our ideas about sports are formed by the images and messages throughout sports media. The study included the following aims:

To identify the relationship between media coverage and the archery event.
To explore the demographic characteristics of audiences involved in archery.
To investigate the media sources used by persons in deciding to attend the World Archery Championships.
To analyze the relationship between the audience’s involvement in FITA and the purchase of merchandise at or related to archery events.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Relationship of sports and the media

Sports and the media are no doubt two of the most prevalent elements in contemporary society. As we know, mass media play an important part in American industry, and not just in relation to sports. On the other hand, sports themselves, at all levels, are approached as a business (some as multimillion-dollar businesses); they rank 11th among America’s industries, by size (Meek, 1997). The value of media coverage generated by a sports event is often built into estimates of that event’s economic effect (Dwyer et al., 2000; Higham, 1999). How do the two giant industries sports and media establish and cement their symbiotic relationship in order to benefit each other? During leisure time, people have such choices as to watch television, read magazines, or play sports; mass media and sports, in this aspect, fall in the same dimension, but in direct competition with each other. A North American folklore has developed involving watching sports on television (Wenner & Gantz, 1998). However, mass media have in fact done much more for the development of sports than most people imagine (P.E. Centre Web site).

Sports and mass media clearly rely on each other to prosper. The mass media profit from offering a valuable commodity, sports information, which the public seems to want; sports, in turn, gains popularity and wealth by offering broadcast rights (Smith & Blackman, 1982). Heinemann (n.d.) describes the mutual interests of sports and mass media as follows:

Sport has become an essential part of the entertainment program of the mass media; simultaneously there is another advantage for sport: the widespread coverage of sport via the mass media contributed to its popularization. Interest in a particular sport rises considerably when its television coverage is extensive. (¶ 5).

Mass media’s role in this particularly reciprocal relationship centers on the huge injection of money it provides to sports; this creates an ever-ascending spiral that has meant better media coverage of sports, better sports equipment and facilities, larger sports audiences, additional sponsorship opportunities, and larger athlete and staff salaries. Mass media benefits, on the other hand, from using sports as a powerful promotion outlet attracting advertising contracts and the viewing public’s attention, thanks to exclusive sports information. The symbiotic relationship between sports and mass media creates nothing less than a win-win strategy.

The importance of media coverage

The mass media are becoming steadily more dependent on sports, which can be seen in all media coverage. USA Today, presently the widest circulating daily newspaper in the nation, has a sports section occupying more than 25% of the editorial space for each issue (National Register Publishing, 1993). The all-sports television networks (e.g., ESPN) are exclusively devoted to sports coverage and serve at least 95 million households worldwide (Baker & Boyd, 1997). The powerful Web site Yahoo Sports delivered full coverage of the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in seven different languages, giving 1.5 million global users a quick and easy experience of events in Nagano (Yahoo.com, 1998). These examples demonstrate that mass media rely on sports and use sports’ worldwide popularity to their great advantage.

The effects of media coverage on the sports industry have also become particularly apparent over the last few years. According to an informal survey ranking coverage, conducted by Latelinenews.com, sports news in June 2003 was fifth in importance out of all news programming and related hits (Latelinenews.com, 2003). Furthermore, a survey of spending habits conducted by Outsports.com showed that 79% of the site’s readers attend at least three fee-for-admission sporting events annually and buy an average of some 4.5 sports-related articles of clothing every year (Outsports.com, 2002). With the prevalence of personal computers and Internet access, online sports services, with their strong consumer base, have become big business, with purchases reaching $3 billion in 2003 (Schultz, 2002). Such evidence shows that sports today are not simply competition or even entertainment; they are also an essential part of our daily life, one of the most important variables within the “consumer black box.”

METHOD
The purpose of this research was to fully explore the relationship between media coverage and the sport of archery, by analyzing the audience at an archery event, the 42nd World Archery Championships. (The event marked the 100th anniversary of FITA world-championship competition and was held in New York City.) The predictor variables were (a) media coverage (that is, TV, radio, newspapersports pages, and professional archery magazines); and (b) audience demographic characteristics including gender, income, education, occupation, and marital status.

Concerning sampling strategy, Rea and Parker (1997) state that “a crucial question at the outset of a survey research project is how many observations are needed in a sample so that the generalizations can be made about the entire population” (p. 114). The present researchers distributed questionnaires at the 42nd World Archery Championships, outside the entrance to the archery field. They later collected the completed surveys from audience members at the same place. This procedure generated a response of 169 completed surveys.

The instrument used for data collection was a four-part survey questionnaire (Appendix A) designed by Shih (1998). Each part of the instrument had 25 questions pertaining to TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, and Internet sports coverage. Respondents were asked to indicate how much they had been influenced by the particular media in terms of their decision to become involved in the event. As recommended by Ary et al. (1996), Babbie (1989), and Rea and Parker (1997), a 5-point response scale was used, with responses ranging from “low” to “high,” plus the option “not available” for respondents not having access to a particular media source. To assure reliability and validity of the instrument, the questionnaire was drawn from Shih’s published instrument from his “Study of the Relationship between Media Coverage, Audience Behavior, and Sporting Events” (1998). Using the split-half technique with the questionnaire’s reliability coefficients, a measure of 0.86 was found for media coverage. The present researcher modified the questionnaire for application to the archery event, testing the factor analysis to determine the involvement factor.

Version 11.0 of the SPSS program for Windows was utilized to analyze the data from the questionnaires. First, the frequencies and percentages of demographic characteristics were analyzed in terms of the structure and distribution of the subjects. Second, the raw score, the mean, and the standard deviation for each question were measured by the SPSS program. Third, the questionnaire was tested with the Cronbach’s alpha tool (which provides reliability oefficients); furthermore, statistical t-testing, one-way ANOVA, regression, and logistic regression were used in seeking significant factors influencing individual decisions to become involved in the 42nd World Archery Championships.

Each question’s use of a 5-point scale meant all answers constituted categorical data, not continuous data; hence, all answers were ordinal in nature rather than interval or ratio data. Logistic regression analysis, in such a case, can pinpoint the best-fitted, most reasonable model describing the relationship between the criterion and predictor variables (Hosmer & Lemeshow, 1989). The odds ratio, which is the outcome of logistic regression, provides a fairly comprehensive view of results interpreting their relationship. Hosmer and Lemeshow (1989) furthermore state that “the odds ratio is defined as the ratio of the odds for predictor variables equal to one (likely) to the odds for predictor variables equal to zero (unlikely).” Therefore, an odds ratio obtained via logistic regression was the key to the present interpretation of results concerning the surveyed audience’s purchase of merchandise related to the archery event.

RESULTS
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between media coverage of and audience involvement at a major archery event. The data were collected from 169 subjects attending the 42nd World Archery Championships in New York City as spectators. Study results are presented in two sections: (a) a description of the population and demographic data; and (b) statistical analyses including factor analysis, reliability analysis, t-testing, one-way ANOVA, regression, and logistic regression measuring how much influence media had in determining the audience for this world championship event.

A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed to spectators entering the archery field area; 169 valid questionnaires were returned, for an overall response rate of 67.6% (Tables 1 and 2).

Factor Analysis

Factor analysis of the event attend items allowed for one factor to be extracted; therefore, we combined all the involvement items and used the combined score for the dependent variable in the subsequent analysis. The eigenvalues from the “greater than 1 criterion” are shown in Table 3.

Reliability Analysis
Cronbach’s reliability alpha showed that the involvement items’ internal consistency reached alpha = .9407; all items were highly intercorrelated, and the average item-total correlation was .8256.

T-test

For event attend items, the paired t-test of gender was tenable, at .05 level of significance, t(167) = .944, p = .347, as shown in Table 4. Hence, no evidence from the sample suggests that males and females had differential degrees of involvement in these world archery championships.

For event attend items, the paired t-test of marital status was also tenable, at .05 level of significance, t(167) = -1.114, p = .27, as shown in Table 5. Hence, no evidence from the sample suggests that single and married participants had differential degrees of involvement in the championships.

ANOVA
For event attend items, the one-way ANOVA for income level proved statistically significant, F(2, 167) = 4.789, p＜.05, as shown in Table 7. As to post hoc comparisons, only the income categories “US $35,000–$65,000” and “above US $65,000” reached the specified .05 significance level, t(167) = 1.831, p＜.05, as shown in Table 6. We therefore concluded there was sufficient evidence from the sample to suggest that participants with different incomes, particularly the groups with annual income of $35,000 or above demonstrated statistically distinct degrees of involvement in these world archery championships.

For the event attend items, the one-way ANOVA for education level was tenable, at the .05 level of significance, F(2, 167) = .315, p＝.73, as shown in Table 8. Hence, there is no evidence from this sample suggesting that participants of different education levels had differential degrees of involvement in the championships. Also in terms of the event attend items, the one-way ANOVA for number of children was tenable, at the .05 level of significance, F(2, 167)=.529, p=.59, as shown in Table 9. No evidence from this sample suggests that involvement in the archery event varied with the number of one’s children. For event attend items again, the one-way ANOVA for age was tenable, at the .05 level of significance, F(2, 167) = .472, p＝.625, as shown in Table 10. Again, no evidence from this sample suggests that participants of different ages had different degrees of involvement in the championships.

For the event attend items, the one-way ANOVA for years of participation was tenable, at the .05 level of significance, F(2, 167) = .862, p＝.424, as shown in Table 11. Hence, no evidence was obtained from the sample to suggest that likelihood of involvement in the 42nd World Archery Championships varied with the number of years one had been involved in the sport of archery.

Regression Analysis

To develop a scale of enjoyment, we used Internet column, on-site commentator, newspaper sports-page column, TV commentator, professional archery magazine editor, and radio commentator as the predictor variables, with involvement in the 42nd World Archery Championships as the criterion variable. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the amount of influence the six predictor variables wielded in terms of enjoyment derived from event participation. The multiple regression analysis yielded a significant result: R²＝.58, F (6,162 )＝36.48 , p＜.05, shown in Table 12. The R-squared value indicates that about 58% of the variance in involvement in the event is explained by the six predictor variables. During post-test procedures, only radio commentator and Internet column reached the specified .05 significance level, t(1) = 3.166, p＜.05 and t(1) = 1.559, p＜.05 respectively, as shown in Table 12. Hence, we concluded there is enough evidence from the sample to suggest that media coverage, particularly radio comment and Internet postings, have a significant, positive influence on enjoyment associated with event participation.

As to the scale of attendance activities, we took into account the same six predictor variables and criterion variable as used for the enjoyment factor. From the multiple regression analysis a significant result was obtained, R²＝.599, F (6,162 ) ＝ 39.86 , p＜.05, as shown in Table 13; the R-squared value indicates that about 60% of the variance in involvement in the event is explained by the six predictor variables. During the post-test procedures, TV advertisement, archery Web site, and televising of the event showed significant influence on attendance activities, with respective findings of t(1) = 4.122, p＜.05, t(1) = 2.406, p＜.05, and t(1) = 2.169, p＜.05, as shown in Table 13. There is enough evidence, we therefore concluded, present in the sample to suggest that media coverage—particularly TV advertising, archery Internet sites, and televising of events—had a significant, positive influence on attendance at the 42nd World Archery Championships.

In our evaluation of purchases of archery merchandise, an extremely skewed outcome from our Number 8 demographic question prompted us to merge the original 11 categories within two groups, under US $100 and above US $100. Logistic regression was first used to test the relationship between the set of predictor variables and the criterion variable and then to detect which predictor variables, if more than one, were effective predictors of archery merchandise purchase.

Results of logistic regression were significant in that the obtained likelihood ratio showed at least one predictor variable contributing significantly to archery merchandise purchase, χ² (6, N = 169) = 36.92 , p＜.05, as shown in Table 14. As for post-test procedures, on-site display appears to be the only effective media coverage prompting purchases of merchandise (χ² (1, N = 169) = 36.05 , p＜.05). The value of the odds ratio indicates that purchase of archery merchandise was 1.29 higher among participants who had viewed an on-site display than among those not viewing an on-site display; on-site display, then, can be regarded as an effective predictor of archery merchandise purchase.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
This study was designed to analyze both an audience at and media coverage of the 42nd World Archery Championships in New York City. (It was during this global archery event that New York City made its enthusiastic resolution to host the 2012 Olympic Games.) In Central Park on-site media such as a movable large-screen TV “wall,” experienced broadcasters and announcers, and attention-grabbing televised entertainment drew busy New Yorkers to consider the archery event being staged in their city and even to become involved in it. In addition, leading sports publications and broadcasts had joined the professional archery magazines in publicizing, to varying degrees, this biennial event.

A quantitative methodology was used to collect data from persons attending the archery event as audience members. The topic of media influence on audience involvement at an archery event had not previously been much explored. The present study described the demographics of an archery event audience and explored factors influencing attendance by this audience along with its enjoyment of the event. The demographic variables were chosen to aid understanding of the characteristics of the sample; the logistic regression method was subsequently used to search for the factors which statistically influenced attendance and enjoyment. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed, 169 of which were returned and found valid. The overall response rate, then, was 67.6%.

Demographically speaking, this study found that two income groups (“US $35,001–$65,000” and “above US $65,000”) were most likely to attend the archery event. In terms of media influence, involvement in the archery event was most likely to occur in the presence of radio and Internet publicity about the event, according to the results. Other media predictors of attendance found by the study are TV advertising, archery Web sites, and televising of an event. Purchases of archery-related merchandise were influenced most strongly by on-site displays, the main predictor of such purchases.

In general, most of the respondents reported enjoying the 42nd World Archery Championships, and many of them said they were willing to participate in similar events in the future. Involvement with archery in the future questionnaire items drew a positive response in 83.4% of cases. An even larger 97.6% of the audience reported satisfaction with the event. In sum, the study showed that both the International Archery Federation and the New York City Organizing Committee performed to an excellent standard and contributed to creating potential archers and archery audiences for the future.

Contact Information:
Ping-Kun Chiu
250 Wenhua 1st Rd., Kweishan
Taoyuan, 33333
Taiwan

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U.S. Sports Academy2017-08-07T15:41:45-05:00January 7th, 2008|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Describing Sport Management Practitioners’ Information Technology (IT) Competence and Training Needs

Submitted by: Gregory J. Letter, Daniel D. Drane, Jaime Orejan

**ABSTRACT**

This descriptive, exploratory research aimed to describe sport management practitioners’ information technology (IT) competence, usage rates, and training needs. Specifically, the research examined how IT software training affects IT competence and usage rates. In addition, the research examined the effect of IT usage rates on IT competence. The study extended to 10 software packages typically integrated into sport management curriculums. Participants included 126 practitioners from four areas of the sport industry: collegiate athletic departments, collegiate conference headquarters, major league professional franchises, and minor league professional franchises. Data were analyzed via the t-test and analysis of variance. The findings and their implications for future development of IT curriculums within sport management programs are discussed.

**INTRODUCTION**

For the present study, the researchers generally defined information technology (IT) as the tools and processes used for identification, organization, and manipulation of facts called data. These tools and processes include computers and software that organizations typically employ to complete daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly business transactions. Proper use of these tools and processes enables practitioners and organizations to accomplish regular tasks efficiently, while keeping information and transactions secure within their software. Software examined for this study included two types, basic and advanced. Basic IT comprised e-mail, PowerPoint, and word-processing software; advanced IT comprised spreadsheet, database-management, statistical-analysis, Web-design, program-management, ticketing-systems, and desktop-publishing software.

Technology has beset universities and the workplace, and higher education has been immersed in a major educational reform movement since IT’s advent. Organizations worldwide deem workplace implementation of IT an inevitable business strategy (Chow & Choi, 2003). Internal and external demands to integrate IT into most business facets drive human resource departments to become increasingly “IT-wise,” lest even the most capable leaders fail to grasp the full, advantageous potential of strategic use of IT.

Within the sport industry, IT utilization is transforming the way managers conduct business operations. Joseph calls IT skills important, especially for business organizations, within which these skills “will have a major bearing on the quality of decision making” (2002, p.120). To clarify, while the human side of management is extremely important and will never be disregarded, the development of human resource skills can improve decision making. Business managers are giving ever more weight to hiring individuals who understand computers and information systems (Mondy, Noe, & Premeaux, 2002). Expertise in contemporary technology continues to amplify in complexity: The comprehension and competencies working sport managers need have outpaced academic sport management programs’ ability or opportunity to facilitate the learning of pertinent IT (Turner & Stylianou, 2004).

Technology’s continuing development will impact the sport industry and sport management curriculums (Hums & Stephens, 1995); coordinators of sport management programs, therefore, need to assess how their curriculums are progressing. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Initiative on Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century included eight areas of focus to ensure future success. Two of these were (a) individual skills and (b) the impact of IT (Malone, Morton, & Halperin, 1996). The rapid expansion of technology into every aspect of contemporary sport management suggests that the 21st-century sport manager must establish and maintain IT proficiency.

It falls to our academic sport management programs to prepare future managers to do this. Ample IT courses must be offered to meet the needs of the many segments of the sport industry. Standards for sport management curriculums have been prescribed by NASPE-NASSM and incorporate content areas intended to familiarize students with a body of knowledge essential to a variety of sport careers. The content areas include sport management and leadership, sport governance, ethics, legal aspects of sport, economics, budgeting and finance, sport marketing, socio-cultural dimensions of sport, inter-personal/professional relationships, and communication and technology.

These elements of a standard curriculum optimally prepare graduates to meet most sport career demands. An exception, however, is technology. Discussions with numerous faculty and practitioners suggest that they perceive student competence in information technology to be neglected. Those responsible for guiding and operating sport management academic programs need to pay closer attention to technology’s ever-changing exigencies, demands that will shape their students’ careers. The single course currently allowed to meet the NASPE-NASSM communication and technology standard appears to be insufficient. (Even it is not solely dedicated to IT.) The level of IT competence contemporary sport managers need is only obtained through the development of a variety of skills via numerous courses incorporating an array of techniques.

The need for IT-competent practitioners in the field of sport, then, creates a parallel need within sport curriculums for vigorous, germane IT emphases. First and foremost, faculty-driven strategic planning for enhanced development of future professionals requires assessment of current trends in IT use and knowledge among practitioners. Planned interventions in sport management organizations by human resources staff help constituents pinpoint human resource concerns related to trends in technology, including potential deficiencies.

Human resource management personnel are inundated with training and career-development offerings related to IT. No other area has prompted such a flood of workplace-based instruction (Mondy, Noe, & Premeaux, 2002). Robbins (1998) states that human resources interventions related to IT usually center on internal issues of human development and process improvement. This focus compares to the strategies utilized in higher education to evaluate student development and performance.

Demand for sport managers with IT skills relevant to the chosen professional area should lead faculty to gather and employ information on IT needs; they should initiate departmental- or program-level interventions addressing the appropriateness of their existing sport management curriculums, in light of that information. When they set out to assess skill development among their students, institutions must use applicable industry input. By providing technology training appropriate to the specific technology requirements of students’ chosen professions, an institution not only enhances student learning, it secures a more effective academic climate and a relevant educational experience, one efficiently accommodating contemporary business trends.

Society’s and sport agencies’ dependence on computers has demanded major changes in the way sport managers work. No agency is free to ignore the constantly changing stream of interrelated societal and technological trends. Business and academic organizations alike, though they exercise only limited control over certain external and even internal forces affecting their enterprises, should understand that efforts to increase their control via technology can indeed further their managerial or administrative goals. Organizations that acknowledge IT’s unrelenting expansion and their need for greater mastery of its prerequisites can proactively turn technology into organizational strengths. The bottom line is that IT tools are a necessity for sport managers at all levels, in all specialties. Future sport managers need to fully develop their IT competency.

**METHOD**

_Participants_
Participants in the study (n=126) were sport management practitioners drawn from the following industry areas: collegiate athletic departments, collegiate conference headquarters, major league professional franchises, and minor league professional franchises. These practitioners were contacted through letters mailed to sport organizations listed in _The Sports Address Bible & Almanac_ (Kobak, 2000). The letters invited readers to participate in our study. A total of 469 letters were sent; 53 were returned to sender for various reasons, leaving 416 surveys assumed received by the sport organizations. Of 416 potential respondents reached, 126 (30%) proceeded to complete our survey via the Internet.

	Training		Hours/Week				Competence
IT Type	Yes	No	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
Word Processor	92	34	12	32	27	55	4	13	46	63
PowerPoint	57	69	75	43	5	3	30	34	32	30

U.S. Sports Academy2013-11-27T19:29:20-06:00January 7th, 2008|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Facilities, Sports Management|Comments Off