volume 1 number 1 – Page 48 – The Sport Journal

Predicting Fund Raising Revenues in NCAA Division I-A Intercollegiate Athletics

Submitted by: Chad McEvoy

Introduction

According to the NCAA (Fulks, 2001), contributions from alumni and others, or fund raising, is the second-largest revenue source for Division I-A athletic programs, trailing only ticket sales. Fund raising accounts for nearly five million dollars of the typical Division I-A athletic programs’ $25 million of total revenue, and, as such, is clearly a vital source of funding for intercollegiate athletic programs. Therefore, the ability to forecast fund raising revenues is crucial for college athletic departments. This study will create a model to predict annual fund raising revenues in NCAA Division I-A intercollegiate athletics, thus aiding practitioners in predicting these revenues on their own respective campuses.

Related Literature

Numerous authors have examined the relationships between intercollegiate athletic programs and higher education. These studies have focused on the relationship between college sports performance and variables such as applicants to universities (Allen & Peters, 1982; Chressanthis & Grimes, 1993; Murphy & Trandel, 1994; Toma & Cross, 1998; Zimbalist, 2001), SAT scores of incoming students (Bremmer & Kesserling, 1993; McCormick & Tinsley, 1987; Mixon, 1995; Tucker & Amato, 1993), and university fund raising (Baade & Sundberg, 1996; Brooker & Klastorin, 1982; Budig, 1976; Gaski & Etzel, 1984; Grimes & Chressanthis, 1994; McCormick & Tinsley, 1990; Sack & Watkins, 1985; Sigelman & Carter, 1979). Few studies, however, have investigated athletic fund raising in this regard.

Sigelman and Brookheimer (1983) examined the relationship between 11 predictor independent variables and contributions to both athletics and university fund raising programs at 57 NCAA Division I-A institutions in major athletic conferences using a multiple regression analysis. Football success (r = .335) and traditionalism (r = .242), a scaled measurement of the social and political culture towards civic responsibility and philanthropy, were determined to be significant predictors of giving to intercollegiate athletics annual fund raising programs, albeit not overly strong predictors given their Pearson’s coefficient values.

Coughlin and Erekson (1984, 1985) utilized multiple linear regression analysis to model contributions to athletic fund raising program using 16 independent variables. Coughlin and Erekson utilized 1980-1981 athletics fund raising data published in the Omaha World-Herald as their measurement of the contributions dependent variable, as Sigelman and Brookheimer (1983) had done previously. Coughlin and Erekson’s final regression model accounted for 58% of the variance in predicting athletic contributions. The authors identified football attendance, conference affiliation, bowl participation, state population, men’s basketball winning percentage, and professional competition to be significant determinants of athletic contributions.

Daughtrey and Stotlar (2000) investigated the relationship between contributions to both athletics and the university and winning a national championship in football at the Division I-AA, Division II, and Division III levels. Daughtrey and Stotlar found significant relationships between football championships and increased contributions to athletics with Division II and Division III schools and between football championships and increased contributions to the university with Division III institutions. The authors’ delimitations of studying only national champions and not examining Division I-A institutions prevent useful comparisons between their work and the study conducted here.

No other published studies were identified that attempted to use a variety of variables to predict fund raising contributions to NCAA Division I-A intercollegiate athletics programs. As such, the only published works investigating the ability to predict athletic fund raising contributions are currently 20 years old and each relies upon contributions data collected in 1980-1981. Obviously, much has changed in intercollegiate athletics since then. If an athletic fund raising practitioner today tried to understand and predict fund raising contributions based upon the existing body of literature, they would be relying upon considerably outdated research. Clearly then, there is a need to re-examine the prediction of athletic fund raising contributions, as is the purpose of this study.

Methods

Subjects

The population for this study was defined as all 119 NCAA Division I-A athletic programs and their athletic fund raising contributions for each of the five-year span from 1998-1999 to 2002-2003. Questionnaires were sent to the athletic fund raising director at each of the 119 institutions in performing a census of the population. Thirty-five questionnaires were returned, representing 171 usable subjects, for a usable response rate of 28.7%.

Variables

Based on the work of Coughlin and Erekson (1984, 1985) and Sigelman and Brookheimer (1983), 13 predictor variables were selected to use in explaining the variation in annual athletic fund raising contributions: football and men’s basketball winning percentages for the year examined, the change in football and men’s basketball winning percentages from the previous year, average home attendance for football and men’s basketball in the year examined, whether the school is a member of a “major” athletic conference, whether the school is a public or private institution, state population, and four categorical variables to control for fixed-effects in the time-series regression analysis. Each of these variables is described further in Table 1.

Procedures

Questionnaires were sent to athletic fund raising directors at all 119 NCAA Division I-A athletic programs to collect dependent variable data. Data collection on each of the predictor variables was performed as discussed in Table 1. A fixed-effects ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression equation was developed to empirically explain annual athletic fund raising contributions. The fixed-effects model is used to control for changes over time due to the use of panel data. Four indicator variables were used to represent the five years of data from 1998-1999 to 2002-2003. A significance level of .01 was established a priori to reduce the risk of Type 1 error common with time-series regression analyses and large sample sizes.

Results

Table 2 provides descriptive data for the continuous variables included in the regression equation. The results show that the average annual athletic fund raising contributions total was $4,065,616. Additionally, the average home football game attendance was 43,119 and the average men’s basketball game attendance was 8,749.

Five of the 13 independent variables were found to be significantly related to athletic fund raising contributions at the .01 level, including football home attendance (r=.721), conference affiliation (r=-.621), football winning percentage (r=.322), type of institution (r=-.302), and men’s basketball home attendance (r=.237). In examining the correlation coefficients between the independent variables, only the relationship between football attendance and conference affiliation was above .500 or below -.500 (r=-.651), thus providing evidence that multicollinearity was not problematic.

Table 3 summarizes the multiple regression results. The model was a statistically significant estimator of annual athletic fund raising contributions. The model F-statistic equaled 18.647 and was significant at the .01 level. In addition, the model explained 60.7% of the variation in spectator attendance and the adjusted R2 was .574. The R2 and adjusted R2 findings were similar to those found in Coughlin and Erekson (1984, 1985). Additionally, this type of regression analysis allows for an estimation of the magnitude of change in annual contributions based upon a change in values of the independent variables. For example, the results suggest that membership in one of the six conferences with automatic bids to the Bowl Championship Series in football is worth more than $2.5 million per year in athletic fund raising contributions to conference members. Also, the data suggests that annual athletic fund raising contributions would increase by $70 for each average attendee increase at home football games.

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to predict annual athletic fund raising contributions in NCAA Division I-A intercollegiate athletics, providing a needed re-examination of this issue given the dated works in this area of the literature. Despite the passing of two decades and major changes in intercollegiate athletics since the studies of Sigelman and Brookheimer (1983) and Coughlin and Erekson (1984, 1985), this study supports the findings of those previous works, particularly Coughlin and Erekson. As with their work, this investigation found both home football attendance and conference affiliation to be statistically significant predictors of annual athletic fund raising contributions. Additionally, the amount of variance explained in annual athletic fund raising contributions in this study (R2=.607) was extremely close to that of Coughlin and Erekson (R2=.58). None of the similarities between the findings of these studies are, in and of themselves, overly surprising; however, these similarities are somewhat surprising given the radical changes in intercollegiate athletics since the early 1980’s. These changes include a dramatic increase in media/television coverage, rapid increases in revenues and expenses among athletic programs, the creation of the Bowl Championship Series, conference realignment, and progress towards gender equity. It is in the context of all of these major changes that the similarities between this study and previous dated works are noteworthy.

These results indicate that, assuming conference affiliation does not change, an athletic fund raising practitioner should carefully track home football attendance as an indicator of fund raising contributions. A fairly strong positive relationship (r=.721) was found between these two variables. Other changeable variables of interest to practitioners in this regard are football winning percentage (r=.322) and men’s basketball home attendance (r=.237), however, neither approaches home football attendance in the ability to predict athletic fund raising contributions.

References

Allen, B. H., & Peters, J.I. (1982). The influence of a winning basketball program upon undergraduate student enrollment decisions at DePaul University. In M.J. Etzel & J.F. Gaski (Eds.), Applying marketing technology to spectator sports (pp. 136-148). Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame.
Baade, R. A., & Sundberg, J. O. (1996). Fourth down and gold to go? Assessing the link between athletics and alumni giving. Social Science Quarterly, 77, 789-803.
Bremmer, D. S., & Kesserling, R. G. (1993). Advertising effects of university athletic success. Quarterly Review of Economics and Business, 33, 409-421.
Brooker, G., & Klastorin, T. D. (1981). To the victors belong the spoils? College athletics and alumni giving. Social Science Quarterly, 62, 744-750.
Budig, J. E. (1976). The relationships among intercollegiate athletics, enrollment, and voluntary support for public higher education (Doctoral dissertation, Illinois State University, 1976). Dissertation Abstracts International, 37, 4006A.
Chressanthis, G. A., & Grimes, P. W. (1993). Intercollegiate sports success and first-year student enrollment demand. Sociology of Sport Journal, 10, 286-300.
College Football Data Warehouse (2004). Retrieved from cfbdatawarehouse.com.
Coughlin, C. C., & Erekson, H.O. (1984). An examination of contributions to support intercollegiate athletics. Southern Economic Journal, 66, 180-195.
Coughlin, C. C., & Erekson, H.O. (1985). Contributions to intercollegiate athletic programs: Further evidence. Social Science Quarterly, 66, 194-202.
Fulks, D. L. (2002). Revenues and expenses of Division I and II intercollegiate athletics programs: Financial trends and relationships-2001. Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org.
Gaski, J. F., & Etzel, M. J. (1984). Collegiate athletic success and alumni generosity: Dispelling the myth. Social Behavior and Personality, 12(1), 29-38.
Grimes, P. W., & Chressanthis, G. A. (1994). Alumni contributions to academics: The role of intercollegiate sports and NCAA sanctions. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 53, 27-40.
McCormick, R. E., & Tinsley, M. (1987). Athletics versus academics: Evidence from SAT scores. Journal of Political Economy, 95, 1103-1116.
McCormick, R. E., & Tinsley, M. (1990). Athletics and academics: A model of university contributions. In B. L. Goff & R. D. Tollison (Eds.), Sportometrics (pp. 193-204). College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press.
Mixon, F. G. (1995). Athletics v. academics: Rejoining evidence from SAT scores. Education Economics, 3, 277-283.
Murphy, R. G., & Trandel, G. A. (1994). The relation between a university’s football record and the size of its applicant pool. Economics of Education Review, 13, 265-270.
National Collegiate Athletic Association. (2004). Attendance data. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org.
Sack, A. L., & Watkins, C. (1985). Winning and giving. In D. Chu, J. O. Segrave, & B. J. Becker (Eds.), Sport and Higher Education (pp. 299-306). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Sigelman, L., & Bookheimer, S. (1985). Is it whether you win or lose? Monetary contributions to big-time college athletic programs. Social Science Quarterly, 64, 347-359.
Sigelman, L., & Carter, R., (September, 1979). Win one for the giver? Alumni giving and big-time college sports. Social Science Quarterly, 60, 284-293.
Toma, J. D., & Cross, M. E. (1998). Intercollegiate athletics and student college choice: Exploring the impact of championship seasons on undergraduate applications. Research in Higher Education, 39, 633-661.
Tucker, I. B., & Amato, L. (1993). Does big-time success in football or basketball affect SAT scores? Economics of Education Review, 12, 177-181.
Zimbalist, A. (2001). Unpaid professionals: Commercialism and conflict in big-time sport. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Table 1

<th”>Variable <th”>Description and Sources

Variable Descriptions and Data Sources
CONTRIB	Dependent variable representing one year’s annual athletic fund raising contributions, not including capital campaigns. Collected via questionnaire self-reporting from each institution’s athletic fund raising director.
FBWINPCT	Represents a school’s football winning percentage for that respective year. Collected from ncaa.org.
BBWINPCT	Represents a school’s men’s basketball winning percentage for that respective year. Collected from ncaa.org.
FBWINCH	Represents the change in a school’s football winning percentage from the previous year. Collected from ncaa.org.
BBWINCH	Represents the change in a school’s football winning percentage from the previous year. Collected from ncaa.org.
FBATTEN	Represents a school’s average home football attendance for that respective year. Collected from ncaa.org.
BBATTEN	Represents a school’s average home men’s basketball attendance for that respective year. Collected from ncaa.org.
CONFERNC	Represents whether or not a school is a member of one of the six major Division I-A conferences that receives an automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series in football. Coded as a “0” for BCS conference, “1” for non-BCS conference.
INSTTYPE	Represents whether the school is a public or private institution. Coded as a “0” for public institution, “1” for private institution.

Table 2

<th”>Variable <th”>Mean <th”>Standard Deviation <th”>Minimum <th”>Maximum

Descriptive Statistics
CONTRIB	$4,065,615.92	$3,502,701.71	$201,791	$14,363,913
FBWINPCT	.513	.212	.000	1.000
BBWINPCT	.575	.155	.222	.892
FBWINCH	-.007	.206	-.727	.492
BBWINCH	-.005	.151	-.419	.398
FBATTEN	43,118.94	25,737.64	6,595	111,175
BBATTEN	8,748.54	4,975.17	935	22,248
CONFERNC	.40	.491	.00	1.00
INSTTYPE	.16	.371	.00	1.00
POPULATE	8,596,946.04	8,142,659.46	1,808,344	33,871,648

Note: N=171

Table 3

<th”>Variable <th”>Unstandardized Beta Coefficient <th”>Standard Error <th”>T-statistic <th”>P-value

Regression Results
FBWINPCT	934.813	1,259.942	.742	.459
BBWINPCT	1,474.402	1,631.419	.904	.368
FBWINCH	-658.047	1,064.320	-.618	.537
BBWINCH	434.665	1,386.728	.313	.754
FBATTEN	70.567	12.129	5.818	.000
BBATTEN	-137.200	53.892	-2.546	.012
CONFERNC	-2,587,336.224	529,184.751	-4.889	.000
INSTTYPE	-636,637.927	530,003.528	-1.201	.231
POPULATE	-.0253	.023	-1.105	.271
TIME0203	1,417,825.114	567,331.928	2.499	.013
TIME0102	1,207,864.865	568,200.487	2.126	.035
TIME0001	916,870.951	560,734.574	1.635	.104
TIME9900	392,457.586	565,992.692	.693	.489
Constant	1,443,097.013	1,260,510.634	1.145	.254

Note: R2=.607, Adjusted R2=.574, F-statistic=18.647, P-value=.000

U.S. Sports Academy2015-03-20T10:32:05-05:00January 1st, 2005|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

The Usage of the Sports Image in Advertising Sector in Selected Turkish Television Channels

Submitted by: Hakan Sunay, PhD. & Velittin Balci, PhD.

ABSTRACT

This research was made to assess the relationship between advertisements
on marketing sports products on Turkish television channels and sports
images on the basis of products, and to get information on the tendencies
of onlookers of sports products through strengthening onlookers’
sports images and remembering them later by analyzing advertisements.
This research was made to determine how often sports images are used in
the advertisement sector and the impact of sports in advertisements.

The universe of the research was the first four most watched television
channels according to the reports of AGB (Research Improvement and Information)
in June, 2001. These channels were Show TV, Channel D, Star TV, TRT 1
(Turkish Radio and Television). In this research, the books and researches
on sports management and advertising, the total durations of advertisements
on related channels and the ratios of sports images used in advertisements
were studied. All the advertisements broadcast between 09.00-21.00 hours
for one week on each of these four most watched channels were studied,
and the results were shown in graphics and tables.

Observation method was used to determine the results of the research.
‘SPSS’ statistics programmer was used for the statistical
analysis of this research. Frequency and percentage techniques were used
to determine the results.

In conclusion, this research showed that the advertisements including
sports image were broadcast more than the others, and advertisement producers
showed a great deal of interest in sports images. Sports concept is used
as on important tool in advertisement, marketing and image in advertisements
broadcast on Turkish television channels studied in this research.

INTRODUCTION

Sport is one of the most important social concepts. Many companies use
sports as tool to its popularity. The companies producing sports equipment
and private sports clubs are the examples using sports. They turn the
Professional sportsmen into stars and give the image that equipment used
by such sportsmen supports their success. As a result, the equipment produced
by them sells very easily. Today, many companies like banks, construction
companies not related to sports use sports as images (Zeki,1998). For
instance, a private bank can use marathon runners as an image to emphasize
that this bank is forward.

In our century, sports is in a process that interfered a lot in marketing
and its industrialization. Advertisements make sports more popular. All
the organizations hoping for profit use concepts like arts and sports
to introduce themselves (Ünsal,1994). This is the basic factor in sport
image. Sports image can be used in various types in society. The basic
objective of advertisements is to become part of success, and to be remembered
with this image (Zeki,1998). A winner in the Olympic Games in remembered
by the name of the sponsor company tries to become part of sportsmen’s
success. The objective is to remembered and to be well known.

The reason for the popularity of football and basketball is the popular
sport images. Companies can be popular using star sportsmen and sport
image. Sports equipment producers work with famous sportsmen. Sport images
often used in textile, food, transportation and popular sportsmen are
remembered with such companies(Kocabaş, 2001).

Advertisement etiquettes used in sports and product introduction are
(Bir,1988);

Advertisement is a guide for consumers. It gives information on new
products.
Advertisement decreases distribution costs and helps retail sellers.
Advertisement encourage competition, and increases the amount and
quality of production.
Increases in production and sale amounts helps prices go down.
Advertisement makes communication tools independent.

In this study, the visage type, frequency, and effect of sports image
in product presentations in advertisements on Turkish Television is analyzed.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

The universe of this research is the Turkish Television channels. These
channels are Show TV, Channel D, Star TV, TRT 1, the most watched 4 channels
according to the reports of AGB (Research, improvement and information:
AGB Group,2001). All the advertisements on these channels were watched
and studied for one week between 09:00-21:00 hrs. And the results are
shown in table as 1. Pre-program watching 2. During program watching.

Pre-program advertisement are 7-10 minutes and this variation is due
to Prime Time programs. During programs advertisements last 3-4 minutes.
The intervals of programs can change 2 or 3 times. The duration of advertisement
within the programs is 6-9 minutes. According to AGB reports the total
advertisement duration is 28 hrs. a week and 4 hrs a day in Show TV, Channel
D, Star TV, TRT 1. the first for channels in june 2001 and their percentages
are as shown:

Show TV 21%
Channel D 20%
Star TV 19%
TRT 1 17%
Others 23%

While collecting data, necessary information were found in documents.
Each of the four most watched channels were studied for one week and the
results were sown in graphics.

The reason to watch every channel separately is that advertisements start
and finish at the same hours.

The ratio and distribution of advertisements containing sports image
were shown in percentages. SPPS statistics program was used for the statistical
analysis of this research.

FINDING AND COMMENTS

The results and comments on the relationship between advertisement and
sports image in the most watched channels in June according to AGB reports
are shown below.

Table-1: Daily and weekly amount of all the advertisements broadcast in
all the channels.

Duration	Total broadcast Time (hrs)	Total broadcast Time (hrs)	Advertisement Time (hrs)	Total advertisement percentage
Daily	48	100	4	12
Weekly	336	100	28	12

These tables show total weekly and daily broadcasts of television channels
and the amount of advertisement in these broadcasts. The total amount
of hours is very high. However, this amount shows that companies made
big investments in advertisements.

Graphic-1: The frequency of subjects in all the
advertisements broadcast in all channels

The reason for the high ratio of food, textile and bank advertisements
is that they are the basic necessities sports image is used in all the
advertisements for them to be remembered.

Table -2 : Daily and weekly advertisement ratio of sports image used in advertisement in all the channels.

Duration	Total broadcast minutes	Total advertisement percentage	Advertisement broadcast minutes	Sports İmage percentage used
Daily	175	100	65	37
Weekly	1225	100	455	37

According to these graphics and tables, the ratio of advertisements containing
sports image is very high among the other advertisements. In this table,
the high amount of advertisements containing sports image in other advertisements
are shown. The high frequency of the usage of sports image shows that
advertisement companies prefer it to affect people.

DISCUSSION AND RESULTS

According to our research, the advertisements containing sports image
are very high. Sport concepts affects a lot of people and sports ımage
can be used everywhere. The high number of products are variety in advertisement
sector lead to usage of sports image . advertisement companies combine
every event and concept with sport.

Advertisement producers prefer sports image according to this research.
Sport image is the highest among the other images. Advertisements makers
use sports image because it is a concept affecting people. Sports image
has become a tool to affect people. Advertisements makers use Professional
sportsmen to affect young people so that they can sell their products
easily.

Sport image can be used frequently in advertisements because sport affect
people in various directions. Sports can be the symbol of many subjects
(Ünsal, 1994).

People may like sports more through sport image. Production companies
use sports image to sell their products, however, they let people like
sport more. Companies should employ people who enough information on sports.

Sports influences many people. It is observed that advertisements containing
sports image has been increasing. Company owners prefer using sports image
more (Zeki,1998).

In this research, popular sports branches and popular sportsmen are
preferred in advertisements containing sport image. For instance, football
image is used many advertisements. Because football is a very popular
branch of sport. Either a famous footballer is used or popular brand is
used with football image in advertisements. If other branches become popular,
advertisement subjects can be more various.

The images of less popular sports branches can be used so people can
be interested in various sport branches.

REFERENCES

AGB Group, (2001),(TAM- Television Audience Measurement) Haziran,
2001 kayıtları.
Bir, A.; (1988), Reklamın Gücü, Bilgi Basım, İstanbul,
Kocabaş, F; Elden, M., (2001), Reklamlar, Kavramlar, Kararlar,
Kurumlar, İletişim Yayınları, İstanbul,
Ünsal; Y. ; (1984), Bilimsel Reklam ve Pazarlamadaki Yeri,
TİVİ; Basımevi, İstanbul,
Zeki, A.; (1998), Reklam ve İmajları, Bilişim
Yayınları, Ankara,

U.S. Sports Academy2016-10-14T11:42:27-05:00March 9th, 2004|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

What Type of Character Do Athletes Possess?

Submitted by: Andy Rudd, PhD. & Sharon Stoll, PhD.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to develop a paper and pencil
instrument that measures two types of character: moral versus social;
(2) to determine if college athletes, particularly team sport athletes
support social character over moral character as a result of the way character
may be defined and fostered by many coaches, parents, and general society.
To test our hypothesis that athletes support the practice of social character
over moral character we developed a paper and pencil instrument called
the RSBH Value Judgment Inventory. Participants in the study were N=595
college students from a variety of colleges/universities (National Collegiate
Athletic Association Division I, II, III and National Association for
Intercollegiate Athletics). More specifically, there were n=293 team sport
athletes, n= 76 individual sport athletes and n=225 non athletes (and
1 subject that did not indicate their status). College athletes were compared
to college non athletes in order to understand the effects of sport participation
on moral and social character.

Saliently, results showed that on average, team sport athletes’ social
character index scores were higher than their moral character index scores.
Also of salience, non-athletes scored significantly higher than team sport
athletes on the moral character index whereas team sport athletes scored
significantly higher than non-athletes on the social character index.
Reasons for why there were differences between team sport athletes and
non-athletes on the RSBH Value Judgment Inventory are discussed as well
as other findings.

Introduction

Since the early part of the 20th century, participation in American sport
has been widely and strongly viewed as a vehicle for developing character
(Armstrong, 1984; Ogilvie & Tutko, 1971; Sage, 1988, 1998; Shields
& Bredemeier, 1995). In response to this claim, researchers from a
variety of disciplines have empirically tested the popular notion that
sport builds character (see for example, Beller & Stoll, 1992, 1995;
Hodge, 1989; Kleiber & Roberts, 1981; Ogilvie & Tutko, 1971; Penny
& Priest, 1990; Rudd, Stoll & Beller, 1997; Shields & Bredemeier,
1995). Contrary to what many may believe, results from these studies have
suggested that sport does not build character.

From the numerous studies, character development research that has used
an instrument called the Hahm-Beller Values Choice Inventory (HBVCI) may
be the most profound because of the sizeable, accumulative database and
replication (Belier & Stoll, 1992, 1995; Hahm, Beller, & Stoll,
1989; Penny & Priest, 1990; Rudd, Stoll, & Beller, 1997). With
a database of over 60,000 athletes and non-athletes and over 250 university
studies, the HBVCI has consistently found that the majority of athletes
will not support the moral ideal in competition, i.e., moral character.
However, despite the well-published and disseminated research, we have
continued to hear from coaches, parents, and the media that sport builds
character or that athletes frequently display character (Browit, 1999;
Docheff, 1997; Herman, 2000; Zimmerman, 2001). As a result, we began to
wonder if there is another way to define character, which might explain
why athletes do not support the notion of moral character.

From the character development literature, newspapers, media, and personal
communications with coaches, parents, and the general populace we discovered
that many individuals appear to define character from a social perspective
rather than a moral perspective. Thus, many define character in terms
of social values such as teamwork, loyalty, self-sacrifice, work ethic,
and perseverance which may be considered as “social character” as
opposed to “moral character” which has been denoted by moral values
such as honesty, fairness, and responsibility (see for example, Arnold,
1999; Shields & Bredemeier, 1995). The purpose of this study then
was two-fold: (1) to develop a paper and pencil instrument that measures
two types of character in the sport context: moral versus social; (2)
to determine if college athletes, particularly team sport athletes support
social character over moral character as a result of the way character
may be defined and fostered by many coaches, parents, and general society.
To test our hypothesis that athletes support the practice of social character
over moral character we developed a paper and pencil instrument called
the Rudd-Stoll-Beller-Hahm Value Judgment Inventory. This article will
present the findings from our instrument and general study.

Method

Participants

A sample of N=595 college students from a variety of colleges/universities
(National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, II, III and National
Association for Intercollegiate Athletics) participated in the study.
More specifically, there were n=223 non-athletes, n=290 team sport athletes,
and n=76 individual sport athletes that responded to all of the questions
on the social character index (first 10 questions of RSBH Value Judgment
Inventory). There were also n=296 males and n=293 females that responded
to all of the questions on the social character index. The number of subjects
that responded to all of the questions on the moral character index (last
10 questions of RSBH Value Judgment Inventory) were n=221 non-athletes,
n=289 team sport athletes, and n=76 individual sport athletes. Lastly,
there were n=294 females and n=292 males that responded to all of the
questions on the moral character index.

Definition of the Non Athlete

For the purpose of this study, non-athletes were defined as any student
who was not currently participating in college athletics at the time of
the administration of the RSBH Value Judgment Inventory. In most cases
this means that a non-athlete was someone who had never been involved
in athletics or someone who had been involved in athletics but not at
the college level. There was also the possibility that there could have
been non-athletes in the sample who were collegiate competitors at one
time.

Although there may be non athletes in the sample that in the past competed
at one level or another, because they no longer compete at a high level,
we hypothesized that their competitive values that relate to character
in the sport context would not be the same as the sample of athletes that
currently compete. Thus, we would have some indication of how sport participation
affects athletes who compete versus those that do not in terms of moral
and social character.

Procedure

College non-athletes were administered the RSBH Value Judgment Inventory
while in their respective academic classes. College team sport athletes
and college individual sport athletes were administered the RSBH Value
Judgment Inventory also in academic classes or at practice or in an athletic
training room. With every administration of the RSBH Value Judgment Inventory,
both college athletes and college non-athletes were told that their participation
in the study was anonymous and that there participation was voluntary.

Design

A retrospective causal-comparative design in which college athletes were
compared to college non-athletes was used to understand the effects of
sport participation on moral and social character (see Gay & Airasian,
2002 for causal-comparative designs).

Instrumentation

In 1998, the Rudd-Stoll-Beller-Hahm (RSBH) Value Judgment Inventory was
developed to measure moral and social character (Rudd, 1998). To do so,
the RSBH Value Judgment Inventory is comprised of two indices: a social
character index and a moral character index. The social character index
consists of ten sport context scenarios that mostly take place outside
the lines of competition. Concomitantly, these scenarios are infused with
the social values of teamwork, loyalty, and self-sacrifice. Subjects are
asked to respond to each scenario via a 5-point Likert scale (Strongly
Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree).

The moral character index is comprised of ten gamesmanship scenarios
that were selected from the Hahm-Beller Values Choice Inventory (HBVCI).
These 10 questions were selected based on their high internal reliability
ranging from .81 to .88 over six different studies (see for example, Beller
& Stoll, 1992, 1995; Beller, Stoll, Bunnell, & Cole, 1996; Hahm,
Beller, & Stoll, 1989). In sum, subjects receive two scores: a social
character index score and a moral character index score.

The more frequently subjects agree with the social character scenarios,
the higher one scores on the social character index. The higher the score,
the more it is suggested that individuals are believed to support social
values and more generally social character in the sport milieu. Concurrently,
for the moral character index, the more frequently subjects “disagree”
with the various gamesmanship practices, the higher one’s score and the
more one is believed to support moral character in sport.

Four pilot studies were conducted to establish the reliability and validity
of the RSBH Value Judgment Inventory. Specifically, for the fourth pilot
study, the sample contained n=149 non-athletes, n=169 team sport athletes
and n=36 individual sport athletes. There were also n=182 males and n=172
females. An internal reliability analysis indicated a Cronbach alpha of
.72 for the social character index and a Cronbach alpha of .86 for the
moral character index. The internal reliability for the current sample
used in this study showed a Cronbach Alpha of .87 for the moral character
index and a Cronbach Alpha of .73 for the social character index.

As part of establishing the validity of the RSBH Value Judgment Inventory,
an exploratory factor analysis was conducted during the fourth pilot study
to seek evidence of construct validity. Results from the factor analysis
are somewhat difficult to interpret, however, the first factor does suggest
that there is a distinct contrast between social character (questions
1-10) and moral character (questions 11-20). Thus, there is evidence to
suggest that our instrument is measuring two distinct constructs; moral
character versus social character (see Tables 1 and 2).

Table 1: Total Variance Explained

Total Variance Explained
Initial Eigenvalues	Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings	Rotation
Factor	Total	% Variance	Cumulative %	Total	% Variance	Cumulative %	Total
1	6.28	31.40	31.40	5.76	28.84	28.84	4.08
2	1.57	7.86	39.27	1.04	5.22	34.05	2.70
3	1.30	6.52	45.79	0.69	3.46	37.52	3.25
4	1.09	5.43	51.22	0.46	2.32	39.83	2.57
5	1.06	5.32	56.53	0.36	1.82	41.65	1.38
6	0.96	4.78	61.33
7	0.81	4.05	65.37
8	0.79	3.93	69.30
9	0.77	3.86	73.16
10	0.66	3.28	76.44
11	0.62	3.09	79.52
12	0.60	3.01	82.53
13	0.58	2.89	85.41
14	0.52	2.59	88.00
15	0.47	2.37	90.37
16	0.43	2.15	92.52
17	0.43	2.13	94.65
18	0.40	2.00	96.64
19	0.36	1.81	98.45
20	0.31	1.55	100.00

Table 2: Factor Matrix

	Factors
1	2	3	4	5
Quest. 1	-0.23	0.15	0.19	-5.04E-02	0.26
Quest. 2	-0.55	0.31	0.19	-5.71	2.01E-03
Quest. 3	-0.53	0.39	-8.95E-02	-7.61E-02	-0.12
Quest. 4	-0.15	2.55E-02	0.17	0.15	-6.51E-02
Quest. 5	-0.49	0.35	0.22	0.10	0.20
Quest. 6	-0.46	0.24	0.17	6.74E-02	-0.28
Quest. 7	-0.38	0.28	-2.00	9.03E-02	7.40E-02
Quest. 8	-0.64	0.22	-0.16	0.15	-4.85E-02
Quest. 9	-0.24	8.21E-02	-0.13	0.14	0.24
Quest. 10	-0.34	1.56E-02	0.22	0.13	-0.09
Quest. 11	0.61	-7.83E-02	.6.14E-02	9.52E-02	0.14
Quest. 12	0.65	0.31	-9.39E-02	-0.25	2.19E-02
Quest. 13	0.61	9.18	0.31	9.12E-02	-1.19E-02
Quest. 14	0.61	0.15	0.27	-0.14	-0.18
Quest. 15	0.60	1.79E-02	0.31	0.15	8.08E-02
Quest. 16	0.62	0.41	-9.56E-02	-0.21	9.48E-02
Quest. 17	0.72	0.20	6.90E-02	2.10E-02	-0.10
Quest. 18	0.55	0.23	-0.38	0.28	-7.11
Quest. 19	0.67	0.26	-8.50E-02	0.14	3.07E-02
Quest. 20	0.61	1.19E-02	1.89E-02	0.30	8.04

Analysis

A 3×2 (teams sport athletes, individual sport athletes, and college non
athletes) x (males and females) univariate factorial analysis of variance
was used to compare differences between college team sport athletes, college
individual sport athletes, and college non athletes and to also compare
males and females on the moral and social character index. A Tukey Post
hoc test was used to detect specific group differences after a significant
F test was found.

For clarification, although comparing differences between gender on the
RSBH Value Judgment Inventory was not the focus of this study, gender
was introduced into the analysis as a result of previous studies with
the HBVCI that have shown that overall females score significantly higher
than males (Belier & Stoll, 1992, 1995., Penny & Priest, 1990;
Rudd, Stoll, & Beller, 1997). As well, a previous study by Rudd (1998)
showed that overall, males scored significantly higher than females on
the social character index part of the RSBH Value Judgment Inventory.
Thus, we were concerned with interaction effects.

Results

Results from the univariate factorial analysis of variance revealed that
there was a significant difference between team sport athletes, individual
sport athletes, and non athletes on the moral character index F (2, 580)
= 31.04, p<. 05. There was also a significant difference between team
sport athletes, individual sport athletes, and non athletes on the social
character index F (2, 583) = 22.86, p<. 05.

A significant difference between males and females on the moral character
index F (1, 580) = 87.23, p<. 05 was also found. There was also a significant
difference between males and females on the social character index F (1,
583) = 68.33, p<. 05 There was no gender interaction for either of
the two univariate analyses.

More specifically, a Tukey’s post hoc indicated that non-athletes scored
significantly higher (M=27.51, SD=7.13) than team sport athletes (M=20.75,
SD=6.41) on the moral character index. Further, individual sport athletes
scored significantly higher (M=26.02,

SD=6.87) than team sport athletes (M=20.75, SD=6.41) on the moral character
index. And non-athletes (M=27.51, SD=7.13) scored only slightly higher
than individual sport athletes (M=26.02, SD=6.87) on the moral character
index. Finally, overall there was a significant difference between males
and females in which females scored significantly higher (M=27.56, SD=6.81)
than males (M=20.42, SD=6.36) on the moral character index.

Dissimilarly, a Tukey’s post hoc test indicated that team sport athletes
scored significantly higher (M=28.47, SD=5.92) than non-athletes (M=23.30,
SD=5.35) on the social character index. Team sport athletes (M=28.47,
SD=5.92) also scored significantly higher than individual sport athletes
(M=25.46, SD=5.59) on the social character index.

And individual sport athletes (M=25.46, SD=5.59) scored significantly
higher than non-athletes (M=23.30, SD=5.35). Also on the social character
index, males scored significantly higher (M=28.87, SD=6.18) than females
(M=23.35, SD=4.72).

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument that could measure
two types of character: moral versus social and to then determine if college
athletes, team sport athletes in particular, support social character
over moral character. Concurrently, this study was aimed towards ascertaining
the effect of sport participation on moral and social character and therefore
we compared college athletes (team sport athletes and individual sport
athletes) to college non-athletes.

Team sport athletes scored significantly higher than non-athletes and
individual sport athletes on the social character index. And individual
sport athletes scored significantly higher than non-athletes on the social
character index. In contrast, team sport athletes scored significantly
lower than non-athletes and individual sport athletes on the moral character
index. Lastly, non-athletes scored only slightly higher than individual
sport athletes on the moral character index. All group differences on
moral and social character are consistent with previous studies using
the HBVCI to measure moral character (for example, Beller & Stoll,
1995, Beller, Stoll & Rudd, 1997; Rudd, Stoll & Beller, 1997)
or a previous study using the RSBH Value Judgment Inventory to measure
moral and social character (Rudd, Stoll & Beller, 1999).

As for explanations of the group differences, page limitations do not
allow for a full explication of all the various differences. Instead,
we will briefly address differences between team sport athletes and non-athletes
given those were the comparisons of most interest.

The reason why team sport athletes scored significantly higher than non
athletes on the social character index may be as a result of the emphasis
that coaches, parents, and general society place on values such as teamwork,
loyalty, self-sacrifice, perseverance, and work ethic in team sports.
Why such values are emphasized may be related to our American ideology
that emphasizes capitalism and corporation. Those such as (Berlage, 1982;
Coakley, 1998; O’Hanlon, 1980; Sage, 1988, 1998) have maintained that
sport is used as a vehicle to instill the types of values among sport
participants that will allow them to go out into society and contribute
to corporate America.

As for why team sport athletes scored significantly lower than non athletes
on the moral character index, the reason may relate to the socialization
process in the sport milieu in which many team sport athletes learn that
winning takes precedence over the moral ideal (see for example, Dreyfuss,
2001; Eitzen, 1999; Hawes, 1998; “A Purpose,” 1999). Therefore,
many athletes have not been taught to appreciate moral idealism or the
notion of moral character in competition.

In conclusion, there is evidence from our study to suggest that sport
may build social character, e.g., teamwork, loyalty, and self-sacrifice
as a possible result of the emphasis that is placed on social character.
In opposition, there is little evidence to suggest sport builds moral
character when defining character from a moral idealistic standpoint.

References

A purpose pitch. (1999, May 17). Sports Illustrated, 90, 24.
Armstrong, C.F. (1984). The lessons of sports: Class socialization
in British and American boarding schools. Sociology of Sport Journal,
1, 314-331.
Arnold, P. (1999). The virtues, moral education, and the practice
of sport. Quest, 51 (1), 39-54.
Beller, J.M. & Stoll, S.K. (Spring, 1992). A moral reasoning intervention
program for Division I athletes. The Academic Athletic Journal, 43-57.
Beller, J.M., & Stoll, S.K. (1995). Moral reasoning of high school
student athletes and general students: An empirical study versus personal
testimony. Pediatric Exercise Science, 7 (4), 352-363.
Beller, J.M., Stoll, S.K., Burwell, B., & Cole, J. (1996). The
relationship of competition and a Christian liberal arts education on
moral reasoning of college student athletes. Research on Christian Higher
Education, 3, 99-114.
Beller, J.M., Stoll, S.K., & Rudd, A. (1997). The “great
character experience.”
Assessing the effectiveness of a great books approach to teaching
moral character with competitive populations. Research Quarterly, 68
(Suppl.1), 72.
Berlage, G.I. (1982). Are children’s competitive team sports teaching
corporate values? Arena review, 6, 15-21.
Browit, J. (1999, June 2). Character paves way for L-C. Lewiston Morning
Tribune, pp. 1B, 3B.
Coakley, J. (1998). Sport in society: Issues and controversies (sixth
ed.). Boston: Irwin, McGraw-Hill.
Docheff, D. (1997). Character in sport and physical education. Journal
of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 68 (9), 34, 37.
Dreyfuss, I. (2001, June 17). Youth officials look for ways to stem
adult violence.
Statesman Journal, p. 7B.
Eitzen, D.S. (1999). Fair and foul: Beyond the myths and paradoxes
of sport. New York: Rowman and Littlefield.
Gay, L.R. & Airasian, P (2000). Educational research.. Competencies
for analysis and Application (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Hahm, C.H., Beller, J.M., & Stoll, Stoll, S.K. (1989). The Hahm-Beller
Values Choice Inventory. (Available from C.H. Hahm, J.M. Beller, and
S.K. Stoll, the Center for Ethics, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844).
Hawes, K. (1998). Sportsmanship: Why should anybody care? NCAA News,
pp. 1, 18.
Herman, J. (2000, May 22). They’re ‘good guys, good players.’ Statesman
Journal, p.3B.
Hodge, P. (1989). Character-building in sport: Fact or fiction. New
Zealand Journal of Medicine, 17 (2), 23-25.
Kleiber, D.A. & Roberts, G.C. (1981). The effects of sport experience
in the development of social character: An exploratory investigation.
Journal of Psychology 3, 114- 122.
Lumpkin, A., Stoll, S.K. & Beller, J.M. (1999). Sport ethics.
Applications for fair play.
(2nd ed.). St. Louis, MO: McGraw Hill.
Ogilvie, B.C., & Tutko, A. T. (1971). If you want to build character,
try something else.
Psychology Today, 5, 60-63.
O’Hanlon, T. (1980). Interscholastic athletics, 1900-1940: Shaping
citizens for unequal roles in the modern industrial state. Educational
Theory, 30 (2), 89-103.
Penny, W.J., & Priest, R.F. (1990). Deontological sport values
choices of United States academy cadets and selected other college-aged
populations. Unpublished manuscript, Office of Institutional Research,
United State Military Academy.
Rudd, A. (1998). Sport ‘s perceived ability to build character. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation. University of idaho, Moscow.
Rudd, A., Stoll, S.K., & Beller, J.M. (1997). Expressed coaching
behavior and its effect on athlete moral development. Research Quarterly,
68 (Supp1.1), 114-115.
Rudd, A., Stoll, S.K. & Beller, J.M. (1999). Measuring moral and
social character among a group of Division IA college athletes, non-athletes,
and ROTC military cadets.
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 70 (Supp1.1), 127.
Sage, G. (1988). Sport participation as a builder of character? The
World and I, 3 (10), 629-641.
Sage, G. (1998). Does sport affect character development in athletes?
The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 69 (1), 15-18.
Shields, D., & Bredemeier, B. (1995). Character development and
physical activity.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Stoll, S.K., J.M. Beller, Cole, J., Burwell, B. (1995). A comparison
of moral reasoning scores of student athletes in Division I and Division
III NCAA member collegiate/ institutions. Research Quarterly for Exercise
and Sport, 66 (suppl). 81.
Zimmerman, P. (2001, September 3). New England Patriots. Sports Illustrated,
95 (9) 162-163.

Footnotes

1. A study by Stoll, Beller, Cole, and Burwell (1995) revealed that there
was not a significant difference between Division I and Division III athletes
on the HBVCI.

Results suggest that athletes have similar competitive values regardless
of the competitive level of the university. Therefore, researchers felt
it was acceptable to use a sample of athletes from various university
levels and to then compare an aggregation of the athletes to the sample
of non-athletes.

U.S. Sports Academy2015-03-20T08:37:41-05:00March 8th, 2004|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Evaluation of Motivation in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease Who Participate in Different Rehabilitation Programs

Submitted by: Panagiota Papageorgiou, Panagiotis Fotinakis, Efstratia Tsitskari & Vasiliki Giasoglou

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to evaluate “motivation in patients
with coronary heart disease, who participated in different rehabilitation
programs and those who did not participate.” Fifty-one (n=51) male patients
suffering from coronary heart disease participated in the present study.
Fifteen participated in a rehabilitation program in a gym; eighteen participated
in a swimming program and eighteen consisted of the control group. The
mean age of the participants was 60.83 (SD=±3.3). Participants completed
the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS). According to the results, patients who
participated in the gym program had statistically higher levels in IM
to knowledge, to stimulation, to accomplishment and EM to interjected
regulation. On the contrary, the control group had statistically higher
levels in EM to external regulation and motivation.

INTRODUCTION

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases are the major cause of death
in middle-aged and older-adults in Europe and United States (BC Ministry
of Health and Ministry Responsible for Seniors, 1996; Giannuzzi et al.,
2003; Sarafino, 1990).

Cardiac Rehabilitation programs were first developed in the 1960s when
the benefits of ambulation during prolonged hospitalization for coronary
events had been documented. Exercise was the primary component of these
programs (Giannuzzi et al., 2003). Over the past 4 decades, numerous scientific
reports have examined the relationships between physical activity, physical
fitness and cardiovascular health (Cerubini, Lowenthal, Williams &
Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 1997; Fletcher, Balady &
Amsterdam, 2001; Oldridge, et al., 1993; Pate et al., 1995). Randomized
clinical trials of exercise training showed improvement in coronary risk
factors such as blood pressure, body composition, fitness, lipid and lipoprotein
profiles (Dunn et al., 1997; European Hear Failure Training Group, 1998;
EUROASPIRE II Study Group, 2001; Myers, 2003; Rockhill, Willet & Manson,
2001). Swimming and exercise in a gym are included in the so-called coronary
sport groups; as endurance sports with training effects suitable for rehabilitation
(Lins et al., 2003).

Although exercise is considered to be the easiest type of rehabilitation
for patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), their maintenance into
exercise programs is difficult most of the times (Harlan et al., 1995).
Reported rates of uptake of cardiac rehabilitation range from 15% to 59%
(Gattiker, Goins & Dennis, 1992; Pell, Pell & Morrison, 1996).
Approximately 20-25% of patients dropout of exercise programs within the
first three months and about 40-50% within 6 to 12 months (Song et al.,
2000; Oldridge, 1998; Oldridge, 1982).

Psychosocial variables that were found to influence the entrance and
completion of a CR program include motivation, mood states, and social
support (Myers, 2003). Motivation consistently has been shown to be a
strong indicator of initiation and maintenance of participation in a CR
program. It was found that the people that seem to have lower levels of
motivation perceive more barriers or problems associated with their exercise
programs. (Dishman & Ickes, 1981; Evenson & Fleury, 2000). The
literature on physical rehabilitation frequently refers to patient motivation
in explaining differences in outcome among patient groups with similar
pathologies (King, Taylor & Haskel, 1993; Maclean, & Pound, 2000).
Several studies have lent empirical support to the hypothesis that patient
motivation is a determinant of rehabilitation outcome (Clark & Smith,
1997; King & Barrowclough, 1989; Oldridge & Stoedefalke, 1984;
Wolf, 1969).

In general, motivation expresses the needs and the wishes that regulate
the direction, the intensity and the continuation of a specific behavior
(Deci & Ryan, 1985). Deci and Ryan (1985) explained intrinsic and
extrinsic motivators and their influence on self-determination in their
theory of self-determination. Self-determination is a quality of human
functioning that involves the experience of a choice. An important distinction
concerning motivation in exercise and sports is the one between intrinsic
and extrinsic motivated behavior for participation (Ryan et al., 1984).
Intrinsic motivation (IM) refers to an individual who participates in
an activity simply for the satisfaction of doing so (Fortier, et al.,
1995). Intrinsic motivation has been postulated to have three separate
categories: IM to know, to accomplish things and to stimulation (Vallerand
& Losier, 1999; Vallerand, et al., 1989; Vallerand &Bissonnette,
1992).

Extrinsic Motivation (EM), on the other hand, is related to external
factors, such as rewards and punishment (Vallerand & Perrault, 1999;
Ryan & Deci, 2000). The three types of extrinsic motivation, from
the least self-determined to the most self-determined, are external regulation,
interjected regulation and identification (Ryan et al., 1990).

The third type of motivation, amotivation, is characterized by
the thought that actions have no control over outcomes (Deci & Ryan,
1985). In other words, amotivated individuals believe that forces out
of their control determine behaviors.

The specific purpose of this study was to examine the differences in
motivation between patients, who participated in different cardiac rehabilitation
programs and patients who did not participated.

METHOD

Sample

A sample of 51 male patients suffering from coronary heart disease was
selected and divided into 3 groups. Fifteen (n=15) participated in a rehabilitation
program in a gym, eighteen (n=18) participated in a swimming program and
eighteen (n=18) patients consisted of the control group. The participants
couldn’t choose the type of activity and all of them followed a
phase III cardiac rehabilitation program. The mean age of patients was
(mean±S.D. 60.83 ± 3.3).

Procedures

The sampling procedure required that the prospective subjects met the
following criteria: (1) having undergone cardiac-related procedures such
as coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) or percutaneous transluminal
coronary angioplasty (PTCA); (2) able to participate in the cardiac rehabilitation
programs for more than 15 weeks (for the exercise groups) with an attendance
rate of more than 70%. Exclusion criteria were clinically unstable heart
failure, unstable arrhythmias and other exercise limiting concurrent condition
as skeletal or muscular disorders. All exercise patients followed the
routine 3 times per week for 45-90 minutes per session at an intensity
of 60-85% of the maximum heart rate (MHR).

The duration of the rehabilitation programs was 20 weeks. During the
20-week period, the type and intensity of exercise and heart rate and
blood pressure before, during and after exercise were recorded for all
subjects in the exercise groups. Exercise patients did not participate
in any other physical training.

Each training-session in the gym rehabilitation program consisted of
walking, cycling or running on an ergometer. It consisted of 10 minutes
warm–up, 10 minutes stretching and flexibility exercises, of 25
minutes endurance training with heart rate (HR) maintained on 60% – 85%
of the maximum heart rate (MHR) and 10 minutes cool–down.

The swimming exercise program included 10 minutes warm-up, 10 minutes
stretching and flexibility exercises in the pool, 12 minutes walking in
the pool with kickboards and barbell and 12 minutes running or walking
in the pool with alternative intensity in a distance of about 200-250m,
with heart rate (HR) maintained on 60% – 85% of the maximum heart rate
(MHR) and 10 minutes cool-down.

Permission to conduct the investigation was received from the local athletic
association and the individual coaches. Each participant took 10-15 minutes
to complete the questionnaire and responses to the instrument were kept
anonymous. The participants were advised to ask for help if confused about
either the instructions or the clarity of any particular item. No problems
were encountered in completing either of the inventories or understanding
the nature of the questions.

Questionnaire

Patients completed the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) developed by Pelletier,
Fortier, Vallerand and Tuson (1995). The SMS consists of seven sub-scales
that measure the three types of motivation: intrinsic, extrinsic, and
amotivation. There are four items per sub-scale, thus there are a total
of 28 items being assessed. Each item represents a possible reason why
patients with coronary heart disease participated in an exercise rehabilitation
program. Subjects must rate the extent to which each item corresponds
to one of their participation motives on a seven-point Likert scale, ranging
from “not at all” (1) to “exactly” (7). The English
questionnaire is valid, consistent, and reliable. Pelletier et al. (1995)
found that the English translation of the questionnaire had a satisfactory
level of internal consistency. Additionally, correlations between the
subscales and confirmatory factor analysis have confirmed the determination
continuum and the construct validity of the scale (Pelletier, et al. 1995).

Statistical Analysis

The data was analyzed in two steps. First, internal consistency of subscales
was assessed using Cronbach alphas (Cronbach, 1951). Secondly, a one –way
MANOVA was used to determine if significant differences existed among
patients exercise groups and control group across the seven SMS subscales.
When the results of the one –way MANOVA were statistically significant,
Post hoc Scheffe analysis were conducted to determine which specific patient-group
means were significantly different from one another. The level of significance
was 0.5.

RESULTS

The internal consistency of the Sport Motivation subscales was determined
by calculating Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha. The seven subscales
of SMS demonstrated acceptable internal reliability (IM to know =. 70,
IM to stimulation =. 80, IM to accomplishment =. 75, EM to external regulation
=. 69, EM to interjected regulation =. 66, EM to identified regulation
=. 75 and amotivation =. 70). These findings are supported by previous
study (Papageorgiou, 2001).

A one – way MANOVA indicated significant differences between the three
patients groups across the seven SMS subscale, Wilk’s Lambda=. 113,
(F_7,14=9.892, P<0.05, eta squared=0.664).

Univariate ANOVA results indicated a significant difference only for
the six dependent variables. Statistically significant differences were
found for IM to know (F_2,41=13.485, P<0.05, eta squared=0.397),
IM to stimulation (F_2,41=43.581, P<0.05, eta squared=0.680),
IM to accomplishment (F_2,41=6.581, P<0.05, eta squared=0,243),
EM to external regulation (F_2,41=6.548, P<0.05, eta squared=0.242),
EM to interjected regulation (F_2,41=22.913, P<0.05, eta
squared=0.528) and amotivation (F_2,41=5.707, P<0.05, eta
squared=0.218). Scheffe post hock analysis indicated that patients who
participated in the gym rehabilitation program had statistically higher
levels in IM to know, to stimulation. to accomplishment and EM to interjected
regulation. Additionally, the control group had statistically higher levels
in EM to external regulation and Amotivation. Table 1 provides the means
and standard deviations for these dependent variables.

Table 1 Means and Standard Deviations of Motivation Variables by Group

Variables	Gym Group	Swimming Group	Control Group
M±SD	M±SD	M±SD
IM to know	4.56±0.798	3.73±0.504	3.44±0.455
IM to stimulation	4.64±0.432	4.18±0.175	3.39±0.433
IM to accomplishment	4.41±0.701	3.75±0.365	3.98±0.358
EM to external regulation	4.10±0.991	3.76±0.240	4.5±0.342
EM to introjected regulation	3.79±0.729	3.46±0.311	2.69±0.286
Amotivation	1.47±0.588	1.63±0.208	2.0±0.450

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

This study explored the influence of two specific types, frequency and
duration of exercise cardiac rehabilitation programs in-patient motivations.

Findings from this study indicated that patients who participated in
the gym rehabilitation program had statistically higher levels in IM to
know, to stimulation, to accomplishment and EM to interjected regulation,
than patients who participated in the swimming rehabilitation program
and patients who did not participate in any program (control group). One
of the possible reasons for the differences between the two exercise patient
groups may be due to the fact that swimming is not very much allowed for
cardiac patients, despite the valuable advantages as an overall physical
conditioning and leisure avocation (Kawahatsu et al., 1986). According
Ebbeck, Gibbons and Loken-Dahle (1995) the differences in reasons for
participating depend on the type of physical activity in which the individual
is involved.

Specifically, patients who participated in a gym program to fulfill intimacy
or acceptance needs were motivated intrinsically to participate in order
to gain knowledge, to experience stimulation and accomplishment (Stults,
2001). According to previous studies, personal satisfaction, knowledge
and pleasure (IM) constitute the main reasons of adult’s participation
in exercise programs (Ebeck et al., 1995; Eix, 2001; Brodkin & Weiss,
1990). These findings are consistent with the findings of previous studies
that suggest effects of the type of rehabilitation in-patients motivation
(Papageorgiou, 2001).

However, the gym exercise group differs significantly from the swimming
and control group in EM to introjected regulation. Introjection is related
to the internal pressures that the patient may put on himself. The guilt
that they feel when they fail to complete a health task or a training
session, will motivate them so as to make it up (Vlachopoulos, Karageorghis
& Terry, 2000). According to Brodkin & Weiss (1990) health reasons
were rated highest by older adults for participating in exercise programs.
Additionally control group had statistically higher levels in EM to external
regulation and Amotivation.

Given the study findings, further research is suggested. A research design
for assessing long-term adherence is recommended. Previous studies indicated
that the dropout rate for an exercise program remains high until 12 months,
with an average attrition rate of 50% (Comoss, 1988; Oldridge, 1979; Song
et al., 2001). It is imperative to assess adherence changes over a long-term
period, focusing on the motivation related variables influencing participation
in rehabilitation programs.

REFERENCES

BC Ministry of Health and Ministry Responsible for Seniors (1996).
Selected Vital Statistics and Health Status Indicators: Annual
report 1995 (Victoria: Division of Vital Statistics).
Brodkin, P. & Weiss, M.R. (1990). Developmental differences in
motivation for participation in competitive swimming. Journal of
Sport and Exercise Psychology, 12, 248-263.
Cerubini, A., Lowenthal, D.T., Williams, L.S. & Aging Clinical
and Experimental Research (1997). Physical activity and cardiovascular
health in the elderly, 10, 13-25.
Clark, MS. & Smith, DS. (1997). Abnormal illness behavior in rehabilitation
from stroke. Clinical Rehabilitation, 11, 162-70.
Commos, P.M. (1988). Nursing strategies to improve compliance with
lifestyle changes in a cardiac rehabilitation population. Journal
of Cardiovascular Nursing, 2, 3, 23-36.
Cronbach, L.J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure
of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297-334.
Deci, E.L. & Ryan, R.M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination
in human behavior. New York: Plenum Press.
Dickey, C. & Gavin, J. (2002). Behavioral counseling benefits
older adults in cardiac rehabilitation programs. Medicine and Science
in Sport and Exercise, 34, 11, 1705-1713.
Dishman, RK. & Ickes, W. (1981). Self-motivation and adherence
to therapeutic exercise. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4(4)
421–438
Dunn, AL., Marcus, BH., Kampert, JB., Melisa, E., Garcia, M.P.H.,
Kohl, H.W. & Blair, S.N. (1997). Reduction in cardiovascular disease
risk factors: 6 – months results from project active. Preventive
Medicine, 26, 883-892.
Ebbeck, V., Gibbons, S.L. & Loken-Dahle, L.J. (1995). Reasons
for adult’s participation in physical activity: an interactional
approach. IInternational Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology,
26, 262-275.
Eix, T. (2001). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in sport: An
analysis of gender differences. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation,
Department of Psychology, Carleton University.
European Heart Failure Training Group. (1998). Experience from controlled
trials of physical training in chronic heart failure. Protocol and patients
factors in effectiveness in the improvement in exercise tolerance. European
Heart Journal, 19, 466-475.
EUROASPIRE II Study Group (2001). EUROASPIRE II. Lifestyle and risk
factor management and use of drug therapies in coronary patients from
15 countries. European Heart Journal, 22, 554-572.
Evenson, KR. & Fleury, J. (2000). Barriers to outpatient cardiac
rehabilitation participation and adherence. Journal of Cardiopulmonary
Rehabilitation, 20, 4, 241–246.
Fletcher, G.F., Balady, G.J. & Amsterdam, E.A. (2001). Exercise
standards for testing and training: a statement for healthcare professionals
from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 104, 1694-1740.
Fortier, M.S., Vallerand, R.J., Briere, N.M. & Provencher, P.J.
(1995). Competitive and recreational sport structures and gender: A
test of their relationship with sport motivation. International Journal
of Sport Psychology, 26, 24-39.
Gattiker, H., Goins, P.& Dennis, C. (1992). Cardiac rehabilitation.
Current status and future directions. West Journal of Medicine, 156,
183-188.
Giannuzzi, P., Saner, H., Bjornstad, P., Fioretti, P., Mendes, M.,
Cohen-Solal, A., Dugmore, L., Hambrecht, R., Hellemans, I., McGee, H.,
Perk, J., Vanhees, L. & Veress, G. (2003). Position paper of the
working group on cardiac rehabilitation and exercise physiology of the
European Society of Cardiology. European Heart Journal, 24,
1273-1278.
Harlan, W.R., Sandler, S.A., Lee, K.L., Lam, L.C. & Mark, D.B.
(1995). Importance of baseline functional and socioeconomic factors
for participation in cardiac rehabilitation. American Journal of
Cardiology, 76, 36-39.
Kawahatsu, K., Itoh, Saida, Hamazaki, Aoto, Ayai, Nohara, Hashimoto,
Go, Kambara, H. & Kawai, C. (1986). Application of swimming to a
long-term sporttherapy in coronary artery disease. Japanese Journal
of Physical Education, 30, 4, 103-315.
King, P. & Barrowclough, C. (1989). Rating the motivation of elderly
patients on a rehabilitation ward. Clinical Rehabilitation, 3,
289-91.
King, A.C., Taylor, C.B. & Haskel, W.L. (1993). Effects of differing
intensities and formats of 12 months of exercise training on psychological
outcomes in older adults. Health Psychology, 12, 292-300.
Lins, M., Speidel, T., Bastian, A., Zurbon, K.H., Bruhn, H.D. &
Simon, R. (2003). Swimming and hemostasis during rehabilitation in patients
with coronary heart disease. Thrombosis Research, 108, 191-194.
Maclean, N. & Pound, P. (2000). A critical review of the concept
of patient motivation in the literature on physical rehabilitation.
Social Science and Medicine, 50, 495-506.
Myers, J. (2003). Exercise and cardiovascular helath. Circulation,
107(1), 20-26.
Oldridge, N.B. (1979). Compliance of post myocardial infarction patients
to exercise program. Medicine and Sciene in Sports, 11, 373-375.
Oldridge, N.B. (1982). Compliance and exercise in primary and secondary
prevention of coronary heart disease: A review. Preventing Medicine,
11, 56-70.
Oldridge, N.B. & Stoedefalke, K.G. (1984). Compliance and motivation
in cardiac exercise programs. Clinical Sports Medicine, 3(2),
443-454.
Oldridge, N., Furlong, W., Feeny, D., Torrance, G., Guyatt, G., Crowe,
J. & Jones N. (1993). Economic evaluation of cardiac rehabilitation
soon after acute myocardial infarction. American Journal of Cardiology,
72, 154-61.
Oldridge, N.B., Guyatt, G.H., Fischer, M.E. & Rimm, A.A. (1998).
Cardiac rehabilitation after myocardial infarction. Combined experience
of randomized clinical trials. Journal of the American Medical Association,
260, 5-50.
Papageorgiou, P. (2001). Forecast of participation in exercise
program: Health adults and patients with coronary heart disease.
Unpublished Master Dissertation, University of Thrace, Department of
Physical Education and Sports Science
Pate, R.R., Pratt, M., Blair, S.N., Haskell, W.L., Macera, C.A., Buchenr,
D., Ettinger, W., Heath, G.W., King, A.C., Kriska, A., Leon, A.S., Marcus,
B.H., Morris, J., Paffenbarger, R.S., Patrick, K., Pollock, M.L., Rippe,
J.M., Sallis, J. & Wilmore, J.H. (1995). Physical activity and public
health. Journal of the American Medical Association, 273, 402-407.
Pelletier, L.G., Fortier, M.S., Vallerand, R.J., Tuson, K., Brier,
N.M. & Blais, N.M. (1995). Toward a new measure of intrinsic motivation,
extrinsic motivation and amotivation in sports: The sport motivation
scale (SMS). Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 17, 35-53.
Pell, J., Pell. A. & Morrison, C. (1996). Retrospective study
of influence of reprivation on uptake of cardiac rehabilitation. British
Medicine Journal, 313, 276-268.
Rockhill, B. Willet, W.C. & Manson, J.E. (2001). Physical activity
and mortality: a prospective study among women. American Journal
of Public Health, 91(4), 578-583.
Ryan, R.M., Vallerand, R.J. & Deci, E.L. (1984). Intrinsic motivation
in sports: A cognitive evaluation theory interpretation. In W.F. Staub
& J.M. Williams (Eds.),Cognitive Sport Psychology
(pp. 231-242). Lansing, NY: Sport Science Associates.
Ryan, R.M., Connell, J.P. & Crolnick, W.S. (1990). When achievement
is not intrinsically motivated: A theory of self regulation in school.
In A.K. Boggiano & T.S.
Pittman (Eds.),Achievement and Motivation: A social-development
perspective (pp. 143-158). New York: Cambridge University Press.Ryan,
R.M. & Deci, E.L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: Classic
definition and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology,
25, 54-67.
Sarafino, E.P. (1990). Health psychology: biopsychological interactions.
New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Song, R. & Lee, H. (2001). Effects oa 12-week cardiac rehabilitation
exercise program on motivation and health promoting lifestyle. Heart
and Lung, 30, 3, 200-209.
Stults, M.P. (2001). Motivation and Perceived Relatedness. Presented
at the Meeting of the Midwesten Psychological Association. Psi
Chi Poster Session, Chicago, May.
Vallerand, R.J., Blais, M.R., Briere, N.M. & Pelletier, L.G. (1989).
Construction et validation de l’echelle de motivation en education
(EME). Revue Canadienne des Sciences du Comportement, 21, 323-349.
Vallerand, R.J. & Bissonnette, R. (1992). Intrinsic, extrinsic
and amotivational styles as predictors of behavior: A prospective study.
Journal of Personality, 60, 599-620.
Vallerand, R.J. & Losier, G. F. (1999). An integrative analysis
of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in sport. Journal of Applied
Sport Psychology, 11, 142-169.
Vallerand, R.J. & Perrault, S. (1999). Intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation in sport: Toward a hierarchical model. In R. Lidor &
M. Bar-Eli (Eds.), Sport Psychology: Linking Theory and Practice
(pp. 191-212). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology, Inc.
Vlachopoulos, S.P., Karageorghis, C.I. & Terry, P.C. (2000). Motivation
profiles in sport: A self-determination theory perspective. Research
Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 71(4), 387-397.
Wolff, B.B. (1969). How do rheumatic diseases relate to economic potential
as influenced by personal attitudes and motivation. Palliative Medicine,
72, 68-70.

U.S. Sports Academy2015-03-20T08:36:36-05:00March 7th, 2004|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Exercise Science, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Consumer Experience Tourism and Brand Bonding: A Look at Sport-Related Marketers

Submitted by: Mark A. Mitchell, Robert Montgomery & Sheila J. Mitchell

ABSTRACT

This manuscript reviews the growing use of manufacturing plant tours,
company museums, and company visitor centers by sport-related marketers
(equipment manufacturers, venues, etc) to cultivate relationships with
existing and potential consumers. Consumer Experience Tourism provides
the user (i.e., the consumer) with an experience regarding a product,
its operation, production process, history, and historical significance.
Such brand bonding may contribute to higher levels of involvement with
a product/brand and brand loyalty. Ultimately, the bond between consumers
and brands may be strengthened by the availability of such consumer experiences.
Such tourism opportunities provided by sport-related firms are profiled.

INTRODUCTION

The National Sporting Goods Association tracks the annual sales of sports
equipment, footwear, clothing, and recreational transportation (such as
bicycles, pleasure boats, RVs, and snowmobiles). For 2003, it is estimated
these four product categories combined for almost $80 billion in sales
(sports equipment, $22.2 billion; footwear, $14.4 billion; clothing, $10.1
billion; and recreational transportation, $40 billion (please see nsga.org).

The Relationship Marketing orientation has prompted brand managers to
seek new and innovative ways of creating long-lasting, mutually-beneficial
relationships (or bonds) with a most important asset; namely, their customers.
Increasingly, brand managers are recognizing the opportunity to showcase
a product’s creation and/or evolution as an important catalyst for
forging stronger bonds with consumers. So, interested consumers/tourists
can witness the production of such items as Calloway Golf Clubs, Fleetwood
RVs, Louisville Slugger Baseball Bats, Trek Bicycles, and Harley-Davidson
Motorcycles.

The purpose of this manuscript is to evaluate the growing use of manufacturing
plant tours, company museums, and company visitor centers by sport-related
markets to cultivate stronger relationships with consumers and to (hopefully)
stimulate greater brand loyalty. First, the concept of Consumer Experience
Tourism is defined. Second, the underlying interest in this type of tourism
activity is reviewed. Third, the target consumers for such tourism venues
are examined. Next, existing Consumer Experience Tourism efforts of sport-related
marketers are profiled. Finally, the desired outcomes of these efforts
are discussed.

CONSUMER EXPERIENCE TOURISM

Manufacturing plant tours, company museums, and company visitor centers
represent a segment of tourism known by different names: manufacturing
tourism, industrial attractions, industrial tourism, and industrial heritage
tourism. The shared desire of such facilities is to establish a bond between
a consumer and brand as the consumer learns about the brand, its operation,
production process, history, and historical significance. The term “Consumer
Experience Tourism” represents a unifying theme for this segment
of the tourism industry. This term captures the consumer’s ability
to discover more about the brands they consume while manufacturers can
forge closer relationships with those consumers during the 30-120 minutes
of time spent as the facility’s guests (Mitchell and Mitchell 2000,
2001, 2002; Mitchell and Orwig 2002). (The abbreviation CET will be used
throughout the manuscript to represent Consumer Experience Tourism.)

Involvement With a Brand

Brand managers seek to address consumer needs at three levels: functional
(providing solutions to consumer problems); symbolic (providing satisfaction
of psychological desires); and experiential (providing sensory pleasure,
variety, and cognitive stimulation) (Park, Jaworski, and MacInnis, 1986).
CET can strengthen the bond between consumers and brands by providing
a visual presentation of the brand, its operation, production process,
history, and historical significance. Such a bond may be viewed as an
increased level of personal involvement with the brand and (assumedly)
translates into greater brand loyalty. For example, a parent seeking to
cultivate a child’s interest in baseball can take that child to
the Louisville Slugger tour (Louisville, KY).

Cognitive involvement reflects a consumer’s interest in thinking
(or learning more) about a product (Park and Young, 1986). CET may increase
the consumer’s level of cognitive involvement by stimulating thinking
about the brand and its production processes. So, an active golfer may
appreciate witnessing the manufacturing processes used by Karsten Manufacturing
(i.e., Ping) (Phoenix, AZ) or Calloway (Carlsbad, CA). Further, the positive
word-of-mouth communication stimulated by satisfied visitors may be deemed
more credible than other paid forms of promotion.

INTEREST IN CONSUMER EXPERIENCE TOURISM

Many people think of manufacturing plant tours, company museums, and
company visitor centers as low-cost entertainment (and educational) options
for parents with children because such tours are typically free or require
only a nominal fee (Lukas, 1998). While this is a key target market and
a benefit the consumer may seek, the root cause of this fascination runs
much deeper.

Harris (1989) and Prentice (1993) point out that factories and mines
have historically employed a large percentage of the American workforce.
The shift to a service economy takes individuals out of the factories.
This removes people spatially and culturally from the manufacturing sector
providing less contact and little first-hand knowledge of industrial work.
The plant tour creates a novel and nostalgic view of industrial work,
which in turn feeds tourist interest in manufacturing processes. Harris
and Prentice further note that many younger workers’ lack of factory
work experience progresses naturally toward an increasing curiosity about
the topic.

Older employees may relish the experience of “returning to their
roots”. Rudd and Davis (1998) identify the industrial revolution
as a defining event in American history with company plant tours providing
users a look at our collective past. Richards (1996) notes the industrial
revolution created an era where the transition from modern to obsolete
occurs more rapidly. As such, products of older technology are considered
cultural and historical artifacts creating feelings of nostalgia among
society. Company museums or visitor centers capitalize on these emotions
by providing a sentimental, bonding experience between buyer and brand.

The “Retro Example”

The current interest in retro sports clothing is a manifestation of
this interest, even fascination, with the past. All four major North American
sports leagues are aggressively pursuing this growing market (Finney 2003).
Throwback jerseys and other merchandise have become a $1 billion global
industry. The National Basketball Association (or, NBA) sold over $400
million worth of its Hardwood Classics in 2002. The National Hockey League
(or, NHL) is approaching $250 million in vintage merchandise sales. It
is interesting to note that many of these jerseys, ball caps, and other
items represent teams that no longer exist (i.e., Winnipeg Jets or Quebec
Nordiques) or former stars (i.e., Bobby Clarke) (Westhead 2003). The Negro
Leagued Baseball Museum (Kansas City, MO) considers such merchandising
initiatives an opportunity to educate younger fans about an important
part of American and sport history (Spellman 2003).

Sports venues designed as “retro” or “throw-back”
facilities are another interesting manifestation of this interest in the
game’s history. While Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and Yankee Stadium
continue to be held in high regard for their historic value, newer ballparks
have been designed to capture the old ambiance of a day at the park while
enhancing customer comfort. Such parks as PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates),
Jacobs Field (Cleveland Indians), Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles), Comerica
Park (Detroit Tigers), or Conseco Fieldhouse (Indiana Pacers) have embraced
the past while enhancing fan (and player) comfort.

TARGET CONSUMERS FOR CONSUMER EXPERIENCE TOURISM

A manufacturer can use its physical facilities to establish (or strengthen)
the bond with a variety of parties. The target consumers for CET
can be divided into three categories: current and potential consumers,
business partners, and community stakeholders.

Bonding With Consumers

Manufacturing plant tours, company museums, and company visitor centers
have become a low-cost entertainment option for families, community groups,
business travelers, and others. They provide a day trip option for local
residents. Schools also benefit through field trips for area students
and teachers. Business travelers become aware of best practices from firms
in both related and unrelated industries (Axelrod and Brumberg 1997).
Prentice (1993) notes that areas with large numbers of business travelers
are particularly fertile for the development of such a tourism venue as
travelers can invest a small amount of time and have a valuable experience
with a brand. So, a salesperson can spend approximately 1 hour at the
BMW Zentrum in Greer, SC as they travel the Greenville-Spartanburg area
or as they shuttle from Charlotte to Atlanta.

Bonding With Business Partners

Though business associates are also frequently users of a brand, their
interests are typically more professional than personal. Lucas (1998)
suggests, “museums create the specter of the Wizard of Oz, but factory
tours provide a glimpse of the man behind the curtain.” Business
relationships enhanced by CET include corporate managers, future employees,
new sales agents, industrial suppliers, shareholders, and others. Plant
tours provide corporate managers with an enhanced understanding of how
manufacturing capabilities contribute to a company’s strength in the marketplace.

The plant tour may also be an effective means of identifying and recruiting
future employees by creating interest in the company’s manufacturing
processes (Day, 1990). Upton (1997) suggests that everyone who interacts
with a manufacturing plant (i.e., buyers, suppliers, managers, employees,
and so on) benefits from a comprehensive look at the manufacturing process.

Bonding With Community Stakeholders

Plant tours may be an effective means of communicating with regulatory
agencies and/or public interest groups. For instance, Nike commissioned
a panel to review its operations in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam to counter
perceptions of unfair labor practices and working conditions. The review
process included on-site plant tours and visits with local employees.
The company received a favorable review with respect to this volatile
public relations issue (Neuborne, 1997). Conducting tours of new facilities
during grand openings is commonly practiced, with target consumers including
shareholders, politicians, dignitaries and reporters. While target audiences
may have individual motivations for taking such a tour and may seek different
outcomes from it, it is certain that people are interested in the work
of others.

CONSUMER EXPERIENCE TOURISM EFFORTS BY SPORT MARKETERS

Currently, a number of sport marketers provide manufacturing plant tours,
company museums, and company visitor centers to support their products.
These firms compete in such diverse product categories as baseball/softball
equipment, golf clubs, fishing equipment, boats, and others (see Table
One).

Table One
Consumer Experience Tourism Offerings of Sport Equipment Manufacturers

Company Name	Location	Product Category
Karsten Manufacturing (Ping)	Phoenix, AZ	Golf Equipment
Calloway Golf	Carlsbad, CA	Golf Equipment
Correct Craft (Ski Nautiques water-ski boats)	Orlando, FL	Boats
Coachman RVs	Middlebury, IN	RVs
Jayco RVs	Middlebury, IN	RVs
Hillerich and Bradsby (Louisville Slugger, PowerBilt)	Louisville, KY	Baseball Equipment Golf Equipment
Arctco (Arctic Cat)	Thief River Falls, MN	Snowmobiles
Christian Brothers	Warroad, MN	Hockey Sticks
Polaris	Roseau, MN	Snowmobiles
Airstream	Jackson Center, OH	RVs
Goodyear	Akron, OH	Tires
Wooden Touch Putters (Oregon Connection)	Coos Bay, OR	Golf Equipment
Luhr-Jensen Lures	Hood River, OR	Fishing Equipment
Harley-Davidson	York, PA	Motorcycles
Vanguard Racing Sailboats	Bristol, RI	Boats
Worth	Tullahoma, TN	Baseball and Softball Equipment
Nocona Athletic	Nocona, TX	Baseball and Football Equipment
K2	Vashon, WA	Skiing Equipment
Trek	Waterloo, WI	Bicycles

Source: Axelrod, K. and B. Brumberg (1997), Watch
It Made in the U.S.A., Sante Fe, NM: John Muir Publications.

A list of automotive-related tours is separated and presented in Table
Two.

Table Two
Consumer Experience Tourism Offerings of Automobile Manufacturers

Company Name	Location	Product Category
Mercedes Benz	Vance, AL	Automobiles
Mitsubishi Automobile	Normal, IL	Automobiles
Corvette	Bowling Green, KY	Automobiles
Ford	Louisville, KYEdison, NJ	Automobiles
Toyota	Georgetown, KY	Automobiles
General Motors	Flint, MIJanesville, WI	Automobiles
Goodyear	Akron, OH	Tires
Honda	Marysville, OH	AutomobilesMotorcycles
BMW	Greer, SC	Automobiles
Nissan	Smyrna, TN	Automobiles
Saturn	Spring Hill, TN	Automobiles

Source: Axelrod, K. and B. Brumberg (1997), Watch
It Made in the U.S.A., Sante
Fe, NM: John Muir Publications.

It should be noted that NASCAR drivers/owners have been particularly
active in embracing CET for their use. NASCAR fans can visit the working
garage of their favorite drivers and witness the preparation of the very
cars they will watch later at the track. The most popular destinations
for NASCAR fans include Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motor Sports, Dale
Earnhardt Incorporated, Petty Enterprises, and others. The majority of
such facilities are located in close proximity to Charlotte, NC. Additionally,
most larger racetracks provide tours of their facilities including garage
areas, pits, and grandstands. An example list (not exhaustive) of these
tracks is presented in Table Three.

Table Three
Example Motor Sport Tracks Offering Public Tours

Name of Track	Location
Atlanta Motor Speedway	Atlanta, GA
Las Vegas Motorspeedway	Las Vegas, NV
Lowe’s Motor Speedway	Concord, NC
Daytona International Speedway	Daytona, FL
Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, TX
Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, IN
Talladega Superspeedway	Talladega, AL
Kentucky Speedway	Sparta, KY
Kansas Speedway	Kansas City, KS

Source: Original constructed from information gained
from nascar.com.

As new stadiums have been built for professional teams, their owners
have identified the value of opening their facilities to the general public
for tours. Fans can now tour such venues as Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia
Eagles, NFL), Invesco Field at Mile High (Denver Broncos, NFL), PNC Park
(Pittsburgh Pirates, MLB), Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles, MLB), and
the American Airlines Center (Dallas Mavericks, NBA and Dallas Stars,
NHL). And, some older ballparks continue to welcome guests to take nostalgic
tours of their facilities, including Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs, MLB),
Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox, MLB), Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees, MLB),
New Orleans Superdome (New Orleans Saints, NFL), and others.

Table Four
Additional Sport Halls of Fame

Name	Location
Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum	St. Louis, MO
United States Golf Association Museum and Library	Far Hills, NJ
International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum	Newport, RI
U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame	Somerville, NJ
Lacrosse Hall of Fame	Baltimore, MD
World Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame	Colorado Springs, CO
America’s Cup Hall of Fame	Bristol, RI
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum	Kansas City, MO
United States Slo-Pitch Softball Hall of Fame	Petersburg, VA
Weightlifting Hall of Fame	York, PA

Source: Arany, L. and A. Hobson (1998), Little
Museums: Over 1,000 Small (And Not-So-Small) American Showplaces,
Henry Holt, New York.

DESIRED OUTCOMES FROM CONSUMER EXPERIENCE TOURISM

Involvement theory suggests that consumers who have witnessed a product’s
production may become more brand loyal as a result of their identification
with the product, their familiarity with the production process, their
first-hand interaction with employees, first-hand witness to their quality
assurance processes, and other internal needs. As such, business outcomes
such as growth in buyer loyalty, sales, profitability, and market share
are some of the outcomes sought by companies that provide manufacturing
plant tours, company museums, and company visitor centers. It would be
myopic, however, to suggest CET is solely driven by the desire to increase
sales, profitability, or market share. Other outcomes sought focus on
company image, education, and open communication.

Company Image

Plant tours provide firms the opportunity to build a relationship with
local residents. This can be particularly important if the product or
production processes are perceived to pose environmental concerns (i.e.,
a car plant that produces air emissions). When public funds are used to
build sports arenas, owners may seek to enhance their image by showcasing
what the public has received for their investment.

Education

Plant tours provide a multi-sense experience for consumers, employees,
shareholders, suppliers, and other stakeholders. Consumers can bond with
brands. Company employees can visualize the larger manufacturing process
and appreciate the contribution their particular function or sub-routine
makes to the finished good. As noted earlier, the licensing of retro sports
images by the Negro League Museum (Baseball) allows younger consumers
(often African-Americans) to learn more about the historical significance
of the league and its players.

Salespeople, as well as external sales agents, can study the manufacturing
processes to be better prepared to answer (and anticipate) buyer questions.
For example, a sporting goods sales representative can better appreciate
the manufacturing processes used by Worth to produce its line of baseball
and softball equipment. This representative then carries this knowledge
into the marketplace. A firm’s shareholders (for example, Calloway
Golf, Ford, Goodyear, Harley-Davidson) can witness the processes used
by the firms in which they have an equity position. Finally, some academic
and professional associations include plant tours on their meeting agendas
for continuing education.

Open Communication

An open manufacturing process conveys to others an open communication
style of an organization (i.e., we’ve got nothing to hide). Positive word-of-mouth
communication is stimulated among satisfied on-lookers. Campers having
witnessed the manufacturing of their Jayco or Coachman RVs may be more
likely to share their confidence in their units with fellow campers. News
media may provide “free press” given the novelty of the open
approach to manufacturing (such as the wooden head golf putters produced
by Oregon Connection. While some argue the opportunity for “true”
benchmarking may be overstated, one key outcome of industrial tourism
programs for managers is the openness of communication and the ability
to learn from others (Hinton, 1996).

SUMMARY STATEMENTS

Consumer experience tourism provides the consumer with a bonding experience
regarding a brand, its operation, production process, history, and historical
significance. A consumer witnessing the production of their favorite brand
of golf equipment, snowmobiles, fishing equipment, or softball bats may
become a more brand loyal user as their level of involvement with the
brand intensifies. Such an experience may increase the buyer’s cognitive
involvement with the brand while addressing the buyer’s need for
experiential learning. Further, the aura of the manufacturing process
or historical evolution of the brand may become an integral part of brand’s
image (e.g., as mechanics create race cars in NASCAR garages). Finally,
this same tourist may become a credible spokesperson for the firm as s/he
shares with others the excitement of watching their hockey sticks, baseball
bat or skis actually being produced. Toward this end, CET can become an
integral part of a firm’s integrated marketing communications program.

As the U.S. economy continues its progression from a manufacturing-driven
economy to one driven by services and information, the interest in “how
things work” or “how’d they make that” intensifies. The
separation from the manufacturing process feeds the growing interest in
CET. Further, citizens studying current processes used to produce familiar
brands can celebrate the industrial heritage of their nation. Ultimately,
the bond between consumers and brands may be strengthened by the availability
of manufacturing plant tours, company museums, and company visitor centers.
The relative importance of these outreach efforts, in addition to their
availability, will likely increase as the competition for sports equipment
and entertainment further intensifies.

REFERENCES

Arany, L. and A. Hobson (1998), Little Museums: Over 1,000 Small
(And Not-So-Small) American Showplaces, Henry Holt, New York.
Axelrod, K. and B. Brumberg (1997), Watch it Made in the U.S.A.:
A Visitor’s Guide to the Companies That Make Your Favorite Products
(2^nd Edition), John Muir Publications, Sante Fe,
NM.
Day, C. R. (1990), “Strut Your Stuff,” Industry Week,
Vol 239 No 19, p. 5.
Finney, D. P. (2003), “Back to the Future,” St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, July 21, p. E1.
Harris, F. (1989), “From the Industrial Revolution to the Heritage
Industry,” Geographical Magazine, Vol 61, pp. 38-42.
Hinton, J. (1996), “Rivals Club Together,” Accountancy,
Vol 117 No 1, pp. 36-37.
Lukas, P. (1998), “Working Vacation,” Money, Vol
27 No 9, pp. 170-171.
Mitchell, M. and S. Mitchell (2002), “Consumer Experience Tourism:
A Powerful Tool for Food and Beverage Producers,” Journal of
Food Products Marketing, Vol 6 No 3, pp. 1-16.
Mitchell, M. and S. Mitchell (2001), “Showing Off What You Do
(And How You Do It),” Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing,
Vol 7 No 4, pp. 61-77.
Mitchell, M. and S. Mitchell (2002), “Consumer Experience Tourism
in the Nonprofit & Public Sectors,” Journal of Nonprofit
& Public Sector Marketing, Vol 9 No 3, pp. 21-34.
Mitchell, M. and R. Orwig (2002), “Consumer Experience Tourism:
Brand Bonding,” Journal of Product and Brand Management,
Vol 11 No. 1, pp. 30-41.
nascar.com (National Association of Stock Car Racing)
nsga.org (National Sporting Goods Association).
Neuborne, E. (1997), “Young Gives Nike Fair Review After Plant
Tour,” USA Today, June 25, Section B, p. 5.
Park, C.W. and S.M. Young (1986), “Consumer Response to Television
Commercials: The Impact of Involvement and Background Music on Brand
Attitude Formation, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol 24 No
1, pp. 11-24.
Park, C.W., B.J. Jaworski, and D.M. MacInnis (1986), “Strategic
Brand Concept – Image Management,” Journal of Marketing,
Vol 50 October, p. 136.
Prentice, R. (1993), Tourism and Heritage Attractions,
Routledge Kegan Paul, New York.
Richards, G. (1996), “Production and Consumption of European
Cultural Tourism,” Annals of Tourism Research, Vol 23, pp.
261-283.
Rudd, M. A. and J. Davis (1998), “Industrial Heritage Tourism
at the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine,” Journal of Travel Research,
Vol 36 No 3, pp. 85-89.
Spellman, M. (2003), “Negro League Jerseys, Caps will Soon be
Available,” Chicago Daily Herald, July 14, p. 10.
Upton, D. (1997), “Why (and How) to Take a Plant Tour,”
Harvard Business Review, Vol 75 No 3, pp. 97-106.
Westhead, R. (2003), “The CFL Goes Retro,” The Toronto
Star, June 29, p. C01.

U.S. Sports Academy2015-03-20T08:35:48-05:00March 6th, 2004|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Exercise Science, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off