RESEARCH ARTICLE


Revisiting the Role of Football Spectators’ Behavioral Intentions and its Antecedents



Rui Biscaia1, 2, *
1 Escola de Turismo, Desporto & Hospitalidade, Universidade Europeia, Lisboa, Estrada da Correia, no. 53, 1500-210 Lisboa, Portugal
2 CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada da Costa, 1495-688 Cruz Quebrada, Portugal


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Creative Commons License
© Rui Biscaia; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode), which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Escola de Turismo, Desporto & Hospitalidade, Universidade Europeia, Lisboa, Estrada da Correia, no. 53, 1500-210 Lisboa, Portugal; Tel: +351 210 309 900; E-mail: rui.biscaia@universidadeeuropeia.pt


Abstract

Football is one of the most rooted sports worldwide attracting millions of spectators, but clubs face an increasing competition of other leisure activities. Understanding how to increase spectators' behavioral intentions towards their favorite football teams is paramount for sport managers, given that a behavioral intention represents a measure of how much a person is willing to engage in a specific behavior. Thus, the purposes of this study were (1) to explain the role of spectators' behavioral intentions, and (2) to highlight its antecedents within the football context. In doing so, this study starts by providing a review of consumption-related aspects that have been associated with football spectators' behavioral intentions, such as emotions experienced during the games, service quality, team brand associations and satisfaction. Subsequently, the main findings from previous studies conducted with football spectators are highlighted and managerial implications are suggested in order to aid football clubs at providing good overall consumption experiences to their spectators, and thus contributing to increase attendance levels. Finally, future research avenues are suggested in order to expand our understanding on how to strengthen the link between football spectators and their teams, with subsequent associated benefits.

Keywords: Behavioral Intentions, Emotions, Football, Service Quality, Spectators, Team Brand Associations.