Structural Relationships among Perceived Sporting Event Quality, Image, Trust, Satisfaction, and Loyalty of Small-scale Golf Tournament Participants : A Case of Korea Family Golf Challenge

PURPOSE Sporting events constitute attractive platforms for providing participants with unique experiences. This study was aimed at investigating the structural relationships among perceived sporting event quality, image, trust, satisfaction, and loyalty of small-scale golf tournament participants.METHODS The questionnaire was structured in five dimensions: sporting event quality (4 sub-dimensions and 13 items), image (3 items), trust (3 items), satisfaction (3 items), and loyalty (4 items). A total of 217 amateur golfers from four Ecolian public golf clubs (Gwangsan, Jechon, Jeoungsun, and Younggwang) during the golf tournament participated in this study. Factor, reliability, validity, and structural equation model analyses were performed utilizing SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 24.0.RESULTS This study indicated that sporting event quality in a small-scale sporting event was the crucial factor of image, trust, and satisfaction, which, in turn, significantly impacted loyalty.CONCLUSIONS The results of this study contribute to theoretical understandings of sporting event quality factors that predict sport consumers’ image, trust, and satisfaction in the context of sports and leisure. Additionally, this study offers practical suggestions for administrators who develop marketing strategies for small-scale sporting events.