MKTG 2305 Marketing Research
Question:
Consistently attracting profitable attendance at sporting events is one of the most challenging aspects of marketing professional sports. Strategically, managing spectator perceptions of service quality and understanding how these perceptions affect value and behavioural intentions is very important if sports organizations are going to succeed in today’s competitive entertainment environment. The study context is professional Rugby Union. Rugby Union is similar to team sports such as Rugby League and American Football, and is played in over 100 countries worldwide (rules of the game can be viewed at http://laws.worldrugby.org/). The focus of this study is on Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, an international rugby competition currently played between ten state and provincial teams from New Zealand and Australia. In recent years the Super Rugby championship has included teams from South Africa,
Argentina and Japan. At that time the competition was arguably the world’s premier interprovincial rugby tournament. However, the Japanese team left the competition for financial reasons before the conclusion of the 2020 season, and in September 2020 the South African Rugby Union announced the withdrawal of their four Super Rugby franchises from the competition. The Argentinian team also have not competed in any Super Rugby tournaments
in 2021, their future is in doubt, and it is highly likely that they will be disbanded. The longterm future of Super Rugby in 2022 and beyond is in question, with a potential 12 team format being discussed. This hypothetical competition would feature the current ten Australian and New Zealand sides with the addition of two teams from the Pacific Islands. Due to the general lack of competitiveness of the Australian state sides when playing their New Zealand counterparts, Australian crowd and television viewing figures for Super Rugby TransTasman have plummeted over the past few years. According to statistics by Fox Sports, the number of people attending a Super Rugby match has fallen from 643,790 in 2015 (average crowd 15,702), to 536,807 in 2016 (average 13,764), an average of 11,402 in 2017 and the current low in 2020 (average 7324). The television audience on Fox Sports also has fallen
dramatically over this period.
Understanding the key determinants of spectator service quality is a critical task in particular for the managers of international rugby. Research commissioned by the Australian Rugby Union indicates rugby is perceived as the least entertaining and innovative of the major sporting codes, and most difficult to understand. Not surprisingly, rugby also is found to be the least favoured of the major sporting codes in Australia. A consortium of Australian Super Rugby franchises (the research sponsor) has funded a study to collect data on spectators’ perceptions of the quality of the Super Rugby competition. Please read the following overview of the study and answer ALL the questions that follow. B&C Research collected information from spectators at a pre-COVID Super Rugby game on their perceptions of the quality of the Super Rugby experience. Data was collected on a single occasion from a systematic random sample of spectators, aged over 18 years, who were about to attend the Super Rugby Union match. Twelve research assistants (two placed at each of the six entry gates to the stadium) handed out 50 surveys each. The research assistants intercepted every fifth person as they entered the stadium, explained the survey and requested the spectators to fill the questionnaire in at home post-game, and mail back in the pre-paid
envelope. Within the two-week response period 390 fully completed surveys were returned. Spectators were asked to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with many statements investigating the service quality they experience at Super Rugby games, and perceptions of value and likelihood of attending another Super Rugby match.
Respondents also provided demographic information on themselves including gender and age. The service quality dimensions specifically covered include perceptions of the quality of the social environment (e.g., the stadium’s layout allows for suitable interaction with other spectators), stadium cleanliness (e.g., the stadium is clean), stadium atmosphere (e.g., the atmosphere is exciting), game quality (e.g., the games are usually fast and flowing), match day entertainment (e.g., entertainment provided is enjoyable) and food and beverage service (e.g., food and drinks are of good quality). These variables were all measured on 7-point scales ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree. Respondents were also asked to indicate the perceived value of their Super Rugby experience (considering the whole experience, I would consider Super Rugby good value for money). The intention of spectators to attend another Super Rugby match was also investigated (how likely are you to attend another Super Rugby match). This variable was measured on a 7-point scale ranging from 1=highly unlikely to 7=highly likely. The Super Rugby consortium has indicated a number of research questions they want to be addressed in the final report. These are given below. The data for this assignment is titled and can be found on LMS. Values and labels for the variables are provided within the data set.
Requirements
You are to address and answer each of the research questions below. Each research question will require use of one of the statistical techniques we cover in this unit. Your answer should be in the format of a written report detailing the main findings of the three research questions, including technical appendices. Details of the specific expectations for this format are outlined in the Appendix. A marking guide is also outlined below, and further details are provided in the marking rubric that is located in the research project file.
Research Questions
The consortium wish to increase the number of females coming to Super Rugby games, and are interested in whether male and female spectators’ assessments of the individual service quality variables are significantly different. The consortium also is interested in whether age has an effect on spectators’ assessments of the individual service quality variables.
The consortium wants to know whether the individual service quality variables are significant influences on value perceptions and spectators’ willingness to attend another Super Rugby game. It is hypothesised that the individual service quality variables will all have a positive effect on value and attendance intentions.
