Factors, differential market effects, and marketing strategies in the renewal of season tickets for intercollegiate football games.

Pan, David W. ; Baker, John A.W.

Dempsey (2001) indicated that intercollegiate football and basketball games have served as a magnet to draw alumni and other supporters back to campuses. An attraction of this kind was the driving force behind the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) success in securing a multi-billion dollar contract with the CBS and ESPN sports networks to air numerous NCAA sports until the year 2013 (NCAA, 1999; NCAA, 2001). In the case of football, attendance at NCAA Events in 2003 reached a record 46 million. Of this, Division IA schools posted an all-time record of 35 million spectators, with an average of 45,447 for all 772 games played (Campbell, 2004).

To accommodate such a market demand in intercollegiate football at the NCAA Division I level, athletic administrators created a two-tier system for selling season tickets and general admission tickets for individual games. Given the fact that a stadium has a fixed capacity, an attempt to allocate a high proportion of seats to season ticket holders is a logical sales tactic to maintain a viable spectator base. This assumes that any unsold season tickets can always be re-allocated for general admission. A sufficient number of pre-sold season tickets not only guarantees a known income, but also provides a predictable market base to help athletic administrators secure other revenues from such sources as corporate sponsorships and alumni donations.

The competition for a share of a fixed amount of consumer expenditures is a challenge to all athletic administrators in today's dynamic and complex sport marketplace that is saturated with numerous competing alternatives. Season ticket holders for intercollegiate football, for example, often face the dilemma of whether or not to renew their tickets, and few athletic administrators are adequately prepared to overcome this type of situation. Instead, much of the blame for new renewing season tickets is attributed to the lack of a winning record. Mullin, Hardy, and Sutton (2000), criticized this single focus on winning as "sport marketing myopia," because it fails to identify the entire scope of consumer needs and wants when designing suitable marketing strategies to sell tickets. Athletic administrators should, therefore, understand that the decision of season ticket holders to renew or not renew season tickets is not based solely on a team's performance, but also on other factors associated with attending games such as market characteristics, and competing alternatives. This rationale prompted the undertaking of this study.

Theoretical Framework

The achievement of a marketing objective usually begins with the identification of an unmet need or want in a market segment so that a suitable product can be designed and marketed to that segment (Porter, 1985). While the classification of meaningful consumer characteristics is a prerequisite to market segmentation, market objectives can usually be achieved by deriving product attributes that are congruent with market needs and wants (Kotler, 2003).

The types of variables used to determine their effect on an individual's decision of whether or not to attend a sport event appear to be similar to those used in other industries. For example, the reasons why season ticket holders purchase intercollegiate football tickets are similar to why consumers buy products in general marketing. However, the usefulness of the information obtained in the sport industry is different from that in other industries. This is because the feedback relative to the expectations of season ticket holders towards the unique nature of sport cannot be fully transformed into corresponding marketing efforts to make the sport product congruent with consumer needs and wants. A sport marketer's responsibility, therefore, does not rest primarily upon the sport product core (the game itself) but rather on sport product extensions (other than those of the game itself) (Mullin, et al, 2000). An effective sport marketing strategy does not come solely from the production of a winning team, but rather from a conscious effort to produce a successful product which contains consumer-expected value-driven attributes, for an event that is congruent with unmet needs and wants.

Theoretically, sport marketers only prescribe attributes of sport product extensions to satisfy a market's unmet needs and wants. This is done through partial-scale product development that is fundamentally different from that in general marketing. In the latter case, all consumer-expected product attributes can be made available through full-scale product development. To arrive at a precise sport marketing strategy, however, it is imperative that a differentiation is first made between those attributes inherent to the nature of a particular sport versus sport in general, and those related to the nature of marketing versus market itself. We, therefore, propose a sport-marketing dual status model that focuses on the nature of market by distinguishing between "sport consumers" and "sport customers."

By our definition using the purchase as the pivotal point, the term "sport consumers" (actual buyers) refers to individuals who consume a sport product either as spectators or participants, while the term "sport customers" (prospective buyers) refers to those who contemplate whether or not to become consumers of that sport product (or others). Individuals always have a dual status, as they can be consumers of a sport product (such as attending a football game), while remaining customers of others. Conversely, they can become customers of a sport product (such as contemplating whether to purchase a season ticket), while remaining consumers of other products (such as attending other sport events). This distinction is made because human beings behavior is a complex physiological, psychological, and socioeconomic experience. People all possess a myriad of needs, and only, or a group of related needs, can be catered for with a particular product, in a given place, at a given time. We reason that where people become consumers of a given sport (by attending a game); the same people also remain customers of other products (including other sports) with a degree of propensity to become consumers of the other products. The degree of such propensity for a market, dependent upon the type and intensity of marketing effort exerted upon, can be placed from "uncertain," "less certain," "somewhat certain," "more certain," to "certain" on a probability continuum.

From the perspective of efficiency, the effort of marketing strategies therefore should vary in type and intensity according to the predisposed different degree of certainty on which customers (prospective buyers) will become consumers (actual buyers). Arguably, a large portion of a marketing effort should be directed towards transforming prospective buyers who are "less certain" into those who are "more certain." Similarly, those customers who already are "more certain" or "certain" may require only a small marketing effort (or different type of strategy) because of their propensity to become or remain consumers.

A sport marketer's job, therefore, has a two-fold obligation: to gain and retain consumers of their own, but also help organizations offering other products to convert their desired customers among sport consumers who are "uncertain" into consumers or customers who are "certain." This distinction between "sport consumers" and "sport customers" is important, as each asks a different type of question necessitating different analyses in the proposed theoretical framework. For example, a study of "sport consumers" requires answers that determine reasons that influence their behavior, and how to improve their behavioral tendency to remain loyal consumers. Conversely, research on "sport customers" demands solutions of how to build upon their brand knowledge, formulate or change their preferences for a product, and consequently determine how to make the sport product fits their expected value, personality, and life style.

This distinction provides sport marketers with an opportunity by which their consumers with "customer" status can be cross-promoted through the introduction of other products or sports. The probability to become consumers of other products or sports only becomes a reality when their key attributes are effectively communicated to customers who have similar characteristics as their own consumers. In this case, sporting events are deemed to be a platform to stage the marketing efforts of other products, thereby transforming those "customers" into consumers through commonly shared and enjoyed attributes in both products.

An understanding of this theoretical model should enable sport marketers to (1) use sport as a cross-promotional platform for other products, thereby helping convert their sport consumers with "customer" status into their consumers, and (2) prescribe value-based attributes to retain their own consumers through the process of relationship marketing. Both are traditionally done in the area of sport product extensions, so that these product attributes can not only be congruent with the expected needs and wants of the consumers, but also counter act the force of competing alternatives. Using the above theoretical framework, this research attempted to identify factors that influence the decision of "sport consumers" to renew or not renew their season tickets for intercollegiate football games and determine the effects that selected market characteristics and competing alternatives have on the underlying factors expected by these consumers.

Review of Literature

Numerous studies have been conducted in attempts to understand the consumption of spectator sport. Based on the proposed theoretical framework, this review of literature is limited to the socio-psychological functions of spectator sport, and the effects of certain market characteristics on spectator and fan behavior.

As previously mentioned, athletic administrators and sport managers have presumed that winning is the most important, if not the only, factor that can produce a large number of spectators at a sporting event. While winning has been found to be important in a variety of sports (e.g., DeSchriver & Jenson, 2002 for NCAA Division II football; Jones, 1984 for hockey; Baade & Tiehen, 1990 for major league baseball; and Schofield, 1983 for professional sports), other factors have been investigated and reported as important. These include game schedules (Hill, Madura, & Zuber, 1982; Knowles, Sherony, & Haupert, 1992; Marcum & Greenstein, 1985; Pan, Gabert, McGaugh, & Branvold, 1997; Zhang, Pease, Hui, & Michaud, 1995); identity of fans and its importance to team loyalty and satisfaction (Laverie & Arnett, 2000; Suggon, Mcdonald, Milne, & Cimperman, 1997; Warm & Branscombe, 1990); social learning (Pan & Baker, 1999); per capita and household income (Bird, 1982; Pan, Zhu, Gabert, & Brown, 1999); competing sport alternatives (Coffin, 1996, Demmert, 1973; Noll, 1974); star players (Baade & Tiehen, 1990; Jones, 1984; Schurr, Wittig, Ruble, & Ellen, 1987; Schwartz, 1973, Scully, 1974); and travel distance (Maschiach, 1980; Schurr, et al, 1987). Several attendance models and classification schemes that either influence or indicate spectator behavior also have been proposed by Noll (1974), Hansen and Gauthier (1989), Baade & Tiehen (1990), and Funk and James (2001). Further, an attempt to understand fan behavior and subsequently develop an instrument by which it can be measured also was initiated by Howard, Madrigal, and Kahle (1995).

Mashiach (1980) asserted that the function of spectator behavior is not determined by a single action, but occurs for a variety of reasons. Twenty years later, Funk and James (2001) also proposed that an individual's experience for being a spectator or fan was distributed along a psychological continuum manifested through a set of its own distinct characteristics. The complexity and magnitude of sport consumers' behavior is evidenced in these studies. Considering there is a strong interested in NCAA Division I intercollegiate sport, many consumers who attend intercollegiate football games appear to be attracted by not only the team's performance, but also other factors (Campbell, 2004; Heidmous, 2003).

In early research, Schwartz (1973) found that several important function attributes were associated with spectator sports. These included creating a spectacle, displaying talent, relieving tension, confirming cultural values, providing continuity in the lives of fans, fostering social conformity and companionship, building team spirit and allegiance to an organization, and providing an avenue that fostered business interests. Spreitzer and Snyder (1975) also reported that 75 percent of both men and women agreed that sports were part of being a well-rounded person, and 84 percent of men and 75 percent of women believed that sports were a good way for getting together with friends to have a good time. Duncan (1983) surmised that by understanding the dimensional items that symbolize sport (such as aesthetics, political and religious overtones, and societal values) people would realize the important social implications of the sporting event. Melnick (1993) proposed a theory of fan sociability and being a sport spectator. He suggested that this provided an avenue that enhanced people's "social/psychological lives, and allowed them to experience pure sociability, quasi-intimate relationships, and sense of belonging that are indigenous to the stands" (p. 46). Funk and James (2001) also developed a Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) in an attempt to classify a variety of indicators manifested by spectators and fans into a spectrum of four distinct stages (awareness, attraction, attachment, and allegiance).

As previously addressed, studies concerned with the functions and effects of spectator sports, and of fans and their ticket purchasing behavior, have been documented for many years. For example, Schurr, Ruble, & Ellen (1985); and Schurr, Wittig, Ruble, & Ellen (1987), examined the relationship between ticket purchasing behavior and student personality types, academic achievement, vocational interest, demographics, and distance of the venue fi'om a hometown, and Frazier and Snyder (1991) observed that the status of being an underdog team could create a strong attraction for fans. This is possibly a clear reflection of the popular attitude of upward social mobility.

Closely related to the social aspects of sporting events is the loyalty fans appear to have for a particular institution. For example, Schurr et al. (1985) reported that "sport consumers" typically have a strong identification with a team and the institution it represents. Further, Murrell and Dietz (1992) found that affiliation to an institution could enhance collective groupidentity, which in turn may have a positive influence on fan support as well as actual attendance at games.

Schofield (1983) compiled a review of 17 articles that assessed the impact of different factors on attendance at professional sporting events. He classified one group of articles as "production function" studies in which various offensive and defensive outputs of teams were examined relative to attendance. More relevant to the purposes of this study was a second group of articles that focused on the demand for sport by consumers. He divided these studies into four categories: "economic variables," "demographic variables," "game attractiveness," and "residual preference." Hansen and Gauthier (1989) later used 40 different items that fell within Schofield's four categories and found, for the most part, items within the "game attractiveness' and "residual preference" categories appeared to have a greater influence on attendance than factors in the "economic" and "demographic" categories. The PCM framework of Funk and James (2001) plotted different types of sporting

experiences into a group of separate categories on a continuum for easy identification and marketing usage.

The literature concerning spectators and fans at sporting events indicates that their motivation to attend an event is generally complex and multidimensional in nature. While attendance in support of a winning team is a prime reason, studies also have suggested that social factors, team quality and performance, atmosphere surrounding the sporting event, and economic levels also are involved. These factors serve the synopsis of interests in the current study of intercollegiate football games.

Based on the aforementioned theoretical framework and review of literature, this study initially investigated factors considered to be the underlying reasons why people purchase season tickets for intercollegiate football events at an NCAA Division I university. Secondly, selected market characteristics and competing alternative sports were examined to find their respective influence on season ticket holders' reasons to purchase tickets. The results of this study should be of practical importance to athletic administrators so they might better understand the expectations of how an intercollegiate football event is perceived by season ticket holders, and the major factors and effects that influence season ticket holders to renew or not renew their tickets.

Method

Participants

A list of 400 mailing address labels was randomly generated by a ticket computer system from a population of approximately 50,000 football season ticket holders. The determination of sample size was consistent with Malhotra's (2004) criteria for conducting this type of marketing research. The criteria suggested consideration of the following factors: (1) importance of the decision, (2) nature of this study, (3) number of variables, (4) nature of the analysis, (5) sample size used in similar studies, and (6) research constraints. The population from which the sample was drawn accounted for approximately 82.50 percent of the seating capacity of the stadium. This population was selected because of its commitment and economic importance to the university's football program.

Materials

A questionnaire was constructed on the basis of the literature review, the suitability of the theoretical framework, a pilot study, and specific situations at the institution where the study was conducted. This instrument enabled season ticket holders to provide responses to statements in three sections: (1) motives for attending football games, (2) demographic information of the respondents, and (3) attendance at alternative sport events.

Respondents were asked to rate the relative importance of 17 motives influencing their decision to purchase season tickets using a 7-point Likert scale from 1 (least important) to 7 (most important). These items were: Ancillary Prices, Attending Games for Business Purposes, Attending with Family, Attending with Friends, Conference Games, Excitement of the Event, Last Year's Record, Level of Football Performance, Loyalty to the University's Team, Non-conference Games, Overall Atmosphere, Overall Outlook for the Season, Pageantry, Season Ticket Price, Star Players, State of the Economy, and Top-Twenty Opponents. A cover letter explaining the purpose of the study, the importance of the respondent's cooperation, the institutional sponsor, and the questionnaire was mailed with a prepaid business reply envelope to participants prior to the beginning of the football season.

Demographic data also were requested regarding a respondent's age, gender, size of family, annual household income, driving time to attend home games, and years holding season tickets. These variables were selected because of their apparent effect on the decision-making process to purchase season tickets. Finally, in the "attendance at alternative sport events" section, respondents were asked to provide information regarding the frequency of their attendance at other area sporting events that included minor league hockey, minor league basketball, minor league baseball, high school basketball, university basketball, horse racing, and any other competing sports in the nearby metropolitan area.

Design and Procedure

The first step was to identify the main reasons underlying the decision to purchase season tickets. In the aforementioned theoretical framework, this represented the classification of 17 motives derived from an individual's expected needs relative to product attributes. The responses to these 17 motives were factor analyzed with a principal component extraction and orthogonal rotation. Mathematically, a motive (M), when standardized, contains the elements of latent common and unique factors as follows:

[M.sub.i] = [A.sub.i1], [F.sub.1], + [A.sub.i2] [F.sub.2] + [A.sub.i3] [F.sub.3] + ... + [A.sub.im], [F.sub.m], + [V.sub.1] [U.sub.1] (1.0)

Where we let [M.sub.1] be the ith motives, [A.sub.ij] be the multiple regression coefficient of motive i on common factor j, F be a common factor, [V.sub.i] be a regression coefficient of motive i on the unique factor i, [U.sub.] be the unique factor for motive i, and m be the number of common factors. The unique factors should be uncorrelated with each other and with the common factors. The common factors themselves can be expressed as linear combinations of the observed motives as:

[F.sub.1] = [W.sub.i1] [M.sub.1] + [W.sub.i2][M.sub.2] + [W.sub.i3][M.sub.3] + ... + [W.sub.ik][M.sub.k] (1.1)

Where [F.sub.i] is an estimate of ith factor, [W.sub.i] is the weight of factor score coefficient, and k is the number of motives.

The appropriateness of the factor model was tested using the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measure of Sampling Adequacy (MSA)(Kaiser, 1974, Malhotra, 2004). This measure compares the magnitudes of the observed to the partial correlation coefficients. A value greater than 0.50 indicated the best explainability of the data and its appropriateness for factor analysis. The internal consistency of the data was measured using Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha. A VARIMAX procedure was used to orthogonally rotate the initial factor matrix to minimize the number of motives with higher loadings on a factor, thereby enhancing the interpretability of the factors. Finally, the differences in the estimated correlations between the motives and factors were reproduced to determine whether the factor model provided a good fit to the data.

The second step was to determine the effects of different demographic variables and alternate competing sports reflected in the factors identified in the first analysis. This represented the impact of market characteristics, and choice of competing alternatives, on the supposed congruent linkage between consumer-needs and expected product attributes prescribed in the theoretical framework. This analysis was used to determine if there was a necessity for market segmentation for different strategies so as to maximize marketing efficiency. A series of N-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) procedures was performed to compare the effects of demographic variables and attendance at alternative sports on the factors identified. The mathematical model can be illustrated as follows:

[SS.sub.y] = [SS.sub.x1] + [SS.sub.x2] + [SS.sub.x1x2] + [SS.sub.error] (2.0)

where [SS.sub.y] represents the total variation, [SS.sin.x1] represents variation between the categories of [X.sub.2], or the portion of [SS.sub.y] related to [X.sub.1], [SS.sub.x2] represents variation between the categories of [X.sub.2], or the portion of [SS.sub.y] related to [X.sub.2], [SS.sub.x1x2], represents variation due to interaction of [X.sub.1] and [X.sub.2], SSerror represents the variation that is not accounted for by X, or the portion of [SS.sub.y] due to variation within each of the categories of X.

The strength of the respective effects (2) of overall and significant demographic variables, attendance at alternative sports, and their interactions with the factors were reported. Duncan's post ho multiple comparison procedure was used to determine if significant differences existed between groups of participants for a main effect. The established rejection level for all analyses wasp <.05.

Results

Two hundred and thirty-six (59%) of the 400 questionnaires were returned. For a variety of reasons, 39 were deemed unusable, resulting in 197 (49%) being used in the final data analysis (see Table 1).

Factor Analysis

Data of the respondents' ratings of the 17 motives for attending games were analyzed according to Equation 1.0. The adequacy of the sample size (MSA=.71) indicated that correlations between pairs of variables could be explained by other variables and that factor analysis was appropriate. Using predetermined criteria (i.e., a factor's eigenvalue equal to or greater than 1, factors should account for at least 60 percent of the total variance, a motive item with a factor loading equal to or greater than .40 without double loading, a factor with at least two motive, and both a factor and loaded motive being interpretable), five factors were identified explaining a total of 60.27 percent of the variance and comprising 16 perceived motives that influenced the decision to purchase season tickets (see Table 2). The descriptors "Athletic Event," "Economic View," "Game Competitiveness," "Social Affinities," and "Team Performance" were given to these five factors based on the nature of the reasons contained within each. "Attending Games for Business Purposes" did not meet the criteria. Only 8 of the 136 (<6%) residuals were larger than an absolute value of. 10 but less than. 15, indicating a good fit between the individual motives and group factors.

Analyses of Variance

A series of N-way ANOVAs (Equation 2.0) were performed to determine if variations due to individual demographic characteristics, or attendance patterns at competing alternatives, would have an effect on the respondents' primary reasons to purchase season tickets as uncovered in the factor analysis. The results of these analyses are reported in Table 3 which shows that nine main effects and 14 interactions were statistically significant on four of the five factors (Athletic Event, Economic View, Game Competitiveness, and Team Performance). The interactions indicated that season ticket holders within the same market segment did not follow the same decision or behavioral patterns. The interaction results rendered a justification for a further sub-market segmentation to maximize marketing efficiency in promoting season ticket sales.

Main Effects. Five main effects were found for the factor "Economic View," three for "Game Competitiveness," and one for "Team Performance." Their F values and respective degrees of freedom, probability, and strengths of the effects ([[eta].sup.2]) are also reported in Table 3. The results of their post hoc tests are reported in Table 4. No other significant main effects were found.

Interactions. Fourteen interaction effects were found on all four factors. Their F values and respective degrees of freedom, probability, and strengths ([[eta].sup.2]) are also reported in Table 3. The results of their post hoc tests are reported in Table 5. No other significant interaction effects were found.

Discussion

Characteristics of Respondents

Results in Table 1 indicate that a majority of season ticket holders were 40 to 60-year-old Caucasian males, living in a household having fewer than four people, with an annual income of $40,000 or more. This income pattern is consistent with findings by Cage (1989) who reported that individuals with a high income, such as managers and professionals, spend a larger percentage of their income on tickets for sporting events than those earning less money.

Forty percent of the season ticket holders traveled for less than an hour to attend the football games, while almost 37 percent traveled for more than two hours. This indicated that season ticket holders come from a wide geographical area. It is interesting because compared to the results of a study by Pan, et al, (1997) who investigated NCAA Division IA basketball that a majority of season ticket holders was found to travel for less than 60 minutes to games. Guenther (2003) expressed concern that traveling time might be an inhibiting factor to football season ticket holders at the NCAA Division IA level. This study found this not to be true. Further, a majority of these season ticket holders (approximately 50 percent) responded that they had their tickets for more than 11 years. Considering the time they had to travel to attend games, this further reflected their lasting loyalty to the university's football program.

Factor Analysis

Five major factors were identified to be the underlying reasons why season ticket holders purchase tickets. Of these, "Team Performance" was found to be most important (explained by 22.3 % of the variance), and along with "Game Competitiveness" (9.93 % of the variance), these two variables accounted for about one-half(32 %) of the total variance (60 %) identified in the analysis. The combined variances from the remaining factors ("Athletic Event," "Economic View," and "Social Affinities") accounted for about 30 percent. This indicates that the performance-related variables such as "Winning Team" and "Star Players" are important reasons to purchase season tickets for intercollegiate Division I football games. This finding is consistent with that of DeSchriver and Jenson (2002) who reported that winning percentage was a significant determinant for spectator attendance at NCAA Division II football games.

Conversely, Pan et al (1997) found that "Economic Factors" was the most important reason for purchasing season tickets, and performance-related variables to be of secondary importance to season ticket holders at intercollegiate basketball events. The different results between these studies renders an intriguing question as to the most important factor prompting sport consumers to attend these two intercollegiate sports.

We infer that the disparity in the importance of performance-related variables in intercollegiate football and basketball may be due to different expectations by the general public for each sport: the national sport (football) versus a national sport (basketball). We further hypothesize that if a sport in any given country is viewed to be the national sport it represents the most important values or expectations shared in that society. Many people, therefore, will tend to place these social values or expectations above other concerns. The reverse is true for a national sport. For example, research has shown that fans spend about 10 percent of their annual income attending Premier League soccer matches in England (Sir Norman Chester Center for Football Research, 2003); spectators watch badminton games in a room temperature of 42 degrees Celsius in Indonesia (Orlick, 1980); and season ticket holders in this and other similar studies in the United States primarily expect theft football teams to win!

From a sport marketing perspective, the importance of winning to football consumers, when compared to that of economic factors to basketball consumers, may be related to other different features inherently embedded in the nature of the two sports. These could be the number of games played, the time of day and week when games are played, the scope of the event's experience, the capacity of the game's venue, and a lack or availability of other competing alternatives. An evaluation of these factors should render a cognitive rationale for season ticket holders to decide which factor has priority over others for attending football or basketball games. These factors also could serve as considerations for NCAA sport administrators in making changes to future conference schedules for both football and basketball. As the last revision of this paper went for print, Division I-A members of the Division I Board of Directors have agreed that beginning with the 2006 season, Division I-A teams will be allowed to schedule a 12th regular-season game every year. The 12-game proposal, however, was defeated by the Division I-AA members of the Board, which means Division I-AA teams will continue to operate under the 11-game schedule (NCAA, 2005).

These findings provide strong evidence that intercollegiate football qualifies to be the national sport in the United States because of its representation of commonly shared social values and expectations at the national level. Consequently, an appropriate main promotional theme for football, in order to maintain a viable market base for those teams whose performance record is mediocre, will require a focused scheme emphasizing the hard core values and expectations of American mainstream society. Other value-justification tactics such as lowering the cost of concessions and parking should also be used when a team lacks a winning record and/ or offering an intensive excitement experience.

Assessment of Main Effects

Years Holding Season Tickets. The longer season tickets had been held, the less emphasis in the purchase decision process was placed on "Economic View" and "Team Performance." If season tickets had been held for a short period of time, more emphasis was placed on "Team Performance." This finding should help sport marketers formulate a reason-specific strategy for promoting the sale of season tickets according to the different lengths of time the season tickets had been held.

Household Income. The average annual household income for this study was high, with an overwhelming majority of respondents (72 %) earning more than $60,000. This seems to be reasonable as people must have a fairly high level of disposable income to become season ticket holders for university football games. The rating of the importance of "Economic Factors" highlighted this point where the greater the household income, the less emphasis was placed on the "Economic View" when purchasing season tickets. Those having the lowest household income (less than $40,000) rated all economic factors as being more important concerns that those at the two higher income levels of $40,000-$60,000 and more than $60,000. Meanwhile, the season ticket holders in the lowest income level rated loyalty as being more important that those in the other two groups. Further, "Last Year's Record," "Star Players," and "Outlook for the Season" were perceived to be less important to those in the middle and high-income ranges.

It appears that individuals with a low income were motivated by a high level of loyalty to the team rather than quality and performance. This may be attributed to the strength of their pride related the "Team Performance" over "Economic Factors." It could be assumed that the football season ticket holders, despite their economic constraints, tend to have a stronger loyalty than those in other sports. Individuals of this type are likely to attend games even when the team has a mediocre record. To maintain a viable market base, it would be advisable for administrators of the national sport to reward this market segment on a regular basis with economic value-based marketing tactics. These might include a discount on memorabilia and/ or concession items.

The finding regarding the high level of loyalty for the lower income football season ticket holders is supported by Cage (1989) who found that people from this income level tended not only to spend less money on sporting events than wealthy people, but also spent a lower percentage of their total income. Only those extremely loyal fans would spend a large portion of their income on season tickets for the national sport because of their pride for the team over the cost of the tickets.

Driving Time. Driving time is a reflection of the geographic dispersion of season ticket holders from their homes to the football stadium. The four categories of driving time were: less than 30 minutes, 30-60 minutes, 61-120 minutes, and more than 120 minutes. Respondents driving more than 60 minutes tended to place significantly less importance on the "Economic View" and "Game Competitiveness" than those in the other groups. This demonstrates that because of the strong enthusiasm of these individuals towards football, driving time may not be a deterrent in the purchase of season tickets. To be observed displaying a university's emblem while driving on local streets or interstate highways is a typical sight during a football weekend, and it is those people who want a winning team at all costs.

The high level of commitment exhibited by those driving for a long time, with less emphasis on economic motives, may be further explained by the fact that they are not part of the campus atmosphere as often as those living closer to the university. The urge to experience the college atmosphere may become stronger when they are away from it, and thus attending football games provides the opportunity to return to a campus and experience the excitement surrounding the event. This was supported by Schurr et al. (1985) and Schurr et al. (1987) who found that students from towns situated a long distance away from a university were more likely to attend basketball games. They explained this by pointing out that there was little opportunity to experience the excitement of the college community. When they finally become part of the community, they will probably feel compelled to engage in such university activities as basketball or, in our case, football. Although these findings seem to reflect the egocentric mentality of a college town, the enthusiasm and loyalty of students in the Schurr studies (1985, 1987), could be compared to the season ticket holders in this study who traveled a long time to watch football games.

Race. While Caucasian Americans highly emphasized the relative importance of "Game Competitiveness" in their ratings, Native Americans de-emphasized the value of this factor. This result is consistent with other findings showing that Native Americans tend to follow their own cultural values where sporting competition has consistently been de-emphasized (Coackley, 1998; Paraschak, 1995; and Schroader, 1995). This appears to render a justification for a race/ethnicity-conscious marketing strategy for promoting season ticket sales.

Competing Alternatives. Respondents who frequently attended local minor league baseball games tended to place a greater importance on the "Economic View" and "Athletic Event" when purchasing season tickets than those with a lower frequency rate. This perhaps exhibits their expectation that high-quality football games should possess the fundamental values of competitiveness and excitement; otherwise, they would be prone to attend local minor league baseball games. The same is true for those with a high attendance frequency at high school basketball games on the factor of "Economic View." These results indicate that as the quality of the performance-related variables of intercollegiate football decreases, the attractiveness of competing alternatives increases on the dimensions of "Economic View," and "Athletic Event." A marketing strategy in this vein would be to decrease the costs of admission and concession, or allow spectators and fans to bring their own beverages and snacks to the game.

Assessment of Interactions

Age by Gender. The four age groups used in this study were: less than 40 years, 40-50 years, 51-60 years, and more than 60 years. Male and female respondents who were 60 years or younger exhibited a high level of interest in the "Athletic Event." Regardless of age, all male respondents placed similar importance on this factor. Females 40-50 years old assigned a much higher score than those who were more than 60 years old. Females showed less emphasis before they were 60 years old than their male counterparts on the factor "Team Performance," but later displayed a stronger interest. Males who were more than 60 years old registered much less interest. As females age, it was found that their interest in "Team Performance" increased, while that of males decreased. Females in the 40-50 year old group exhibited the highest level of interest in the attributes associated with the "Athletic Event."

Considering that the attributes of "Athletic Event" include "Excitement," "Overall Atmosphere," and "Pageantry," this probably indicates that females between the ages of 40 and 50 are receptive to promotional tactics emphasizing the "Athletic Event." However, their higher level of interest seems to be temporary. As their age increases, their interest in the "Athletic Event" declines significantly, while their interest in "Team Performance" significantly increases. Correspondingly, sport marketers should use an age-by-gender-specific strategy by highlighting the attributes of the "Athletic Event" to females in their 40s and underscore those of "Team Performance" when they were more than 60 years old.

Age by Driving Time. For those respondents who were less than 40 years old, season ticket holders who drove for long period time appear to place a greater emphasis on the importance of the "Athletic Event" than those driving less time. However, this trend was not evident in the 40-50 year old group. Those in their 50s who drove more than 50 minutes exhibited an increasing interest in the "Athletic Event" when compared to those who drove less than 60 minutes. For those who were more than 60 years old, only those driving more than 120 minutes placed a high emphasis on the importance of the "Athletic Event." A similar trend also was found with "Team Performance." Correspondingly, the content of a letter requesting renewal of season tickets should be particularly worded to emphasize the respective individual attributes of the "Athletic Event" or "Team Performance."

Household Income by Driving Time. Those with an annual income of less than $40,000 or more than $60,000 who drove less than 30 minutes to football games, placed lesser importance on "Team Performance" than those in other groups. Respondents driving less than 30 minutes and having a household income of $40,000-$60,000 placed the highest importance on "Team Performance." This finding is not surprising when people from middle or upper middle class families who can afford to purchase season tickets happen to live within a reasonable distance of campus. Intercollegiate football is indeed truly congruent with their value system as the unique American sport experience. This market segment, nevertheless, is the one on which our primary marketing effort should focus.

Family Size by Years Holding Season Tickets. Those respondents holding season tickets for either less than 6 years or more than 20 years, regardless of family size, placed a similar degree of importance on the "Athletic Event" in their purchasing decision. The respondents whose household contained 1-2 persons, along with a 6-10 years' season ticket experience, emphasized a higher level of importance on the "Athletic Event" than those in the other groups. Those having season tickets for more than 10 years, however, de-emphasized the importance of the "Athletic Event" in their purchase decision process.

These results indicate that regardless of family size, the longer a season ticket has been held, the lesser importance is placed upon the "Economic View." Overall, the importance of the "Athletic Event" was rated much higher than the "Economic View." Therefore, a value-driven strategy seems to be appropriate by highlighting extra product attributes in the factor of "Athletic Event."

Attendance at Local Sports by Driving Time. The interaction patterns of attendance at local sports by driving time are reported in Table 5. The attendance frequencies at local sports seems to have rendered a similar rationale for the different strategies addressed above. Whether a strategy would work on a segment of season ticket holders appears to rest with the issue of whether a clear distinction can be made to identify those season ticket holders who are football fans, as opposed to those who are merely spectators. Once again, the PCM proposed by Funk and James (2001) could be appropriate as a market segmentation tool to draw such distinctions for football spectators and fans at different stages of their sport experience and involvement.

Conclusions and Recommendations

This study investigated the variables affecting the purchasing behavior of season ticket holders within a conceptual framework for understanding the nature of sport marketing. It was hypothesized that consumers predicate their decision of whether or not to purchase season tickets on their value-seeking needs and their congruence with expected attributes of the product. Marketers can prescribe these expected attributes and market that sport back to a specific segment of the market according to that market's demographic characteristics and competing alternatives.

Five main factors were identified as latent reasons used by season ticket holders in making their decision to renew season tickets for NCAA Division IA intercollegiate football games. Secondly we assessed the respective effect of selected demographic variables and competing alternative sports on the primary reasons for season ticket holders to purchase the tickets, thereby understanding how to efficiently conduct marketing efforts.

The results revealed that football season ticket holders in this study emphasized the importance of performance variables in their purchasing decision, probably because football is viewed as the national sport. The findings of the effects of demographic variables and competing alternative sports also rendered a justification for formulating market segment-specific strategies by demographic characteristics.

This study was conducted within a proposed theoretical framework and limited through the use of variables selected from the literature review and the suitability of given situations. However, it is believed that the results will be of interest to athletic administrators at the NCAA Division I level where the football programs are offered. The findings will help them better understand the relative importance of the individual product attributes of their football program as viewed in the mind of season ticket holders. To achieve congruence between what a football program can deliver and what football season ticket holders need and want, athletic administrators must confer with sport consumers.

In comparison to the results of a similar study (Pan, et al 1997) concerned with season ticket holders for intercollegiate basketball, it appears that sport consumer behavior may be sport-specific as to whether the sport is deemed as the national sport or a national sport. For instance, a shared pride, as reflected by quality performance variables and the expectations of the sport will help sport marketers not only develop a lifelong relationship with a targeted market, but also convert sport customers to be consumers in that marketplace. Ultimately, the body of knowledge in the sport business will be enriched, thereby rendering people with harmonized sport products that will ultimately fulfill their unmet needs and wants, personalities, and lifestyles.

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David W. Pan

Northeastern State University

John A.W. Baker

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Address Correspondence To." David W. Pan, Ph.D., J.D., Department of Business Administration, Northeastern State University, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 74014. Phone: 918-456-5511, Email: pan@nsuok.edu.