1. Hannah Martin and Arjun Arora
Examining the Impact of Core and Peripheral
Service Satisfaction on Repurchase Intention:
A Case of a Minor League Sport Team
Sport Management & Leadership Studies
College of Business
Kutztown University

2. KU Sport Business Institute
Introduction
• Financial difficulties faced by minor
league teams
• Large costs for venue rental, travel, and
equipment
• Offensive vs. Defensive Marketing
Strategies
• Long term success: Customer
satisfaction

3. KU Sport Business Institute
Significance of the Study
• Previous research not focused on core
and peripheral service satisfaction
• Minor league context not focused on
• Minor league teams must find
alternatives to generate revenue

4. KU Sport Business Institute
Research Objectives
• To develop and test a conceptual model
delineating the relationship between
consumer satisfaction and repurchase
intention
• To examine the moderating effects of
fan identification on the relationship

5. KU Sport Business Institute
Theoretical Background
• Core service (Caldwell & Woodside, 2003)
– The primary show experience
– The basic reason for the business to
be in the market
– Represents the firm’s basic
competency in creating value in the
first instance

6. KU Sport Business Institute
Theoretical Background
• Peripheral service (Lovelock, 1983)
– Services that facilitate the core
offering but are not specifically
related to the core
– Venue quality, concessions, signage,
parking, etc.

7. KU Sport Business Institute
Theoretical Background
Customer Satisfaction (Oliver, 1980)
– The attitude resulting from the comparison
of the expectations of performance and
the perceived performance of the service
experience.
• Direct and positive relationship to
repurchase intention
• Increases a firm’s profitability (Hume, 2008)

8. KU Sport Business Institute
Theoretical Background
• Repurchase Intention
– Individual’s judgment about buying a
service again
– The decision to engage in future
activity with a service provider and
what form this activity will take
(Hellier et al, 2003; Zeithaml et al, 1996)

9. KU Sport Business Institute
Theoretical Background
• Fan Identification (Shank, 2009)
– Personal commitment and emotional involvement
customers have with sport organizations

10. KU Sport Business Institute
Hypothesis Development
Core Service
Satisfaction
Peripheral
Service
Satisfaction
Repurchase
Intention
H1
H2
Conceptual Model
Identification
H3-1
H3-2

11. KU Sport Business Institute
Methodology
• Procedure
– Data collected at 4 minor league ice hockey games
– Paper and Pencil survey (self-administered)
– Incentives
• One free voucher for next season
• Entered in drawing to win 14 person suite

12. KU Sport Business Institute
Methodology
• Sampling:
– Convenience sampling method was used
• A total of 444 fans:
– Male: 52.5%
– Married: 61.7%
– White: 87.4%;
– Average Age: 42.95 years

13. KU Sport Business Institute
Methodology
• Measurements
– Fan Identification (3 items)
– Customer Satisfaction
• Core Service Satisfaction (3 items)
– Game Performance
• Peripheral Service Satisfaction (5 items)
– Entertainment (Pre-, half-time, & Post event)
– Concession
– Facilities
– Customer service
– Staffs
– Likert-type scale

14. KU Sport Business Institute
Methodology
• Data analysis
– Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)
• Reliability and Validity
– Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
• To test hypotheses in the model
• To examine moderating effects of
identification
• Identification criteria (n = 304):
<3.5 for low identification fans (n = 144)
>4.5 for high identification fans (n = 160)

15. KU Sport Business Institute
Results
Core Service
Satisfaction
Peripheral
Service
Satisfaction
Repurchase
Intention
β = .30 **
β = .12*
SEM:
Χ2(52) = 135.5, p < .00; CFI = .96; TLI = .95;
RMSEA = .06; SRMR = .04
* = p < .05; ** = p < .01

16. KU Sport Business Institute
SEM Results
Core Service
Satisfaction
Peripheral
Service
Satisfaction
Repurchase
Intention
β = .35 **
β: NS
Moderating effect of Identification: High Identification Fans
* = p < .05; ** = p < .01

17. KU Sport Business Institute
SEM Results
Core Service
Satisfaction
Peripheral
Service
Satisfaction
Repurchase
Intention
β = .23 **
β = .18*
* = p < .05; ** = p < .01
Moderating effect of Identification: Low Identification Fans

18. KU Sport Business Institute
Discussion
• To meet needs and wants of low and high
identification fans
• Improve the core product (game and players)
• Model for Fan Identification (Sutton et al,
2006)
• Practical implications:
• Recruit better players and coaches
• Compete with higher level teams
• Highlight current player statistics and
achievements

19. KU Sport Business Institute
Discussion
• For low identification fans, marketers should
focus on:
– Entertainment
– Promotional Activities
– Facility Quality
• Practical Implication:
– In house contests
– Ticketing services
– Staff training
– Crowd control

20. KU Sport Business Institute
Conclusion
• Positive relationship between consumer’s core
service satisfaction and repurchase intention
• Need to understand consumer needs and wants
across identification levels
• Increased targeted efforts across different levels
of identification will make the organizations
more profitable in future

21. KU Sport Business Institute
Questions?