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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine participants' perceptions of the service quality of fantasy sports websites and to understand the relationship between service quality, satisfaction, attitude, and actual usage associated with the websites. Furthermore, this study compared the proposed service-quality model with a rival model to examine the role of satisfaction and attitude as mediating variables. The proposed service-quality measure consisted of four perceived service quality dimensions (i.e., ease of use, trust, content, and appearance). A convenience sample of 279 participants was collected from message board users of four fantasy sports websites (i.e., ESPN.com Fantasy Games, Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, FOX Fantasy Sports, and NFL Events: Fantasy Sports). Structural analysis revealed that satisfaction and attitude acted as mediating variables connecting service quality and actual usage of fantasy sports websites. These results are discussed and the study's theoretical and practical sport marketing implications are detailed.
Introduction
Over the past 20 years the sport industry has had the opportunity to capitalize on numerous technological advances offered through advances in the Internet. Online fantasy sport is one area in particular that has witnessed phenomenal growth. Fantasy sport, according to Prescott (2006), is estimated to be a $1.5 billion segment of the sport industry. The growth of this segment has presented opportunities for various stakeholders to use the fantasy sport phenomenon to drive consumers to their site and to generate additional revenue streams. For instance, Yahoo! recently spent $98 million to purchase Rivals.com to strengthen its fantasy sports services ("Yahoo! Sports," 2008). With the explosive growth of web technology, most major sports websites (e.g., ESPN [ESPN.go.com], FOX Sports [msn.foxsports.com], Yahoo! Sports [sports.yahoo.com], CBS Sports [CBSSports.com]) have begun providing various types of fantasy sports leagues.
It can be assumed that consumers will benefit from the growth and competition surrounding online fantasy sports; therefore, it would be wise for service-oriented sport website professionals to focus their efforts on making fantasy sports sites more affordable and attractive. For instance, CBSSports.com's fantasy sports website includes unique content (i.e., extensive player analysis, video segments, and statistical reports) aimed at enhancing the company's competitive advantage in the fantasy sports market (Fisher, 2008). A competitive advantage in the online fantasy segment of the sport industry is providing extensive fantasy sports services (e.g., team...