Abel Correia

Hosting the Olympics is subject to socio-educational outcomes, which can represent intangible and peripheral assets for host communities. The current study explores the Games’ intangible legacy on teachers’ attitudes at different points in time. Data were collected among teachers who attended the Rio 2016 Education Program at three different stages: 2016 (n = 611), 2017 (n = 451), and 2020 (n = 286). A longitudinal trend study was designed using multivariate analysis of variance MANOVA tests and latent growth modelling. Results show that the teachers’ perceptions of Olympic knowledge had a significant growth rate, while skills development and network/social exchange do not show significant changes over the time periods. Longitudinal findings suggest the continuity of the Olympic education programs as the basis for strengthening the Olympic intellect and social capital formation.

The Rio 2016 Official Olympic Education Programme (ROEP), called Transforma, began in 2013 and was one of the actions to take the Olympic Games into schools and promote new education-based opportunities. The current study examines its effects by exploring the Olympic Games’ impact on the development of skills, knowledge, and experiences of teachers. Data were collected through an online questionnaire (n = 702) with physical education teachers who attended the Transforma Programme. The results of a structural equation model indicate that the educational impact measured through experiences, knowledge, and skills-development contributed positively to the human development of teachers as well as to their knowledge about teaching Olympism. These findings provide event managers with useful insights on the role of teachers in their Olympic programmes, as well as ways to engage them in a wide range of initiatives both inside and outside the school context.

The current article examines the effects of organisational issues on the perceived social impact from the volunteer’s perspective of Rio 2016 Olympic Games. A field study was conducted in Rio de Janeiro, and data were collected from local volunteers who attended the Olympic Games through a self-administered questionnaire (n = 487). The questionnaire included measures of perceived operational, infrastructural and environmental issues as well as positive and negative social impact perceptions. A confirmatory factor analysis analysed the psychometric properties of the constructs, and a subsequent structural equation model examined the relationships between organisational issues and social impact perceptions. The results indicate that the organisational issue construct was significantly related to negative social impact (social conflicts and costs) perceptions. The findings highlight the major role of local volunteers in preventing issues, strategic planning and social anchoring of this event. Managerial implications of these results are discussed and guidelines for future research are suggested.

Researchers have suggested that brand equity is vital for professional sport teams by focusing on the examination of sport fans in general. The current study aims to examine the differences in team brand equity perceptions between fan club members and nonmembers, and the predictive role of brand equity dimensions on behavioral intentions. Data were collected from fans of a professional football league (n = 2287) with an adapted version of the spectator-based brand equity scale. The results gathered through a confirmatory factor analysis provide evidence of fair psychometric properties of the measurement scale. A multi-group CFA analysis showed factorial stability of the model in both groups, while the latent mean comparisons revealed significant differences in the dimensions of brand mark, social interaction, commitment, team history, organizational attributes, team success, head coach, management, stadium, and internalization. In addition, a multi-group SEM analysis revealed that the relationships between brand equity dimensions and behavioral intentions are not significantly different among the groups. Social interaction, team success and internalization were the significant positive predictors of behavioral intentions among the overall sample. These findings highlight the importance of studying different types of consumers and suggest managerial implications, such as the need for clubs to establish reciprocal relationships with fans in order to increase their levels of internalization and contribute to increased behavioral intentions

O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar se a percepção que os torcedores têm da qualidade da Copa do Mundo da FIFA Brasil 2014 varia consoante os locais onde o evento foi realizado. Foram recolhidos 3.042 questionários em cinco cidades-sede da Copa. Os resultados obtidos através de uma análise fatorial confirmatória indicaram boas qualidades psicométricas do modelo usado para medir a qualidade. Os testes MANOVA indicaram diferenças significativas na avaliação da qualidade do evento entre os participantes nas cinco cidades-sede. Os resultados foram discutidos, apontando-se as principais implicações na organização de eventos esportivos, bem como sugestões para futuras pesquisas

Previous studies have suggested that consumption-related emotions are important to understand post-purchase reactions. This study examines the relationship between fitness consumers' emotions and overall satisfaction. After an initial step of free-thought listing and content validity, followed by a pre-test, a survey was conducted among consumers of five different fitness centers (n=786). The questionnaire included measures to assess positive and negative emotions, as well as overall satisfaction with the fitness center. The results gathered through a structural equation model provide evidence that negative emotion experienced by consumers impacts negatively overall satisfaction, while positive emotion have a positive effect on overall satisfaction. These findings suggest managerial implications, such as the need to collect consumers' perceptions of both tangible and intangible aspects of the services, listen costumers' opinions in a regular basis, and provide regular training to staff members, in order to identify the triggers of positive emotions and contribute to increased levels of overall satisfaction. Guidelines for future research within the fitness context are also suggested.

The goal of this study was to examine what experiences members have with fitness centers that influence their intentions for recommendation. After item generation and content validity, as well as a pilot test, a survey was conducted among members of five different clubs (n=1750). The questionnaire included measures of service quality attributes, accessibility, well-being in life, well-being in a club, and intentions to recommend a fitness center. Results using a structural equation model provide evidence that only service quality attributes and well-being in a club have positive effect on intentions of users to recommend it. Well-being in life has a negative effect on the intentions for recommendation, while accessibility shows no predictive effect. These findings suggest implications for the management of a club, such as the need to create a pleasant environment and to provide a personalized service directed towards the members' goals in order to improve well-being in a club and contribute to increase the intentions to recommend the fitness centers to others.

O objetivo deste estudo foi examinar a relação entre o compromisso desportivo e três tipos de comportamentos de consumo de desporto: frequência de participação, consumo de artigos desportivos e consumo de media. Foi aplicado um questionário a praticantes de desportos individuais e de coletivos, de fitness e de atividades outdoor (n= 900). O questionário incluiu questões relacionadas com informações demográficas, com o compromisso desportivo e com o comportamento de consumo de desporto. Os resultados obtidos a partir de um modelo de equações estruturais forneceram evidências de que o compromisso desportivo tem uma influência positiva sobre a frequência de participação, sobre o consumo de artigos desportivos e de media. As implicações destes resultados são discutidas e sugestões para futuras pesquisas sobre consumidores de desporto são fornecidas.

Sponsorship studies have generally been focused on attitudinal measures of fan loyalty to understand the reactions to abstract sponsors. This study examines the relationships between both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty with sponsorship awareness, attitude toward two actual sponsors, and purchase intentions. Data were collected among fans of a professional soccer team, and the results of a structural equation model provide evidence that attitudinal loyalty impacts the attitude toward both sponsors and purchase intentions. Behavioral loyalty influences sponsorship awareness, and impacts differently the attitude and purchase intentions toward each sponsor. Sponsorship awareness influences significantly the attitude toward both sponsors, while the attitude toward the sponsor was the strongest predictor of purchase intentions. These findings highlight the importance of examining actual sponsors and suggest managerial implications, such as the need for sponsors to help attract fans to the stadium and to design additional activation strategies to improve sponsorship value.