Motives and Points of Attachment of Professional Golf Spectators

Although professional golf has emerged as a leading spectator sport during the 20th century, there has been little research examining the consumption behaviour of those who attend tournaments across the three professional tours in North America. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the motives as measured by the Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption and points of attachment as measured by the Point of Attachment Index differed by gender and/or the tour event watched, after controlling for age and employment status. The relationship between motives and points of attachment was also examined. Data were collected at a PGA, an LPGA and a PGA Senior Tour event on each day of each tournament. A 2 (gender) x 3 (tour) multivariate analysis of covariance procedure on each of the areas (motives and points of attachment) was conducted. Finally, multivariate multiple regression analysis was used to predict a combined set of dependent variables (points of attachment) from a combined set of predictors (motives). The MANCOVA procedure for the motive factors indicated that the interaction effect was significant but the amount of variance explained was small. The multivariate analysis of covariance procedure for the motive factors indicated that the main effects of spectator and gender were significant as was the interaction effect but the amount of variance explained by each independent variable and the interaction was small. There was also a significant but small association between the dependent variables and the covariates of age and employment status. The MANCOVA procedure for the points of attachment factors also indicated that the interaction effect was significant but the amount of variance explained was minimal. The multivariate analysis of covariance procedure for the points of attachment factors also indicated that the main effects of spectator gender and tour were significant. The interaction effect was also significant but the amount of variance explained by each independent variable and the interaction was minimal. There was a significant but small association between the covariate of age but not between employment status and the dependent variables. The multivariate multiple regression procedure indicated that the motives were significantly related to the points of attachment and the variance explained was large. Specifically, vicarious achievement explained a moderate to large amount of variance in identification with a golfer, tour and hosting community. Based on all of this information, marketing plans do not need to differ based on the tour and the primary focus should be on a specific golfer or set of golfers who are playing in the event.