In the context of sports fitness centers, understanding the relationship between service quality and customer experience is crucial for enhancing customer loyalty and building long-term relationships. This study aims to explore the impact of service quality factors on customer satisfaction, trust, commitment, and loyalty, with a specific focus on the moderating role of sport involvement in shaping consumer experiences and perceptions. For this purpose, a cross-sectional survey was conducted with 606 consumers of sports fitness centers in Zhengzhou, China. The results of a latent moderated structural equation (LMS) analysis via Mplus version 8 indicate a positive relationship between tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy with customer satisfaction in sports fitness centers. Additionally, customer satisfaction positively affects trust and customer commitment, which in turn positively affect loyalty. Furthermore, sport involvement moderates the effects of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy on satisfaction. Finally, trust and commitment mediate the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. The present study has theoretical implications through illuminating the process mechanism of the effect of service quality on consumer loyalty, and it empirically shows different patterns of consumer experiences depending on sport involvement. Additionally, the results provide practical implications for developing effective service quality in sports fitness centers.

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the structural relationship between the servicescape, the emotional experience, space flow, satisfaction, and consumer loyalty in the context of sport fitness centers. Furthermore, the present study aimed to examine the moderating role of knowledge acquisition motivation in the effect of the servicescape on the emotional experience and space flow. For these research purposes, a survey study targeting 400 consumers of sport fitness centers was conducted via online and offline survey platforms in South Korea. After deleting 16 incomplete cases, 384 cases were included in the final data analysis. The results of latent moderated equations modeling (LMS) showed that the servicescape directly enhances the emotional experience and space flow. Also, it indirectly affects consumer loyalty via the emotional experience, space flow, and consumer satisfaction. Meanwhile, knowledge acquisition motivation was found to moderate the effect of the servicescape on space flow. The present study has several theoretical implications. First, the current study illuminates the process mechanism of the effect of the servicescape in sport fitness centers on consumer loyalty. Second, the present study empirically shows different patterns of consumer experiences and decision-making depending on consumption motivation. Based on the results, sport fitness center managers should not only pay more attention to the convenience of their servicescape but they should also design service environments maximizing consumers′ emotional experiences. Additionally, the results imply that assigning exercise beginners to an attractive physical environment is an effective strategy, because they are more likely to evaluate their experiences based on the perceived servicescape.

The role of volunteers is an important factor for the sustainability of mega sports events. Key issues in the literature on sports event volunteers are volunteer satisfaction and its determinants and outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of the fulfillment of volunteers’ psychological needs and Volunteer Management Practices (VMP) on overall volunteer satisfaction, and to test their conditional effects depending on volunteer involvement. Additionally, the present study aimed to examine the effects of volunteer satisfaction on future volunteer activity, word-of-mouth, and host city visitation. For these purposes, a survey was conducted with 2442 volunteers in the context of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea. The results of a Latent Moderated Structural Equation (LMS) revealed that the fulfillment of volunteers’ general needs and volunteer satisfaction with the VMP have positive effects on overall volunteer satisfaction. Interestingly, these effects were differently moderated by the level of volunteer involvement. Overall volunteer satisfaction was found to positively affect future volunteering intention, spreading positive words regarding sports event volunteering, and intention to visit the host city as tourists. In conclusion, sports event managers need to design an optimal work environment that can fulfill volunteers’ psychological needs and improve VMP to enhance the sustainability of mega sports events.

Leadership and organizational trust have become increasingly important in sport organizations. This study investigated the separate effects of inclusive leadership and autocratic leadership on organizational trust and the moderating role of sport involvement in these relationships. A total of 250 sport organization employees participated in the survey. This study conducted confirmatory factor analysis and latent moderated structural equation modeling (LMS) to test the research hypotheses. We found that while inclusive leadership was positively related to organizational trust, autocratic leadership was negatively related to organizational trust. Organizational trust positively influenced employees’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The findings also confirmed that sport involvement moderated the relationship between inclusive leadership and organizational trust. Furthermore, sport involvement had a marginally significant moderating effect on the relationship between autocratic leadership and organizational trust. The results of this study provide meaningful insight into sport organizations.

Electronic sports (esports) have become one of the fastest-growing forms of new media. As a result, esports livestreaming media is a necessary medium for connecting viewers and esports livestreams. Drawing on the media richness theory, the purpose of the current study was to explore how livestreaming media attributes and viewers’ individual characteristics (esports involvement) influence the viewer’s experience (satisfaction and flow experience) and media loyalty. The results of a latent moderated structural equations (LMS) modeling analysis using a total of 568 viewers revealed that informativeness and convenience significantly influenced viewer satisfaction and flow experience, which in turn influenced media loyalty. Interestingly, interactivity was found to be a more important attribute for viewer satisfaction and flow experience among highly involved viewers while informativeness was an important attribute for less involved viewers. Furthermore, viewer satisfaction is pivotal in establishing media loyalty for less involved viewers, while flow experience is key for highly involved viewers. The findings of this research have theoretical implications for the literature on esports media and media consumption experiences and offer managers effective strategies for developing esports media loyalty.