GAP ANALYSIS BETWEEN CURRENT AND DESIRED SITUATION OF THE FACTORS \nAFFECTING THE MANAGEMENT OF AMBUSH MARKETING RISKS IN MAJOR SPORTING \nEVENTS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the gap between the current and optimal status of ambush marketing risk management in major sporting events. The research method was descriptive-causal comparative. The statistical population was all people who had the experience of leading sports caravans and being a member of the executive board for holding major sporting events. From them 160 people (by available-random method) were selected as a sample. Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of factors affecting the management of risks arising from ambush marketing, which was set in two parts: the current situation and the desired situation. The face and content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by \nprofessors and sports experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was obtained through Cronbach s alpha coefficient of 0.86. Frequency table, frequency percentage, mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data at the level of descriptive statistics. Due to the normality of data distribution, correlated t-test was used to compare the current situation of marketing management in ambush with the expected limit and paired t-test was used to analyze the gap between the current and desired status in a significant way (α = 0.05). The results showed that among the factors related to the management of marketing risks lurking in sporting events, cultural factors, spectator factors, rule factors, sport event management factors and media factors were lower than expected (average) and factors related to sports marketing, factors related to sporting events and factors related to sporting event sponsors were higher than expected. Analysis of the gap between the current and optimal status of ambush marketing risk management showed that in terms of professors, elites and organizers \nof sporting events, the situation of all aspects of ambush marketing risk management in sporting events is relatively weak.