Adrien Bouchet

An investigation of sponsorship implications within a state sports festival: the case of the Florida Sunshine State Games

Event sponsorship has been recognised as an effective means through which companies can communicate with target markets and attendees of sports events. This study investigates the interrelationship between satisfaction with event sponsors, goodwill and fan identification and their influence on purchase intentions at a state sports festival held in Lakeland, Florida. Results indicate that satisfaction with event sponsors mediated goodwill and purchase intentions while controlling for the effects of fan identification. In addition, results differed between competitors and spectators of the event.

The Impact of International Football Matches on Primary Sponsors and Shareholder Wealth

The effect of sponsorship on the stock market returns of the sponsoring companies has been previously studied, but the internationalizing aspect of sponsorship has been overlooked. We examine returns to shareholders for firms sponsoring international football matches using an event study analysis. We find that there are cumulative abnormal returns to stockholders of sponsoring firms of international matches 10 days after the match and 20 days after the match. This finding is robust across several different event-study methods. We also find this general pattern across different professional football leagues, as well as a positive effect on returns by sponsoring high-profile football clubs. We theorize that the elapsed time until the effect on the stock price is the result of building brand awareness before a shift in the price becomes evident. These findings add nuance to the literature on sponsorship and event studies, which is almost exclusively domestic in character.

Escalation of commitment in United States collegiate athletic departments: an investigation of social and structural determinants of commitment.

Amid evidence of limited financial benefit, universities in the United States continue increasing their commitment to the NCAA’s highest level of competition. Consequently, it is believed that such behavior is the result of more intangible motivations by university decision makers. Using escalation of commitment theory as a framework, the authors explored social and structural determinants of increasing commitment, specifically examining the role of organizational status, former performance, and side-bets in commitment escalation. Applying a collective case study approach, the authors examined institutions (N = 10) having increased their commitment to Division I athletics within the last 10 years. Serving as the primary data source, participants (n = 35) included decision makers involved in the implementation of escalation initiatives. QSR International’s NVivo 10 software was employed for data analysis in the application of a three-step coding process. Findings revealed unique theoretical advancement in ...

Change is hard: overcoming barriers to service innovation

Purpose Creating value through service innovation requires new processes and ways of communicating to multiple stakeholders. Institutions and stakeholders within the service ecosystem, however, often resist change. Adopting a new service strategy entails two distinct costs – monetary and psychological. The tensions between an organization’s need to generate incremental revenue and the challenges of balancing business as usual and the costs associated with service innovation are explored. Specifically, this paper aims to explore the adoption of a customer relationship management (CRM) technology solution in a bureaucratic setting, and the sequence of events needed for successful implementation, with emphasis on overcoming various barriers and hurdles. Design/methodology/approach A case study methodology is used to gather and analyze data on how the Arizona State University (ASU) athletic department responded to the changing competitive environment via adopting a CRM technology solution. Data collection consisted of ten semi-structured interviews. Findings The experience of ASU illustrates that the primary benefits of a CRM technology solution include the generation of incremental revenue, capturing data and personalized marketing. The main challenges are coordinating adoption, obtaining commitment, developing competency, estimating costs and creating content. Research limitations/implications A conceptual framework emerged from the data that describes the likelihood of a service technology’s successful implementation based upon the interaction of the strength of key actors, organizational situation perception and organizational commitment. The model extends the proposed duality of service innovation outcomes as either success or failure to acknowledge the likelihood of a partial implementation where marginal success is achieved. Practical implications The sequence of events needed for successful implementation of a service technology is highlighted, with emphasis on overcoming various barriers and hurdles. Implementation steps are provided, as well as a model to help pinpoint issues. Originality/value The case study provides insight for overcoming pitfalls and barriers to adopting a new service technology in a traditionally bureaucratic organization where resistance to change is the norm, and innovation is not.

International sourcing, social responsibility and human assets: a framework for labor procurement negotiations in baseball’s talent supply chain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the question: how does socially responsible buying/sourcing applies to human talent? The authors examine this question in the unique context of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) relationship with the “buscones” (agents) representing prospects from the Dominican Republic. Design/methodology/approach – Using game theory, the authors model how MLB teams create rules to curb unethical behavior within the supply chain. The principal relationship the authors will model is that of the franchises and the prospects. This relationship has as its core an investment decision by the individual franchises: should they incur costs to ameliorate the context in which the prospects find themselves, or not? The costs of investment, whether it is in academies, general education, a revision of recruiting policies or something else, must be weighed against the negative externalities that are likely to result if the exploitation of the DR recruits becomes common knowledge to other s...

On the Service Quality and Satisfaction Relationship: The Moderating Role of Consumer Entitlement

While the study of service quality and its impact on customer satisfaction has a rich history within the services marketing literature, there have been recent calls for research that provides a deeper understanding of this relationship, given its fundamental role in ensuring outcomes such as customer retention and profitability (Anderson 2007). This research study seeks to add to the literature by exploring the role of an under-researched construct known as consumer entitlement on the service quality-satisfaction relationship. Using a sample of season ticket holders of a professional sports franchise, this study hypothesized and found that consumer entitlement moderates the service quality-satisfaction relationship such that higher levels of consumer entitlement mitigate the positive impacts of service quality on satisfaction.

Dynamic pricing usage in sports for revenue management

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which dynamic pricing is utilized in North American professional sports. While industries such as airlines and travel services have employed dynamic pricing for decades, professional sports is only now starting to adopt it.Design/Methodology/Approach: The authors survey and interview high ranking executives and managers in North American sports organizations. A total of 72 managers and executives from the four major North American professional sports leagues as well as other sport properties were surveyed. Descriptive statistics and a basic regression provide insight into perceptions v. actual practice among sports organizations.Findings: While most sports organizations perceive high usage of dynamic pricing within their organization, current procedures lag. Nearly 70% of respondents believe that their organizations frequently or always apply business analytics to dynamic pricing, but only 30% update their prices daily. Fully 50% of organizations do not automate decision-making processes, which is a hallmark of dynamic pricing. The perception of constant use of analytics in dynamic pricing intensifies as job title increases.Originality/Value: As one of the initial surveys looking at the usage of dynamic pricing in North American professional sports, this study provides a glimpse into both the perception and the reality. It suggests that there is still ample room for improvement.