Value-based stakeholder loyalty toward sport technology A case of the electronic body protector and scoring system in Taekwondo events

Only a few studies have examined issues related to sport stakeholders' (e.g., athletes', spectators', and coaches') perceived value of technology products and its influence on the purchase intention of sport technology. The model of value-based stakeholders' loyalty toward sport technology (MVLST) is offered to inform customer purchase intentions of technology-based products by proposing theoretical relationships between perceived value, brand attitude, and purchase intention. The MVLST leverages core aspects of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and salient product attributes as quality, price, and innovativeness to develop the perceived value of sport technology (PVST). To test the theoretical relationships proposed in MVLST, a structural equation model was performed. Finally, multi-group SEM was employed to examine the moderating effect of consumer involvement. A total of 341 useful cases were collected from key stakeholders (e.g., spectators, coaches, and athletes) attending the 2010 US Open Taekwondo Championship; the technology-based product assessed by these survey participants was the electronic body protector and scoring system. The results of this analysis demonstrate that: (i) Usefulness, quality, and price are important value dimensions for attitude; (ii) conative loyalty (i.e., purchase intention) toward a sport technology occurs as consumers develop positive value perceptions and attitude toward the product; and (iii) the purchase intention of high vs. low involvement groups is dissimilarly influenced by the proposed value dimensions. From a theoretical perspective, the current study sheds light on the importance of attitude as a mediating variable and involvement as a moderating variable.