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This study of contemporary sports marketing examines the opportunities and threats posed by a global sports market, outlining the tools and strategies that marketers and managers can use to take advantage of those opportunities.

Globalization has had a profound impact on the sports industry, creating an international market in which sports teams, leagues and players have become internationally recognized brands. This important new study of contemporary sports marketing examines the opportunities and threats posed by a global sports market, outlining the tools and strategies that marketers and managers can use to take advantage of those opportunities. The book surveys current trends, issues and best practice in international sport marketing, providing a useful blend of contemporary theory and case studies from the Americas, Europe and Asia. It assesses the impact of globalization on teams, leagues, players, sponsors and equipment manufacturers, and highlights the central significance of culture on the development of effective marketing strategy. Global Sport Marketing is key reading for any advanced student, researcher or practitioner working in sport marketing or sport business.

PurposeAlthough room-sharing platforms such as Airbnb have become globally prevalent business phenomena, no cross-cultural research has been conducted to examine how travelers outside the “Western Bubble” perceive and respond to this sharing economy. The purpose of this paper is to explore factors that affect Chinese travelers’ behavioral intentions toward room-sharing platforms in the sharing economy.Design/methodology/approachBased on theories of motivation, the influences on travelers of utilitarian and hedonic motivation, perceived trust and past experience were investigated. Considering the characteristics of room-sharing, utilitarian motivation is measured by service experience, information acquisition, cost saving and resource efficiency. Hedonic motivation is measured by adventure, gratification, sharing and friend-seeking. Data were collected in online survey from 445 valid samples and analyzed by partial least squares (PLS) regression approach using SmartPLS 3.0.FindingsThe findings indicate that although intensity varies, utilitarian motivation, hedonic motivation and perceived trust do have positive effects on tourists’ behavioral intentions. Past experience with room-sharing moderates these effects.Originality/valueThere is scant research about consumers’ behaviors toward a sharing economy in Western countries and no empirical research in this field with analyses of Chinese consumers, although China is an emerging market in the hospitality industry. None of the previous research was based on theories of motivation and trust, especially without a consideration of the moderating effect of past experience. Therefore, this study aims to narrow these gaps and to combine, organize and extend previous studies to improve the analysis of behavioral intention in the sharing economy. The value of this study lies in the research model and analysis with the backdrop of China.

Millennials’ increasing interest in luxury goods is extensively changing the luxury landscape. This cross-cultural study obtains a deeper understanding of which value perceptions influence South Korean and Dutch millennial consumers’ purchase intentions for luxury goods. To reflect trends and the characteristics of millennials, this study analyzes four perceived values associated with luxury goods: investment, functional, individual, and social values. The findings reveal similarities and differences in the effect of the four perceived values on attitudes and purchase intention for luxury goods among Korean and Dutch millennials. Four dimensions of individualism versus collectivism (horizontal individualism, vertical individualism, horizontal collectivism, and vertical collectivism) are discussed by comparing cultural differences across the two countries. The results of this study contribute to the fields of luxury goods consumption, luxury consumer behavior, luxury goods marketing, and millennial consumer behavior.

There is a generalized global market trend that tourists and consumers tend to pursue “themed” experiences closely related to their preferences or specific purposes. In the accommodation sector, the concept of “themed” is reflected by various theme hotels such as green hotels, family hotels, E-sports hotels, etc. In the era of Web 2.0, online information has been testified to be one of the most effective data sources for understanding customers and developing relative marketing strategies. Therefore, this research examined online customer reviews with both quantitative and qualitative methods to extract a range of variables reflecting customers’ experiences, and then, to explore their contribution to customers’ satisfaction/dissatisfaction with theme hotels; to understand theme hotels and develop novel insights for the industry, with new data sources. Moreover, a cross-cultural perspective was applied to examine the differences among different markets, so that more specific and targeted marketing strategies could be developed to develop and promote theme hotels. As a result, different clusters reflecting customers’ understanding of two areas have been applied. In addition, it was demonstrated that the connection between customer experience and satisfaction can be utilized to distinguish the differences between the two areas. Exploring how themed hotels meet tourist preferences through online reviews: A study on customer satisfaction and marketing strategies This research focuses on the growing trend in the tourism industry for “themed” experiences, where consumers seek accommodations tailored to their specific interests or purposes, such as green hotels, family hotels, and e-sports hotels. The study uses online customer reviews as a data source to better understand theme hotels and develop targeted marketing strategies. By analyzing these reviews both qualitatively and quantitatively, the researchers aim to identify the factors that contribute to customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction in theme hotels. Additionally, the research incorporates a cross-cultural perspective to explore differences among various markets and develop more specific marketing strategies for theme hotels. The study results reveal distinct clusters of customer cognition for the two areas examined, as well as the relationship between customer experience and satisfaction. These findings can be used to inform the development and promotion of theme hotels, ultimately catering to the evolving preferences of tourists and consumers worldwide.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop both a systematic framework and priorities for comparative and cross-cultural festival management studies, based on literature review and results of a four-country study. Design/methodology/approach - This research is based on four samples of festivals in Sweden, Norway, UK, and Australia that are systematically compared. The survey is designed to profile the festivals in terms of vision/mandate, ownership, age, size, assets, venues used, decision-making structure, and programs. Costs and revenues are examined in some detail, including trends in each category. Festivals' use of volunteers and sponsors are specifically addressed. Levels of dependence on a number of types of stakeholders and other strategic management issues are also explored. Respondents are also asked to respond to statements regarding challenges and threats to their festival and organization. Findings - The empirical research identifies important similarities and differences that exist within the UK, Sweden, Norway, and Australia, by three ownership types, in how festivals are organized, their operations and strategies, stakeholder influences and dependencies, threats, and strategies. Research limitations/implications - In the recommended framework are five components: antecedents; planning and management; planned event experiences and meanings; outcomes and the impacted and dynamic patterns; and processes. Specific points of comparison are enumerated within each component, foundation theories and concepts are identified, and some research priorities suggested for each. Originality/value - The framework developed in this paper can help advance both the process and applications of comparative festival studies.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Purpose Consumers increasingly depend on the internet as the information source to make their hospitality decisions, which highlights the need for more research in online recommendation. Due to the globalization, culture and its effects on marketing become an increasingly important subject to investigate. Therefore, this paper aims to offer a cross-cultural investigation of consumers’ different trustworthiness and credibility perceptions when facing online recommendations from different information resources. Design/methodology/approach This research uses the source-credibility theory to examine consumers’ responses to online recommendations from two sources. Participants were recruited from two equivalent marketing panels in each culture. A 2 (online recommendation source: in-group vs out-group) by 2 (culture: American vs Chinese) between-subjects quasi-experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses. Findings The results demonstrate that culture moderates consumer responses to the two types of online sources. Chinese consumers, due to their more collectivist nature, exhibit higher levels of purchase intent when the recommendation originates from an in-group rather than from an out-group. Such differences are not observed among the more individualist American consumers. Furthermore, trustworthiness plays an important role in influencing Chinese consumers’ perception of recommendation credibility and the consequent purchase intent. Practical implications This research provides guidelines to hospitality practitioners when developing their social networking sites and online marketing strategies across different cultures. Originality/value The current study conducts an in-depth investigation of cultural differences in consumers’ perceptions of and reactions to online recommendations from other customers with various social distances.

Mass sport participation has received considerable attention in the recent sport management literature. However, little is known about sport spectatorship as an outcome of sports mega-events (SMEs). This is the first study to use cross-cultural analysis to examine the relationship between the 2002 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup Korea/Japan and current football spectatorship in the host countries. In the context of SMEs, this study uses the psychological construct of nostalgia as a mediator to identify the relationship with spectatorship. Data from 416 and 408 respondents from South Korea and Japan, respectively, were collected through online surveys and analysed cross-culturally using Hayes’ PROCESS macro model 4. We find that the nostalgia evoked by the 2002 World Cup has positively influenced the host nations’ current football spectatorship. While this SME has a strong impact on evoking nostalgia, the effect of nostalgia on spectator behaviour is significant, yet comparatively weak.

This study attempts to explore behavioral characteristics of international tourists visiting Istanbul in guided tours, and to examine the differences and similarities among tourists of different nationalities using data provided by Turkish tour guides. Data were collected utilizing a survey site designed for research for Turkish tour guides working in Istanbul, Turkey. The results suggest that there are three underlying dimensions of tourists’ behavior during guided tours, namely, shopping, activities, and social interaction. Significant differences are observed among seven nationalities. Pair comparisons of the groups belonging to the three dimensions are conducted for the purpose of revealing similarities and differences. The Japanese are found to be the most distinct tourist group in comparison to others. Finally, conclusions and implications are discussed at the end of the study.

Purpose: This study explored the different perception of Airbnb's brand gender across cultures on the basis of gender and gender identity. Specifically, the objectives of this study are, first, to examine how users perceive Airbnb's brand gender; second, to explore the effect of gender and gender identity on brand gender; and finally, to observe the differences in perception of Airbnb's brand gender across cultures. Design/methodology/approach: The exploration was conducted by comparing two countries with different cultural backgrounds (American vs. Korean). Data was collected in the US and Korea. Amazon Mechanical Turk (Mturk)was used for the US sample. For the Korean sample, a research company specialized in online surveys was employed. Data were analyzed by SPSS, AMOS to test hypotheses. Findings: Gender identity fully affected brand gender for Americans, but for Koreans masculine gender identity (MGI) had an influence on the perception of masculine brand gender personality (MBP) and feminine gender identity (FGI) on the perception of feminine brand gender personality (FBP) only. Further, this study revealed that gender does not play a significant role in the relationship between gender identity and brand gender for the American group, while gender was found to be an important variable moderating the relationships for Koreans. In addition, the study showed that the impact of gender identity on brand gender is greater in the US than in Korea. Research limitations/implications: This study has several limitations. First, this study considered only two countries. More countries from different continents with diverse social backgrounds should be investigated to generalize the study results. Second, gender-related phenomena are multifactorial and involve several variables, including gender attitudes, gender role behaviors, and sexual orientation, therefore, future research may observe other gender-related variables. Third, there are questionable items in the measurement of brand gender. Future research may focus more on addressing this issue in the cross-cultural study of brand gender. Fourth, more in-depth insights into the role of gender identity will result if future research explores the relationship between Aaker's (1997) five brand personalities and gender identity. Finally, this study examined only one brand, Airbnb. Therefore, the results could be difficult to generalize and apply to other brands and industries. Future studies should focus on investigating the relationship between brand gender, identity, and gender in other brands in the hospitality industry. Originality/value: This study is one of few researches investigating the relationships between gender identity, gender, and brand gender across cultures. Therefore, the results of this study are expected to provide novel insights into brand strategies in marketing, both academically and practically, in terms of gender and gender identity market segmentation.