An Empirical Analysis of the Effectiveness of World Wrestling Entertainment Marketing Strategies

Submitted by Sungick Min, WonYul Bae, David Pifer and Colin Pillay

Abstract
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE), which is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, produces one of the most popular sporting events in the world, spans a diverse audience, and has a fanatical base and following for its entertainment value. This study was designed to investigate the numerous ways in which the company promotes and markets its brand, its programming, its events, and its products. Drawing from 107 randomly collected survey questionnaires, the results of this research indicated a variety of significant differences in the effects of WWE marketing promotions on the age, income, marital status, and ethnicity demographics. These findings can in turn be used to help the WWE target designated consumer segments with the appropriate resources and marketing strategies as the company strives to increase future opportunities for success. Further samples from other areas in the country are needed, though, to verify if the regionally recognized inclination is consistent across the country. In addition, research should be performed at different times of the year to clarify seasonal sport preferences.

INTRODUCTION
Professional wrestling fans receive different reactions from people. Some people think it is “cool” to be a fan; others are disappointed because they consider it to be faked. Fans respond that they enjoy the entertainment value of professional wrestling. According to Ball (1990), wrestling fans tend to be stereotyped as the “dregs of society,” a group composed mainly of lower-class people.

Nevertheless, professional wrestling is also a tremendous entertainment business and has become an addiction for a large portion of young Americans. Ball (1990) stated, “Professional wrestling in the United States provides an ideal platform for the study of entertainment-culture and portrays some of the richest symbolism in society today” (p. 4).

It incorporates action in the arena, and sometimes outside the arena. It is an action adventure show, a cartoon, drama, and a sitcom. It is like a big soap opera for men, a hybrid of everything ever seen on television. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE), which produces some of the most popular shows in the world and reaches a diverse audience, has an enormous fan base and following for its entertainment value. As one of television’s most unique shows, it draws upon many other successful forms of entertainment. The continuing story lines are familiar to viewers of soap operas. The action, adventure, and racier elements draw their motivation from the best that sports and Hollywood have to offer. According to Gresseon (1998), professional wrestling has gone from a dull participant ritual to an exciting, action-filled form of entertainment.

The action in WWE events may be “fake,” but the entertainment value of World Wrestling created by Vincent and Linda McMahon is very real. Gresson (1998) asserted that wrestling has taken into consideration the audience’s needs and successfully translated them into spectacular shows that draw spectacular profits. The WWE has dominated its market and has established its brand in the minds of the American public. As an integrated media and entertainment company, the WWE is principally engaged in the development, production, and marketing of television programming, pay-per-view programming, live events, and the licensing and sale of branded consumer products featuring its successful World Wrestling Entertainment brand.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In WWE’s 2006 annual report, net revenues of $400.1 million were generated, while an income from continuing operations of $55.2 million, before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortizations, stock options, and other non-cash charges, was reported.

WWE is incredibly prevalent in the male demographic, especially those aged 14 to 34. The company has been involved in the entertainment business for over 20 years and has established the brand as one of the most popular forms of entertainment today. According to Stotlar (2005), demographic changes in the United States population have directly influenced sport marketing. Brenner (2004) indicated that population trends have caused organizations to take a long, hard look at marketing efforts as teams and leagues find that there is no single, correct approach. To increase market penetration, marketers often discuss how to reach Hispanic, Asian, or other ethnic consumer groups, but oversimplify the challenge by applying such labels. According to WWE, its operations are organized around two principal activities:
1. Creation, marketing and distribution of live and televised entertainment, including the
sale of advertising time on its television programs; and
2. Marketing and promotion of its branded merchandise.

In an effort to further exploit and bolster its business, WWE launched a brand extension that created two separate and distinct brands, “Raw” and “SmackDown!” Each extension has its own distinct story lines, thus enabling the company to have two separate live event tours. The two tours permit the company to visit new domestic markets while touring internationally on a more frequent basis. In addition, WWE currently maintains licensing agreements with approximately 70 licensees worldwide. The company logo and images of WWE characters appear on thousands of retail products, including various types of apparel, toys, video games, and a wide assortment of other items.

According to WWE’s 2006 annual report, the company produces and promotes wrestling matches for TV and live audiences. Its nine hours of TV programming each week include “Raw”, a top US cable program, and “Smackdown!”, the highest-rated UPN show. Most of its programming airs on Viacom outlets, including MTV, TNN, and UPN. WWE also produces 14 pay-per-view programs and about 240 live events each year, licenses characters for merchandising, and sells videos and DVDs that showcase such wrestling stars as “The Rock”, “Hollywood Hulk Hogan”, and “The Undertaker.”

WWE’s success prompted this study, which set out to investigate the numerous ways in which the company promotes and markets its brand, its programming, its events, and its products. Kwon and Armstrong (2004) asserted that one of the most crucial elements of sport marketing involves segmenting the market of sport consumers into smaller, homogeneous groups for which specific marketing strategies can be cultivated. Accordingly, this study examined the different results of WWE promotions and marketing based on age, income, marital status, and ethnicity.

Pitts and Stotlar (2002) defined sport marketing as “the process of designing and implementing activities for the production, pricing, promotion, and distribution of a sport product to satisfy the needs or desires of consumers and to achieve the company’s goals” (p. 80).

Understanding the “4 Ps of Marketing” is crucial to any successful marketing channels in an organization. In traditional marketing, the “4 Ps of Marketing”, a concept coined by E. Jerome McCarthy (McCarthy & Perreault, 1990), specifically refers to the following:
Product: the essence of the product or service that includes product lines, product extensions, and the meeting of new consumer needs within the targeted group of customers.
Price: shows the desired image a company wants to portray about a product or service while taking into consideration competitors’ prices, available discounts, and market share.
Place: the actual, physical distribution of a product or service. This can include the transporting of goods to wholesale and retail outlets or the geographic location of a business or organization.
Promotions: carrying messages about products and services to potential consumers. This can be performed through publicity, advertising, or other means of communication.

A brief overview of the 4 Ps as they relate to the WWE will serve as a base from which to understand WWE’s success. To begin, the WWE “products” are its superstars – “The Rock”, “Trish Stratus”, “Stone Cold Steve Austin”, and “The Undertaker”. These superstars are professional and skilled in the portrayal of popular characters. One of WWE’s top superstars, “The Rock”, the son of a Samoan homemaker and an African-American pro wrestler, became a feature film action hero in Universal’s blockbuster, “The Scorpion King”. WWE has a vastly increased talent pool that translates directly to brand extension and additional revenue streams producing more pay-per-view events, more live events, more international tours, more branded merchandise, and more new television programming with new stars and new brands outside the genre.

Compared to other sports leagues, the WWE ticket “price” is one of the most expensive. According to the WWE website (2007), the average ticket price for three live events in Asia in March 2002 was $63.00 and the average ticket price for live events in the United States was $36.00. Each of WWE’s other 11 domestic pay-per-view events have a suggested retail price of $34.95, up from $29.95. Compared to the baseball ticket, ESPN (2007) indicates that the lowest average price is $13.79.

According to the WWE annual report (2006), it has major arenas, such as Madison Square Garden in New York City, Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, California; Allstate Arena in Chicago, First Union Center in Philadelphia, Fleet Center in Boston, and Earls Court in London, England. These major arenas represent the “place” in the marketing mix. WWE has a 46,500-square-foot entertainment complex located in Times Square. The complex boasts a 600-seat restaurant and 2,200 square feet of retail space. The complex provides for a variety of entertainment uses, including:
1. Airing WWE’s regularly scheduled TV shows and pay-per-views;
2. Hosting concerts and other live events, including press conferences,
stockholder meetings and product launches;
3. A night club;
4. Appearances and autograph sessions featuring performers; and,
5. Banquets, birthday parties and other social and corporate functions.

“Promotion” is the final P in the marketing mix to be discussed. According to WWE, the company promotes and markets its brand, its programming, its events, and its products in numerous ways, including:
1. Approximately 200 live events are held each year in major stadiums and arenas
throughout the world, including Madison Square Garden in New York City, Arrowhead
Pond of Anaheim, California; Sky dome in Toronto, Canada; and the Manchester
Evening News Arena in Manchester, England;
2. Nine hours of original television programming are produced, 52 weeks per year;
3. 12 domestic pay-per-view events are produced each year;
4. Programs and pay-per-view events are distributed in over 150 countries in nine languages;
5. Branded merchandise is marketed and sold directly to consumers and to major retailers
worldwide;
6. The branded merchandise is licensed to approximately 85 companies to produce and distribute thousands of retail products worldwide;
7. Two monthly magazines are published with a combined annual circulation of
approximately 5.8 million; and,
8. News and information is distributed about the WWE’s story lines, performers, and
programming and, consequently, affects e-commerce sales through Internet sites.

For years, a great deal of research has been undertaken in an effort to understand the behavior of sport marketing strategies. However, most studies have focused on direct sport marketing strategies, while studies examining the factors that influence indirect consumer behavior have been neglected. At present, studies investigating the effectiveness of WWE marketing strategies have not been well designed, thus creating a need for further research. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of various WWE marketing platforms and the demographic composition of its fan base. An empirical analysis looks at the numerous ways in which the company promotes and markets its brand, its programming, its events, and its products.

Furthermore, this study also examines the effectiveness of WWE promotions and marketing based on age, sex, educational level, and ethnicity. Differences based on age, sex, educational level, and ethnicity may compel sports marketers to adapt current marketing approaches.

Best marketing practices of current WWE are also examined, and recommendations for sports marketers on how to successfully target the population segment are provided.

In sum, the general research question for this study is: How do WWE marketing channels affect various fan bases?

METHODS
Sample and data collection
As mentioned, WWE’s 2006 annual report showed a strong following of fans in males aged 14 to 34. Taking this into account, the designated target population of this study was university students aged 18-34. In addition to its representation of the WWE fan base, this demographic was also deemed appropriate due to the fact that university students fall into the age demographic (18-34) that is most sought after by sport producers. According to Turco (1996), college students differ significantly from other markets in their consuming behaviors. Therefore, surveys were distributed to over 500 students and a total of 107 viable questionnaires were obtained using SurveyMonkey. Within the collected sample, 40 students were from a public university in South Korea and 67 students were taking Sport Exercise and Science (SES) activity classes from April 23 to May 4, 2007, at the University of Northern Colorado. This sample size was intended to be used as a pilot study for future research.

Instrumentation
The questionnaire was comprised of several sections with a total of 35 items. Part of the survey contained questions to gain information about general demographics of spectators, WWE-related information, and marketing-related information. Requested demographic information included age, sex, marital status, and household income. This survey was formulated to WWE marketing channels before the questions for demographic information. The objective of the study was to provide other related information necessary to assist WWE in developing effective marketing strategies. It took respondents approximately 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire.

Procedures
The data was collected through SurveyMonkey from April 23 to April 30 in 2007. The researcher contacted course instructors and obtained consent from them to disseminate the surveys. Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the author’s Institutional Review Board, which approved the methodology and survey instrument. All participants were informed in advance that participation was voluntary and that all information would remain confidential and anonymous. They were able to refuse and decide to stop responding at anytime. 107 survey questionnaires were distributed randomly. A total of 103 usable surveys were collected. All questionnaires were answered anonymously. It was assumed that the participants in the survey gave honest and thoughtful responses to each question.

Data Analysis
A cross tabulation is the process of taking two variables and tabulating the results of one variable against the other variable. A cross-tabulation gives us a basic picture of how two variables inter-relate. It aids us in searching for patterns of interaction. Each cell indicates the number of respondents that gave a specific combination of responses, that is, each cell contains a single cross tabulation. A cross tabulation was performed to examine the correlation between the different variables and various demographic make-up of its fan base. Descriptive statistics were also calculated for each of the demographics. SPSS 13.0 for Windows was utilized to perform the above statistical analyses.

RESULTS
The participants of this study included Caucasian, Asian, African-American, and Hispanic populations. Of the 107 total respondents, 55% considered themselves Caucasian and 38% considered themselves Asian. Only 7% of the responses gathered this study were from African-American and Hispanic (Chart 1). Figure 1 indicates that there is a significant difference between various ethnic groups. The majority of Caucasian respondents indicated that they made their decision to go to the WWE event to entertain guests, while most Asian respondents preferred attending the event to spend time with their families.

CHART 1 Demographics of Participants
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FIGURE 1 Factors to Go to the WWE Event
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Overall, giveaways were not seen as a significant factor in determining whether or not to go to the WWE event. In addition, in the question regarding the importance of the excitement offered by WWE, approximately 90 % of female respondents provided a response of neutral or less. 29% of male respondents produced a neutral response (Table 1).

TABLE 1 The Levels of Excitement by WWE
Screen Shot 2014-02-05 at 4.55.30 PM

One of the interesting findings in this study is that while the majority of Caucasian respondents watched over 3 hours of television a week, their Asian counterparts reported watching less than 5 hours of television in a single week (Table 2). According to the WWE Report (2006), the majority of the WWE fan base was Caucasian. However, the results of this study indicate that 52% of Caucasian respondents were not watching WWE events on television. In general, the results of this study indicated that there were more male than female spectators at WWE events. The majority of the respondents who attended the events was from middle-income families and was Caucasian.

TABLE 2 Hours of Watching WWE on Television
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A large proportion of the spectators were single. The people in different age groups differed significantly in the marketing channels. Those 30 years of age or younger appear to be more interested in attending the events, ordering pay-per-view, and visiting the WWE site. In regards to ethnicity, not only did very few Hispanic people attend WWE events, but very few participated in or were affected by the other marketing strategies.

DISCUSSION
According to the responses, pay-per-view and the website were the most effective sources of information about WWE. CD’s, home videos, print media, and other items were relatively less effective sources of information for WWE. Consequently, WWE should develop additional weekly television programming through creative and entertaining events while strengthening its pay-per-view marketing efforts to reach new consumers.

In essence, WWE must strengthen its existing television and pay-per-view distribution relationships and develop broader distribution arrangements for WWE branded programming worldwide. This can be accomplished by continuing to produce high quality, exciting live events, branded programming, and consumer products for global distribution.

In addition, WWE must develop its story lines by further integrating contemporary themes and increasing its focus on the continuous cultivation of skilled, young, entertaining characters to complement its pool of established talent. This can be accomplished by recruiting, developing, and maintaining a roster of highly skilled athletes who possess the physical presence, acting ability, and charisma to develop into popular performers. WWE should also augment the licensing and direct sales of WWE branded goods through its distribution channels while cultivating its Internet operations to further promote the brand and develop additional sources of revenue. In addition, the organization should also inflate the licensing and direct sale of WWE branded merchandise, and bring the distribution of home videos, CD’s and publications in-house.
WWE must meet certain objectives if it wants to achieve its goal and be the number one entertainment business in the United States or among the Hispanic Community. While advertising and broadcasting in Spanish may invite Latino and Hispanic consumers to the arena, the presence of Spanish-speaking ushers, vendors, and customer service representatives will ensure an enjoyable experience. According to Sergio Del Prado, Los Angeles Dodgers’ Vice President of sales and marketing (summarized in 10 Tips for Reaching Hispanic Consumers, 2007), “one thing where people really drop the ball, you get [Latinos] to commit, and then they come to the ballpark and nobody speaks the language and they feel different than anyone else.”

A Hispanic marketing blitz should contain promotions in the Hispanic newspapers, on Hispanic TV channels, and on Hispanic radio stations. Heavy advertising through all these media outlets will enhance the WWE brand name and symbol in the Hispanic community. Spending on advertising to Hispanic media outlets should be double that of English speaking outlets. WWE does not want to be an organization for the elite, but an organization that all of the country, regardless of income and race, can enjoy and love. This end message has to be communicated to WWE’s prospective Hispanic fan base in order for WWE to become profitable in the Hispanic community.

In addition to Hispanics, young people are a second market that WWE must target in order to achieve lucrative success. WWE must gear its consideration toward the young generation, a mission that can be accomplished by concentrating on young people while they are at school. WWE must work with the schools to generate programs and initiatives that spark the students’ interests. This can be accomplished through WWE ticket and merchandise giveaways. For instance, students who accomplish a certain GPA receive four tickets to a WWE live event. At the event, WWE will acknowledge their accomplishments with either scoreboard or public address recognition during a break in activities. This sort of program could generate short-term expenses, but will benefit WWE in the end. These students and their parents will become consumers of the WWE’s brand and will subsequently be more interested in WWE’s product. This interest will bring them back to the live events, where additional marketing strategies can move them up the consumer escalator.

Considering the time people normally spend on watching TV, television promotion showed high efficiency to communicate the information about WWE events to the respondents. However, it is obvious that TV advertising is the most expensive means to promote any event. Due to the fact that most people who attend WWE events are working class and spend plenty of time in their automobile driving regularly, radio is a comparatively cost-effective and efficient method to market a WWE event.

CONCLUSIONS
The aim of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of various WWE marketing platforms and the demographic composition of its fan base. What was discovered was that many people cannot pay for the price of a WWE event. The price is too costly for many people living in the United States at the present time and many of WWE’s prospective consumers consider a live event as a novelty and not a usual night of entertainment. Providing new ticket plans that are reasonable for the majority of U. S. residents would be exceedingly favorable to WWE. It would augment its revenue and attendance in a very short period of time and supply WWE with a stronger fan base for the future.

APPLICATIONS IN SPORT
WWE should implement new forms of entertainment and build brands that harmonize its existing businesses, including the improvement of new television programming that will extend beyond its current offerings. Such formulations will appeal to WWE’s targeted demographic market and build up branded location-based entertainment businesses directly or through licensing agreements, joint business enterprises, and other preparations. For the promotion to be flourishing and fill the stands, this decision must be made based on knowledge of WWE’s prospective spectators, their characteristics, and behavior patterns.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
None

REFERENCES
1. Ball, M. R. (1990). Professional wrestling as ritual drama in American popular culture. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen.

2. Boston has highest average for 10th straight season. (2007, March). Retrieved from http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2819597

3. Brenner, S. (2004). A world of opportunity. Sport Business Journal, 15-16.

4. Gresson, A. D. (1998). Professional wrestling and youth culture: Testing, taunting, and the containment of civility. Boulder, CO: Westview.

5. Kwon, H., & Armstrong, K. (2004). An exploration of the construct of psychological attachment to a sport team among college students: A multidimensional approach. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 13(2), 82–93.

6. McCarthy, E. J., & Perreault, W. D. (1990). Basic Marketing (10th Edition.) Boston: Irwin.

7. Pitts, B. G., & Stotlar, D. K. (2002). Fundamentals of Sport Marketing (2nd Edition.). Morgan town, WV: Fitness Information Technology.

8. Stotlar, D. K. (2005). Developing successful sport marketing plans. Morgan town, WV: Fitness Information Technology.

9. Turco, D. (1994). Event sponsorship: effects on consumer brand loyalty and consumption. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 3(3), 42 – 45.

10. World Wrestling Entertainment Website (2006). Retrieved April 2, 2007, from http://www.wwe.com

11. 10 tips for reaching Hispanic consumers. (2007, January 22). Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal, 9(37). Retrieved April 5, 2007, from http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm.

2014-02-06T09:44:56-06:00February 6th, 2014|Contemporary Sports Issues, General, Sports Marketing, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off on An Empirical Analysis of the Effectiveness of World Wrestling Entertainment Marketing Strategies

The Impact of Social Media on the Awareness of the Olympic Movement

Submitted by Lawrence Judge, Don Lee, Jeffrey Petersen, David Bellar, Karin Surber, and Chelsie Krill

ABSTRACT
The Olympic Games are an established sports festival garnering a tremendous amount of public attention and awareness, while the X Games and the Youth Olympic Games are relatively new events targeted toward a younger audience. The purpose of this study was to collect awareness and opinion data from undergraduate students in sport administration, exercise science and sport pedagogy from a university in the Midwestern United States regarding the then upcoming Winter Youth Olympic Games, London Olympic Games and Winter X Games. The level of familiarity and public awareness of the 2012 Youth Olympic Games was generally very low (mean scores for both were 1.9 out of 7.0). In contrast, the participants expressed more familiarity with X Games as indicated by higher mean scores (4.4 and 4.6 measured out of 7.0, respectively). Similarly, the participants expressed greater familiarity with 2012 London Olympic Games as evidenced by higher mean scores (5.6 and 5.7 measured out of 7.0, respectively). Additional correlation and multiple regression analyses examined the relationships of event awareness, familiarity, social media and other marketing efforts on the intent to attend these sport festival or to watch them on television. The results of this study indicate rather poor results for the social media campaign promoting the Youth Olympic Games. ANOVA tests additionally indicated that participants’ intention to watch games and follow social media on the events were significantly different as the levels of both familiarity and public awareness changed.

INTRODUCTION
The Olympic Games (OG) are a historic, century’s old world-wide sports festival garnering extraordinary amounts of public attention and awareness (13). The X Games and the Youth Olympic Games, on the other hand, are comparatively new events that are targeted toward a younger audience (3, 9). The 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) became the third sport festival event ever introduced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), while the X Games (XG) and Winter X Games (WXG) began in 1995 and 1997, respectively (7). The world-wide exposure of the OG has increased dramatically during recent decades primarily due to the advances in media coverage and technology. Younger generations, however, may be losing interest in Olympic Sports due to the proliferation of extreme sports and becoming more interested in non-traditional sporting events like the XG. To create excitement and interest in these newly created events with the millennial generation (born between 1980-2000), the effective use of social media marketing can be used to specifically target this audience with messages tailored for each market segment (10). Social media could prove to be an effective communication channel for the millennial generation because the social media platform has become an essential part of their everyday lives (10).

Social media marketing utilizes various forms of internet-based electronic communication tools, forums and sites that offer customized messaging to very specific audiences. By utilizing social media marketing, the events associated with the Olympic movement may experience greater success with communicating to intended audiences with more relevant messaging. Likewise, the IOC has actively been encouraging its participants to use social media to blog, post, comment, and tweet during the OG (8). However, the IOC has implemented strict guidelines for participants and other accredited persons related to what and how he/she shall post, blog, or tweet while at the OG. The primary goals of the Olympic movement are to be associated with youth, health, sportsmanship, peace, education, and enjoyment; ideals encapsulated in the Olympic Charter (13). However, the youth of today have far more varied interests and distractions than during past decades when the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, each contested every four years, were more eagerly anticipated. Through events and marketing efforts targeting youth, the International Olympic Committee seeks to reignite interest in Olympic sports within a generation of increasingly inactive and overweight adolescents.

The IOC’s strategy for marketing the upcoming London Olympic Games (LOG) and the subsequent Youth Olympic Games (YOG) includes efforts to help create new generations of young athletes that have an ethical approach to sport with strong values and principles (8). They also look to educate young people on the importance of living healthy lives and lower the climbing youth obesity rate. Another goal of the committee is to inform young people about the problems that arise from doping and excessive training (8). IOC President, Jacques Rogge has taken it a step further and stated that he wants the YOG to be more about education than about competition. The main goal, according to Rogge, is to give the young athletes an education based on Olympic values. He elaborates further by stating that the main emphasis of the YOG is for athletes to enjoy the event. Not only was the event about the athletes gaining an education based on Olympic values, but the YOG has also established several related programs such as a Young Reporters program and a Young Ambassadors program to give invaluable Olympic experience and education. The Culture and Education Program (CEP) was designed to promote skill development, social responsibility and expression to the YOG participants through digital media efforts (8). The Culture and Education Program (CEP) was formed to create an atmosphere that would inspire the athletes to view their competitors not as mere competitors, but as lifelong friends (12). This can be seen carried over in the Olympic Games as well with distance runners Mo Farah (Great Britain) and Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) who became training partners due to their coach Alberto Salazar and British intermediaries. Rupp and Farah became great friends through the process and talked about anything but running; encompassing the Olympic ideals throughout the way (12). In promoting the YOG, they needed not concern themselves with the singular focus on winning and competing typically associated with the larger Olympic Games. Krieger’s (11) study of a group of (German) athletes showed that they were dissatisfied with what the IOC saw as one of the success stories of the first YOG in Singapore, the Culture and Education Program (CEP); yet, the athletes enjoyed the unplanned or unexpected experiences that come with being at an international multi-sport event and staying at the athletes’ village. Such a finding supports Gold and Gold’s (5, p. 405) assertion that the YOG are “an important step in helping to return the Olympics to something of their roots” and could help the IOC consolidate and enhance the Olympic brand. To do so, however, requires innovation in discipline selection and the cooperation of the international sport federations (2).

Since the ability to impact sport and engage a younger audience will initially hinge on audience awareness, it is important to understand how the event is viewed by various stakeholders. The external stakeholders of the YOG (athletes, international delegations, athletes and their mission/support staff, media, sponsors, and the community) can to be explored by using the network approach to gain a better understanding of how the various pressures created by the YOG are experienced (8). The network approach is a construct that allows examination of changes in the interconnections between the actors involved (6). A variety of internal and external stakeholders exist with the OG, those organizations, groups, individuals which have an impact or are impacted by the local organization (4). Exploring the newly framed YOG using a network approach helps to explain how various stakeholders exert various forms of pressure on YOG (19). The IOC, the media, and the parents were the three primary stakeholders with the most influence on the development of the YOG. Two main points can be made in this regard. First, utilizing the network analysis, independently and in relation to each other, the YOG needs to take into account the needs of all three stakeholders. The high salience of these three stakeholders means that the organizational survival of the YOG is dependent on all of them; they must be satisfied to a sufficient level, as determined by the stakeholders, in order for the YOG to gain legitimacy and survive, as well as be successful (1,15,17).

The network approach could help in understanding certain processes and activities connected with the YOG’s sustainability potential (19). The stakeholders have a bigger impact on the sustainability potential of the YOG than they would in the OG because less attention is paid by the media by design (19). Sponsors could have a different degree of involvement with less attention paid to the YOG by the media, and this could affect the sustainability potential because they are a primary funding source for the Olympic Movement (19). However, the stakeholders’ expectations, needs, and interests should be considered as they may change as the YOG changes with time, especially with the emergence and impact of social media (19). Public awareness and effective messaging of the LOG and YOG will play a critical role in drawing advertising and sponsorship dollars for future OG and YOG events. The economic and tourism impact are key determining components of the legacy that the YOG will leave for Nanjing. In addition, it is important to understand present and future coach and sport practitioner awareness and how they view the creation of such an event. The purpose of this study was to collect awareness and opinion data from undergraduate students in sport administration, exercise science and sport pedagogy from a university in the Midwestern United States regarding the then upcoming winter YOG, upcoming LOG and upcoming WXG. This manuscript will review the basic characteristics and behaviors of millennial consumers, effective marketing techniques to reach this audience in meaningful ways and the marketing strategy changes adopted by the IOC to increase their reach and impact for future Olympic events.

METHOD
Sample and Procedure
Students majoring in sport management, exercise science and sport pedagogy were surveyed during the 2012 winter YOG to assess the event’s global marketing efforts. The survey instrument was composed of six demographic elements and five research-related questions, and was modeled upon a previously developed and tested instrument (9). This current survey was modified from the original instrument with changes to the demographic elements and the addition of scaled questions related to intention to attend or view the London Olympic Games (LOG), Winter X Games (WXG) and future Youth Olympic Games (YOG) events. In order to verify both content and face validity, the instrument was reviewed by a panel of experts in the area of youth sport. The demographic components included: gender, coaching experience, sport administration/management experience, athletic background, parental status, and nation of residency. A seven-point Likert-scale method was used for ranking the dependent variables of the study which included: perceived personal awareness of the YOG, perceived public awareness of the YOG, intention of YOG event attendance, and intention to view the YOG on television. Questions were added to the present study to measure the social networking habits and behaviors of the subjects. The final question was a multiple choice element requiring the recognition of the correct logo of the YOG, WXG and the LOG from a selection of five similar graphic designs. Both the survey and the research protocol were reviewed and approved by the appropriate university Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Data Analysis
Descriptive and analytical statistics were calculated for the overall variables using SPSS version 18.0. Two multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the extent to which the independent factors (familiarity with the YOG initiative, level of general public awareness, accessibility to social networking/media sites, advertisements on social media sites, importance of traditional means of newspapers and magazines, importance of traditional means of TV and radio, and utilization of World Wide Web to gain information) influenced 1) the intention to watch televised Youth Olympic Games, and 2) the intention to attend future Youth Olympic Games. The sample (N = 256) consisted of 58% of males and 42% of females with ages ranging from 18 to 50 with the mean age of 21.0 (SD = 4.58).

RESULTS
Descriptive Statistics
From the descriptive statistics, nearly 54% of the participants had no coaching experience while 41% and 7% of them had coaching experience in youth sports and public/private school, respectively. A total of 73% of the participants were former athletes, while 18% and 10% of them are current athletes and had no athletic experience, respectively. Participants’ sport leadership background was assessed, and the following was found: no leadership background (83%), local sport official (15%), and local sport administrator (3%).

The level of personal familiarity and perceptions of general public awareness of the 2012 Y OG was generally very low (the mean scores were below 2.0 out of 7.0). In contrast, the participants expressed more familiarity with the WXG as indicated by higher mean scores (4.4 and 4.6 measured out of 7.0, respectively). Similarly, the participants expressed more familiarity with the 2012 LOG as evidenced by higher mean scores (5.6 and 5.7 measured out of 7.0, respectively; (see Table 1).

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics
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Correlation Analysis
Statistically significant correlation values were found between independent factors (familiarity and general public awareness) and dependent measures (intention to attend, watch, and follow social media). The only exception was that general public awareness of the 2012 London Olympic Games was not statistically significantly correlated with intention to attend the event (see Table 2).

Table 2 Correlations
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Multiple Regression Analysis
Multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the extent to which independent factors (the level of familiarity with and the general public awareness of the designated sporting events) influence participants’ intention to watch televised coverage of the YOG, WXG and the LOG, follow social media related with the three events, or attend the three events. The overall results revealed that the two independent variables collectively explained small to large amount of variance in the dependent measures (variance explained ranged from 9% to 55%). At the univariate level, several significant findings were revealed. First, the level of familiarity with the designated games and the general level of public awareness of the games consistently impacted participants’ intention to watch and follow social media related with 2012 YOG, 2012 WXG, and 2012 LOG. However, none of the examined independent factors had statistically significant impact on the participants’ intention to attend any of the three tested sport festivals. The overall regression results confirmed consistent patterns observed in the mean scores and correlation values (see Table 3).

Table 3 Summary of Significant Multiple Regression Analysis Results of the Independent Variables on the Intention to Watch Events on Television or Follow Events on Social Media

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Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
As a post hoc test, ANOVAs were used to examine statistical differences in the dependent behaviors due to different levels of familiarity and public awareness of the games. The analyses were all significant, F values ranged from 47.53 to 96.12. The overall results indicated that participants’ intention to watch games and follow social media on the events were significantly different as the levels of both familiarity and public awareness changed (see Table 4).

DISCUSSION
The IOC’s good intentions, regarding the establishment of the YOG, were not met with the requisite effort to draw sufficient public attention to the event (9). Olympic competition, in general, draws great world-wide attention, with the 2008 Games in Beijing drawing the largest global audience in Olympic history (9). As for the LOG it appears to have a high level of awareness from the students in the present study. In Table 1, the descriptive statistics show the mean number of students’ in the present study “intention to follow social media” of the YOG (2.10) is nearly two-thirds that of the WXG (3.31) and even less than half the mean of the LOG (4.68). This means that even with the impact social media has on the millennial generation, it is not impacting the YOG as much as it has with the popular X Games and Olympic Games. As the winter YOG approached, the event received very little attention from the mainstream media and the personal awareness and perceived public awareness of the students in the present study was very low. With the addition of 966,110 Google followers, 1,931,365 Facebook fans, and 1,686,762 Twitter followers to its social media fan base the LOG has been nicknamed the “Social” OG (13). While 166 networks worldwide covered the 2010 summer YOG, high levels of coverage on top networks were lacking (9). Perhaps the IOC selection of a non-American broadcast company for the broadcasting rights of the 2010 YOG demonstrated their commitment to avoiding the evolution of becoming a commercialized mega-event and to consider the best interests of the participants. The IOC appointed Media Corp, SingTel, and Star Hub as the official broadcasters within Singapore for the inaugural YOG in 2010. However, Olympic Broadcasting Services, the host broadcast subsidiary that is wholly owned by the IOC, was responsible for delivering to these three organizations and broadcasters around the world, a number of live broadcast feeds and a 24-hour Youth Olympic News Channel, which incorporated two daily highlight programs. The coverage embraced all broadcast platforms, including free-to-air television, radio, cable television, mobile phone and online (9). This greater level of IOC control over the media coverage may have been put in place to guard against an over-commercialized and nationalized message. But, based on the results of the present study there may have been a lack of interest in the event by U.S. television networks because of a limited audience for the new event. In contrast, the XG’s were arranged and are controlled by the U.S. sports broadcaster ESPN (with coverage also shown on its sister network ABC)(3) .

The authors recently reviewed the new marketing assets for the 2012 Innsbruck YOG and found some improvements. The website content has been updated and is more interactive than the inaugural YOG site. The primary focus on the front page was on a contest for youth around sending photographs of their personal performance of a YOG sporting category. Additionally, the site offered various school focused initiatives including a program to connect various schools across the globe to encourage international collaboration and communication. A second program, the YOG School Sports Challenge, was designed to introduce youth to the 15 sport categories included in YOG and encourages a local school led sporting challenge to be held during the 2012 YOG (7). In addition, the site asked visitors to identify themselves as one of the following: a youth, a fan, or a volunteer. Visitors were then directed to customized content. These enhancements to the site added significant relevance to millennials and should impact the number of repeat visitors to the site. In contrast, the Facebook site, which is a primary social media vehicle, was static and did not appear to have any updated information. Ideally, the Facebook site would have content updated several times a week if not daily to drive adoption of members and sharing of content. There were no additional social media sites available or mentioned from the Facebook site. However, on the YOG website there are other social media sites available such as Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and Google Plus. There is even a large Twitter bird logo stating “Check out our Twitter feed” showing what the YOG has previously tweeted to help promote itself with the growing social market. The @innsbruck2012, which was the Twitter screen name during the 2012 YOG, currently has 2,901 followers during its YOG period. On the @innsbruck2012’s profile it also shows other screen names fans could have also followed to stay up-to-date on the 2012 YOG. The fans could have also tweeted about their favorite “trend”, for example the website had #innsbruck2012 to spread the excitement of the YOG as a “trend” (7).

The Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee announced that the Internet Services sponsor will be Tencent for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games (18). Tencent, using its already strong influence among young audiences, plan to include key features on the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games website such as sports program and results, culture and educational activities, and interactive games targeted at youth (18). One Olympian diving champion relates her excitement about her ability to share her experiences at the upcoming 2014 YOG with the World (18). However, there has yet to be additions of any social media sites to the website such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google +, or the like, but this could be due to the newness of the website and the announcement of Tier One sponsor Tencent (18).

Based on these results, it can be extrapolated that the general publicity and marketing activities surrounding the YOG event were not as effective as needed to drive event attendance or television viewing, and thus, self-sustaining revenue to fund the events. The participants in the present study were more aware of the X Games and the LOG. Sport marketers can take from the results of the present study and learn how to better market toward the millennial generation. For example, marketers can utilize social media during the more popular XG and OG to promote the YOG. The LOG website started promotion of the Second YOG that will be held in Nanjing. There is a direct link from the LOG’s website to the Nanjing YOG’s website for fans to explore and begin learning about the 2014 YOG (13). Sport marketers could also expand their study on social media by taking a methodological approach to the social network theory in the future. The social network theory could solidify the measurement and analysis of how the relational properties of social media impact the YOG, XG, and the OG (19). An alternative route that researchers may take is a type of cross-sectional study. Researchers may consider conducting a study that compares behavioral variations of millennial generation who may associate themselves as a fan of professional sports than collegiate sports. Analyzing the efficacy of the marketing and awareness campaigns is an important step in improving future results, and insuring the long term success of a relatively new event like the YOG. Analyzing these campaigns can be difficult due to the numerous variables involved, and the fact that the “newness” of the YOG provided little historical comparative data.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
None

REFERENCES
1. Clarkson, M. (1994). A risk based model of stakeholder theory. Proceedings of the Second Toronto Conference on Stakeholder Theory. Toronto, ON: Centre for Corporate Social Performance & Ethics, University of Toronto.

2. Digel, H. (2008). The Risks of the Youth Olympic Games. New Studies in Athletics, 23(3), 53-58.

3. Donnelly, M. (2006). Studying extreme sports: Beyond the core participants. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 30, 219–224.

4. Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Boston, MA: Pitman.

5. Gold, J. R. & Gold, M. M. (2011). Afterwords. In J. R. Gold & M. M. Gold (Eds.), Olympic Cities. City Agendas, Planning and the World’s Games, 1896-2016 (2 ed.) (pp. 403-406). Oxon: Routledge.

6. Hirsch, P. M. & Lounsbury, M. (1997). Ending the Family Quarrel: Towards a Reconciliation of “Old” and “New” Institutionalism. American Behavioral Scientist, 40, 406-418.

7. Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Games. (2012, May 10). [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://twitter.com/innsbruck2012

8. International Olympic Committee. (2011, August). IOC social media, blogging and Internet guidelines for participants and other accredited persons at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Retrieved from http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Games_London_2012/IOC_Social_Media_Blogging_and_Internet_Guidelines-London.pdf

9. Judge, L. W., Petersen, J., & Lydum, M. (2009). The best kept secret in sports: The 2010 Youth Olympic Games. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 44(2-3), 173-191.

10. Keeter, S., & Taylor, P. (2009, December). The Millennials. PewResearchCenter Publications. Retrieved from http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1437/millennials-profile

11. Krieger, J. (2012). Fastest, highest, youngest? Analysing the athlete’s experience of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games. International Review for Sociology of Sport, DOI: 10.1177/1012690212451875

12. Layden, T. (2012, February). A bond born at speed. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1195163/2/index.htm

13. Loland, S. (1995). Coubertin’s ideology of Olympism from the perspective of the history of ideas. OLYMPIKA: The International Journal of Olympic Studies, 4, 49-78.

14. London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.london2012.com/social/

15. Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340-363.

16. Parent, M. (2008). Evolution and issue patterns for major-sport-event organizing committees and their stakeholders. Journal of Sport Management, 2(22), 135-164.

17. Post, J. E., Preston, L. E. & Sachs, S. (2002). Redefining the corporation: Stakeholder management and organizational wealth. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

18. PRC. (2012, October 23). Nanjing 2014 announces tencent as internet service partner. [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.nanjing2014.org/en/news_events/official_release/2012/1023/2195.html

19. Quatman, C., & Chelladurai, P. (2008). Social network theory and analysis: A complementary lens for inquiry. Journal of Sport Management, 3(22), 338-360.

2014-02-05T09:28:54-06:00February 5th, 2014|Contemporary Sports Issues|Comments Off on The Impact of Social Media on the Awareness of the Olympic Movement

‘The Personal Journey’: A Study of the Individual Race Stories of Desert Marathon Runners

Submitted by Richard Cheetham MSc, University of Winchester

Abstract
The research recounted the personal journeys and experiences of individuals who had undertaken and completed a Desert Marathon race, with specific focus on the reasons behind their participation, their race experiences and how the race had subsequently impacted upon their lives. The lack of a comparative analysis of these individual personal race accounts formed the rationale behind this research. The objective was to achieve a greater appreciation of what drives those to challenge themselves in such harsh and high risk environments. The eight runners interviewed all sought a challenge beyond that of the normal marathon distance and one that would require very diligent training ‘rituals’… The very personal reasons ranged from using the race to seek adventure, to grieve, to “make people sit up and take notice” and to experience and conquer an event of such magnitude. The recollection of the race and the months that have since passed, highlighted the impact on each of the runners. This impact showed changes in their outlook on life, a greater self-belief, and a “greater respect for humanity.” They had become invigorated by the experience and in some cases, there was a continued pursuit of the next ‘arena’ in which to test themselves as well as making enduring friendships with those they met along the way.

Introduction
In the words of Dean Karnazes, Desert and Ultra Marathon runner who once completed 50 marathons in 50 states on 50 consecutive days, and author of Ultra Marathon man: Confessions of an all-night runner.

I run because long after my footprints fade away, maybe I will have inspired a few people to reject the easy path, hit the trails, put one foot in front of the other, and come to the same conclusion I did: I run because it always takes me where I want to go. (Karnazes, 2005, p.276)

The ‘culture’ of ultra-distance running has inspired a number of autobiographies from those who have found that they have a story to share of their adventures, heartache, drive and conquest of distances and terrains beyond ‘normal’ recognised running / endurance events. Dean Karnazes is one of those runners. Individuals’ life changing circumstances have led some to immerse themselves in the raw beauty of the long distance trails and the open road. They have entered a previously unknown world of suffering, unchartered territory of heightened physical and mental demands, and yet also one that embraces obstacles set along the way. It was these stories and the author’s own experience from the 2010 Atacama Desert Marathon that inspired this narrative research into this specific aspect of ultra-marathon running among those who set their goal to triumph in completing of one of life’s most difficult endurance challenges.

Extreme Running
The emergence of ‘extreme’ running as a new sports genre has seen races on all five continents run across deserts, along mountain ranges, and through dense jungle. What qualifies these as extreme are the length, terrain, and altitude; as well as extremities of heat, cold, isolation and remoteness. They demand physical and psychological strength from the participants and “extend them beyond the norm of running experiences” (McConnell & Horsley, 2007, p.10). The standard format for desert ultra-marathons is to require the individual to complete six marathons in 6 days, carrying all their equipment and food. It is only water, tents and medical support that is provided.

The locations for the races include the Sahara, Gobi, and Atacama deserts, as well as Antarctica (often referred to as the ‘last wilderness’). Runner and author, Robin Harvie, refers to these as the “theatre of the wild” (p.38) in his book Why we run? The challenge of long distance running goes beyond a simple calculation of mileage and often into a psychological territory unknown to most. It is therefore an event that takes the runner to “the extreme frontiers of the environment and their own physical capacity for endurance” (McConnell & Horsley, 2007, p.10).

An early insight into the appeal and demands of these extreme environments is given by Polar explorer Richard Byrd who wrote in 1938 of the appeal, the dangers and the challenge in his book ‘Alone’ long before they were used for endurance running events.

After gazing at the sky for some time, I came to the conclusion that such beauty had been reserved for remote and dangerous places, and that nature has good reasons for demanding special sacrifices from those who dare to contemplate it.

These sacrifices would require the runners to show thorough preparation and discipline, little room for error in an event that has claimed lives through dehydration and sheer physical fatigue.

And so it is from these desert cauldrons that emerge the individual race stories, their untold personal journeys that often begin beyond the start line and continue past the finish. It is the recollections which give an insight into the appeal of the challenge, the one that lures them into the desert, to endure such hardship and to be rewarded by such an achievement. With this article the author hopes to not only learn from the runner’s narratives, but to convey a sense of appreciation for the participants’ personal motives, barriers and doubt that were overcome in pursuing their goal of running across, in this case, the Sahara and Atacama deserts.

Author and runner, Billy Isherwood, provided perhaps one of the only detailed personal accounts of such a race when he completed the 2006 Atacama Desert race. It begins with an account of his battles with alcoholism, drug abuse, and the domestic violence he experienced during his childhood. Yet at the age of 54 he crossed the finish line after 250 kilometres of running through the unforgiving terrain and climatic conditions. This autobiographical account of his life, and how he arrived at the start line of the 2006 Atacama Desert Marathon, provided a story that was to partially influence the rationale behind this narrative study, as it detailed his journey to the race, his race account and the transformation since. Karnazes (2012) and Zahab (2007) have described their desert race accounts, but in among a collection of other races. The aim of this study is to collate and compare narratives from those competing for the first time, to achieve a greater appreciation of what drives those to challenge themselves in such harsh and high risk environments.

This research began with a review of a number of autobiographies and selected texts surrounding ultra-marathon runners and endurance running. This was coupled with the autobiographies of triathletes, Richard Roll and Chrissie Wellington. The experiences from this variety of ultra-endurance athletes helped to form a backdrop to the work and a basis for the direction of the interviews.

Ultra marathon runner, Robin Harvie (Harvie, 2012) produces an insight into his running motives and explains that the only way to truly understand ‘the why and your own why’ is to take part in these events. He states that the race changes an individual beyond their initial motivation and that “to really know where the road leads, is to take that road yourself” (p.4).

Robinson (2011) provides a starting point for the research in terms of accomplishment and for some, the need for self-actualisation. Many people “never connect” with their true talents and subsequently “never know what they are really capable of achieving” (p.xi). For Marshall Ulrich, who ran across America at the age of 57, it was the accomplishment, not the pursuit of “high prize money or stadiums of adoring fans” (p.17). For Scott Jurek, a world renowned ultra-marathon champion it was wanting to “pry myself open going beyond the body beyond the mind” (Jurek, 2012, p.224). Krissy Moehl, twice winner of the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (a 100 mile race in the Alps), also speaks of the accomplishment of “pushing your physical limits” (Moehl, cited in Powell, 2011, p.2). She refers specifically to the emotional responses that such challenges evoke aside from those physical boundaries that are realised. Multiple Ironman Triathlete, Chrissie Wellington (2012), refers to a “contest against the race itself” (p.1) regardless of fellow competitors.

Dean Karnazes identified that time spent running allowed him space for “finding peace” (p.276). Dietz (2011) recognises that in ultra-marathons the time out running and away from work, family, and finances rarely happens and therefore allows “a holiday for the mind” (p.42). Trail runner, Boff Whalley states that “We all of us run … To give our bodies a general sense of purpose – creating, in this hurly-burly world, space to think, space to breath” (Whalley, 2012, p.5). He refers to a connection with the environment – the relationship between “the earth and our feet” (p.3). His focus was on running away from normal chosen routes and exploring challenging paths with harsh terrain, unpredictable weather and undulating, demanding wilderness.

Andrew Murray who ran from the far north of Scotland to the Sahara desert (Murray, 2011) was driven by the endeavour, for a charitable cause but also the appeal of the locations he would visit along the way. The desert marathons are organised in places rarely visited but, it could be argued, in some of the most extraordinary destinations on earth. Dietz (2011) also highlighted that the running became an excuse to travel to places around the world. Karnazes (2005) was also led by the appeal, the freedom to explore and to experience the environment for real.

Some people may have fear of living in a comfort zone of neither risk nor adventure and a fear of living from “meal to meal” which Jim Schekhdar (Schekdhar, 2002) saw as his inspiration to break out from ‘normality’ and row across the Pacific in 2001. Or as Reid (cited in Austin, 2007) comments that there is a real need to achieve and challenge ourselves, to “do something with our lives” (p.120) and that this can be achieved through running. Maybe it could be the fear of simply “walking along the corridors leading to the lives of our parents” (Harvie, 2010, p.74) and therefore exist with the confines of ‘normal life.’

An analysis might reveal it as simple as runners looking for the next step, the further distance as they draw from their previous accomplishments (Dietz, 2011). One marathon may not be enough to provide some with the satisfaction after completion and that coupled with a new inner belief that there is more ‘in the tank’ which leads inevitably onto higher stakes. For some however, their very existence is defined by running (Harvie, 2010). Described by Karnazes (2005) as a very simple “primitive act” (Karnazes, 2005, p.276).

Selected comments from these autobiographies and ultra-endurance focussed literature show some of the deeply felt emotions and motivations. These are mere ‘snapshots’ of their stories.

Alongside these individual perspectives from endurance racers, a specific contextualised series of narratives from desert runners will add to and enhance the breadth of studies. This research was therefore designed to be an innovative research project within a developing specific area of athletic performance. To accomplish it I use narrative enquiry where “people’s lives are storied” (Savin-Boden & Major, 2013, p.227). Hopefully this will not only enable a more sophisticated academic understanding of the extremes of human sport, but it will provide a resource for those wishing to compete in such events, beyond what training manuals offer. As Parker (1978) sought to understand in the novel ‘Once a Runner’ there too was a desire to “capture some of the bittersweet beauty and heartbreak of the only all-consuming quest for physical excellence” (p.274).

Method
This research used a narrative research methodology which, through a study of research suitability, has been regarded as the most relevant and effective for understanding the individual race motives and race recollections (Savin-Boden & Howell Major, 2013, Jones, Brown, & Holloway, 2012). The study aimed to recount the experiences of individuals and therefore “focus on people’s perceptions and experiences of the world they live in – and what it means to them” (Jones et al. 2012, p.113) and to show an understanding of that experience (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). Schultz (1964) emphasises that this is the world as viewed by the individual and not constructed by the researcher who should act to safeguard any misinterpretation of data. The study aimed to truly reflect first-person accounts of life experiences, which is essential in the use of narrative research and allows the individuals voices to be heard (Cresswell, 2007). The research sought to provide a richness of data that eight individual accounts of desert races can achieve. It was a description of what they underwent and how they lived through it – “the essence of the experience” (Cresswell, 2006, p.58).

Essential to this study, was the ability to recognise themes that may emerge, commonalities of the runners backgrounds and the race impact for example, and also to identify and highlight the very personal nature for undertaking their journey and encounters along the way. The runners developed a trust with the author that was built on ensuring they were represented honestly and accurately throughout.

Sample
A selection was made of eight runners (n=8), from 28 to 52 years of age, who all agreed to an interview, four female and four male. They were chosen through convenience from a number who had competed with the researcher in the Atacama Desert marathon in 2010 or from contacts of those participants and who had raced in other locations. Some of these have completed desert ultra-marathons since 2010 in the Sahara, Atacama, Antarctica, and Gobi Deserts.

The relatively small sample size is consistent with narrative research of this kind as Holloway and Wheeler (2010) suggest homogeneous groups can require only 6 to 8 participants. The selection of participants is also consistent with sampling recommendations by Morse (1986, 1991b) who encourages the choice of interviewees to be based upon their experience, knowledge and ability to articulate (in this case, their race journey). This form of purposive sampling was supported by the shared and “specific phenomenon” (Jones et al, 2012, p.35; Mayhut & Morehouse, 1994) that is recommended in qualitative study.

The interview procedure
All participants were interviewed individually at work or home in locations chosen by them. Four were interviewed via Skype, as they lived in the United States, Hong Kong and Australia. By their nature qualitative interviews are often unstructured (Jones et al, 2012). They use open-ended questions which is a primary consideration within qualitative research (Mayhut & Morehouse, 1994; Gratton & Jones, 2004). The aim was to allow the participants to describe their race experience in as much detail as possible and interviews lasted between 45 minutes and an hour but there was no time restriction placed on them. It was essential that the interviewee described their experience in as much detail as possible and felt they were encouraged in some way to lead and control the interview, recognizing that they were the expert of this very particular journey.

In this case, however, the interviewer has also completed a desert Ultra-marathon and this proved to be an advantage in the interview process as the interviewer was able to further explore their encounters with greater empathy. This may be a question of guidance as opposed to direction.

Interviews of this nature have been described as a “conversation with a purpose” (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994, p.88). As a result the questions designed and selected were guided by the subject content and also by Patton (1990) who used six types of questions. Selected from these, were themes based around experience, behaviour, feelings, background, sensory and opinion. The recounting of the race story from a personal perspective focussed on pre-race, race, and post -race experiences within the context of a personal journey.’ Their feelings, thoughts and motivations, as well as the impact that the race completion has subsequently had on them, shaped the interview process.

Data Analysis
The gathering of the stories from the interviews followed the approach recommended by Maykut and Morehouse (1994) in which what is meaningful to the participants guides the analysis, and not that which is pre-determined by the researcher. Therefore data collected aimed to represent those participants in a “coherent and meaningful way” (Hunter, 2010, p.44) by ensuring that the information was given order and structure in the analysis stage. Following each interview the audio tapes were transcribed and coded using thematic analysis (Gratton & Jones, 2010). Thematic analysis led to the selection of significant emerging themes that the participants identified, not those deemed worthy by the researcher; while not losing the reconstruction of the desert race journey. These emergent themes were identified in the results section. The analysis of the interview transcripts enabled a more meaningful presentation of the interviews and was considered in such a way that when read by the participants they would feel that they still ‘owned the story.’

Discussion of Results

Individual running history
The initial question aimed to gather a running history of each interviewee. This showed that they were not ‘well versed’ in the demands of endurance running in such harsh conditions and would have to acclimatise and adapt to the sheer volume of training and preparation required. It proved to be far in excess of that required for anything experienced before. Lucy confessed that before the Sahara Desert Marathon, “I’d never been a serious runner.” All the participants had completed a marathon before the race began, in some cases as part of their training and in others something that had been part of their running history.

It was felt important that, in initially focussing on this aspect of their stories, that the reader would be made aware of the running history of the group in order to put the accomplishment into a better context. The findings showed variety in their pre-desert race running accounts.

David who had competed in two Marathons and adopted an increasingly more serious approach to his training to the point where he wanted to find an event that allowed him to “incorporate all the training.” His father had completed “11 or 12 London Marathons” and he had grown up within an environment where “he’d (his father) go out on Christmas day or whenever…we just accepted it. Ross, who had “accidentally done a full marathon” three years before Atacama, played rugby and kept general fitness as it was “something I have always worked on.” He also confessed to not enjoying running and felt “I don’t think I’ve got the right body type.” Ricky who had played professional baseball where running formed part of the training programme and except for several shorter distance events including five and ten kilometre races “I had never really done anything formally and no marathons.”

Andrea had “sporadically” done some running at High School and College including cross-country but her father had “been a life-time runner and has done like I think around fifty marathons.” Andrea recalled a moment when “I gave him a call and said if I do a half-marathon will you come and do it with me?” This had come when she had taken up running again after a period in her twenties she had been “a really heavy smoker.”

Sam indicated that while she was always “an active person” despite taking part in several half-marathons stated “I definitely haven’t been a very good runner.” Marilena had completed six full marathons including Hong Kong, London, and one in Uruguay. She had a great deal of running experience; as a result the training application alone would, in itself, help her with the preparation for the Atacama Desert race.

Tremaine referred to the military CFT (Combat Fitness Test) as the only real specific running he had done while in the British Army but had no real interest in it outside of this form of ‘compulsory’ training.

It is this analysis that gave a starting point for the research. This showed that these successful desert marathon runners had no experience of extreme endurance events prior to that first day on the start line. A race start that would see them carry up to 12kgs each day of food, basic medical resources and other essential supplies to survive the extremes of heat (daytime temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius) and cold ( temperatures fell to near freezing at night). And so it seemed inevitable to begin the questioning with – why choose something so extreme?

Reasons why the participants chose to race across a desert.
The discussion then moved onto ‘the why’, the why something so extreme? And it was this question that unearthed some common themes. The level of extremity should not be underplayed. This was highlighted in the 2011 Gobi Desert race where one runner died. The need for thorough preparation was essential and that every aspect of the race had to be considered. Sam described “taking off those rose coloured glasses.” The desert was to be an uncompromising and unforgiving environment. Tremaine said he wanted to find something that was simply on the “borderline of lunacy!” For many this may be regarded as ‘lunacy’ but what transpired were the deeply personal accounts of ‘their why.’ Goals (such as this one) give a sense of purpose – “a real sense of being” (Pink, 2009, p.137). Ricky said “there always has to be a purpose…. a really strong why.” For him one of the reasons was on his way to work, “it was walking the tube (London Underground) and being out of breath…..its’ like I am gonna make a change.” The other answers to this question were “as individual as the runners themselves (Ulrich, 2011, p.44). Andrea had been “enthralled” by the feats of Dean Karnazes, ultramarathon and desert runner. She initially wanted to volunteer on a desert race but was encouraged by a race organiser that she could complete one and recounted, “he was like listen, I can tell when people are ready and it’s not about how far you can run, its’ really about your mind-set.” Andrea had reached a point in her life when she wanted to see that “I could really do something” to test herself.

The challenge itself – extending boundaries and beyond a marathon
Initially what became evident was the runners reference to ‘the challenge’ itself, the test of oneself against the elements and to find the next step from the marathon. It seemed that they were all looking for the next step. Ultramarathon runner Ray Zahab (cited in Ulrich, 2011) believes that if you can run twenty six miles then your body can carry you further, “the only question is can your mind go the distance” (p.144).

All of those interviewed were drawn by the need to see what was within their grasp, physically and mentally and that the desert race offered up a chance to demand of them to reach a limit never previously realised. David had read about the race as he had been actively looking for “the next thing” and had sought out an extreme race event. For him it was “something ….you make a commitment to …and that means you make sacrifices.” Wellington (2012) refers to what the intensity of Ironman taught her, “our limits may not be where we think they are” (p.274) and this was echoed. The need to push their boundaries, to apply themselves, unaided (Tremaine, “it’s just you and the desert,” Marilena, “just the thought of being in the open, self-supported”) to take on something dramatic and this captured their imagination.

Ross, who had experienced physical hardship due to altitude sickness when climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2007, had a philosophy of “not if but how” when he was presented with the details of the race by David via an e-mail in early September 2009. He exhibited a clear determination that in order to succeed one had to embrace the sheer scale of the challenge and reach “that boundary of probably pushing yourself to the limit.” He went on to say “it’s not how fast you run but how much guts you have.” Murakimi (2009) believes it is the pain (and the inevitability of it) which is accepted and that it can give us a greater sense of being alive. Others agreed that there was something alluring about the pain.

Having watched previous desert race videos, Marilena was aware of the likely suffering and was not in any way deterred but drawn in even more to choose the desert as her ‘arena’. “I saw suffering, going up and down hills and I thought that hmm that’s a challenge, I can do that. So I wanted to prove to myself that I can do it.” She also had a connection with her first race as her youngest daughter had been born in Chile and the “beauty” of Atacama had been the deciding factor on the choice of race and location.

It was important that the choice of extreme running took Ricky away from normal marathon events because for him, “What makes people sit up and listen is something more extreme,” “everyone’s done a marathon…for me “its’ kind of lost a bit of its’ shine.” He believed the attraction of this next level was “….discipline….commitment ….. Accomplishment, that’s what captures people’s spirit.” This was echoed by Harvie (2010) who felt that with the marathon distance (26.2 miles) “anyone can run a marathon given enough time” (p.269). Powell (2011) and Ulrich (2011) recognise the attempt to accomplish something so few have done as a motivational aspect in ultramarathon races. It is the thrill and excitement of taking on such a “mission” (McConnell & Horsley, 2007, p.11).

For loved ones
Lucy and Tremaine provided extremely emotive reasons for entering such an event. They had both experienced the loss of family through cancer, Lucy’s father had passed away in 2007 and Tremaine’s partner, Carla, had lost her battle to the illness at the age of only 31 in 2009. Lucy wanted to find a race that was something slightly different in order to generate interest for those wishing to donate to the charity she was running for (“raising money was my drive”) and also the race would help her to “put everything into perspective” since her bereavement. Tremaine had wanted to give something back to those who had cared for Carla, to do something “dramatic” and subsequently raise sponsorship in order to support a palliative care centre. He regarded the people who worked there and had cared for her as “saints” and not only did he wish to raise money but that the race would be his way of grieving. “You know in the middle of the desert, you’ve got no-one to talk to.” Both had been clearly deeply affected by their tragedies and it was evident the races (Lucy and Tremaine were to compete in four desert marathons in the same year along with Sam and Ricky) would allow them to deal with this part of their life. Scott Jurek, one of the most renowned ultramarathon runners said, “I ran because overcoming the difficulties of ultramarathon reminded me that I could overcome the difficulties of life, that overcoming difficulties was life” (Jurek, 2012, p.6).

For Tremaine, after all the anguish following Carla’s death “everyone fell to pieces” the desert race became a place that allowed him the chance to sort out “my own affairs.” It was “the best time to sort out my issues is when I am demoralised and broken down.”

Experience of the run
The journey offered each runner a starting point, as highlighted, from their first step along the route to the race and now that same journey moved to the next phase. The race itself was the next area for questioning. It is where initial fears, an almost inevitable suffering, emotions and individual coping mechanisms would all be unearthed.

Escapism
Beyond the chance to endure this feat of endurance the races provide times of isolation and solitude. There were times when runners experienced this and the interview sought to question what feelings this provoked among them. It aimed to garner greater details from the runners as to their race experience in terms of greater connection with their thoughts and to any appreciation of the environment they found themselves in. Heather Reid, Professor of Philosophy at Morningside College in Iowa, speaks of running allowing freedom, escape from the norm of daily living and away from “the herd” (Reid, cited in Austin, 2007, p.119). It offers a freedom and a removal of obstacles that limit the chance to ‘escape’ into a world “free of briefcase, cell phone and car keys” (p.118). When these freedoms are experienced how do individuals respond? Austin (2007) believes it is here that one can reflect on our lives and what is important to us. The questioning aimed to find how that freedom was recognised, appreciated and articulated. It was here that the ‘escapism’ enabled them to recollect feelings that show a greater connection with what they were doing and where they were. This was an uninterrupted space, away from outside distractions and ones that are part of or ‘plague’ our lives. The escapism that is “near impossible when modern life is defined by interaction” (Harvie, 2011, p.211). In this case the runners referred to the technology of contemporary life that does not afford us enough moments of ‘silence’.

Sam, Lucy, David, and Andrea referred to the “escapism” offered by the race. This referred to being away from normal work routines and into a challenge without phones and computers that would lead Lucy to show how much this meant to her, “I loved turning my phone off that was just a joy”… Andrea, “it’s been the only time in the last decade I don’t obsessively check my phone,” and “I don’t think I understood how disconnected from the rest of the world I would really be.” Sam reflected on similar experiences, “I put myself in high paced environments…….my phone is with me 24/7 and I am constantly checking e-mails.” With this hectic lifestyle came the “reward” of the marathon challenges, away from a world where in work her life was “crazy.” The final reflection came from David, who enjoyed being away from a life which appeared sometimes one of being ‘bombarded’ with e-mails, the internet”

Coping strategies
Endurance races provide an undulating ‘emotional terrain’ for runners. Zahab (2007) developed a “tunnel vision” (p.173) when trying to ignore the pain in his feet in the Amazon jungle marathon and allowed the “pure adrenaline” (p.174) to carry him through. Fry (cited in Austin, 2007) believes that running for the dedicated “is form of ritual suffering” (p.67). Harvie (2012) describes the suffering that is experienced and throws many into a pain “beyond comprehension” (p.73). And yet they also experience feelings that put this pain into some kind of perspective and deal with it in their own unique way. “I would live entirely in the moment………There was only one mission of putting one foot in front of the other” (Karnazes, 2011). Often there is the acknowledgement of its short-lived nature.

In her interview, Marilena described just how ‘dark’ things could get, “my feet were horrible…….I lost nine toenails” but “at least my suffering will be temporary……..that kept me going for sure.” Almost as inevitable partners inextricably linked are the moments here described as ‘moments of light and dark’ where the pain can give way to a time when the runner experiences a vivid moment of excitement that encapsulates all that is the adventure, the race, the encounter. They press on towards the light, towards that end goal lifted by what they could become and what they could realise. Ultramarathon runner Francesca Conte notes that at the Arkansas 100 mile race, “I always want, in every race to take the time to look up at the sky at night, because remembering how lucky I am matters more than winning” (cited in Jameson, 2003, p.152).

Ricky had suffered with horrendous blisters on both feet and had been vomiting during one of the stages. “We (a fellow runner who was with him on day 3) were in a horrible shape – that was a bad day.” A day that would find him out on the course for over 6 hours as he battled to cross the line for the end of a stage of the race. So how do you overcome these factors that could leave a runner struggling to carry on? Ricky continued, “You pushed through it, the pride, the elation of getting through and finishing that stage” and his drive to prove to others he could do it. One of those was his former Baseball coach at University who was always critical of him and doubted his abilities and to whom Ricky directed his anger: “I keep him in the back of my head…..and I imagined him watching me run this race. I’m going to prove you wrong because he’s a bastard. I wish he was listening to this.”

It was clear that each of the interviewees had their own strategy for these dark moments. Andrea had a key word, one that she would use when she was “hitting my lows.” She would “super-charge it with good thoughts…….charge it with good memories” and when those low points were experienced “I’ll say it (the word) to myself.” It was a case of “shifting” her thought process and it helped her through moments as on the third day when she had run out of water with five kilometres still to go. Water on the race was rationed each day. As Dean Karnazes pointed out when he participated in his first desert race, “Why ration water? I guess the organisers wanted to make it as authentic as possible. This is a race across the desert after all” (Karnazes, 2011, p.156). But this too could be a danger and Andrea was frustrated and angry but had turned this anger into “fuel, like it’s something that can move you on.”

David appeared very clear about his ability to cope with the times when he felt low either through fatigue or the pain of his worsening blisters. “I was never really that negative because I knew that everybody has their ups and downs.” He was able to break down the day’s route into sections where his aims would be to use the checkpoints as progress markers and goals. “I know that this is gonna hurt for the next 10k, but you can split that down.” Ulrich (2011) similarly learned to “compartmentalise my physical anguish…….how to strategize my races” (p.19 & 20).

Sam had injured her ankle even before the race had started and still travelled to the race. She had raised money for charity and was sponsored by a University in Australia. It had been a goal, “an absolute dream” and yet this initially appeared to be one that would stay as just that due to her injury in training just before the race. Her ability to turn potential disaster into achieving that goal was one that was built on reviewing how she could best complete each day.

So I decided to just walk it. I’m just going to do whatever I can to walk and even if I can only walk for the first one day, two days, I’m just going to make the most of it. I’ve never been to South America, so that’s what’s important to me, to really make the most of every moment I think that moment’s been the reason why I’m still running today.

It was almost as though her ‘dark moments’ had occurred before the race had begun and it enabled Sam to completely rethink her approach to the event. The walking of each stage for the first few days allowed her to take in her surroundings, to see things others may have missed as they pressed on across the terrain. “I found it a beautiful race.”

I was just wanting to make the most of it…….I had committed so much financially and …. mentally to get to the start line that I wasn’t going to throw that away by holding onto this idea that I would be able to run the whole thing.

Ross reflected on the charity he was running for although to help fend off the difficult times he was experiencing he spoke of “a bit of bravado” where there is a bit of it that you can’t go home and say I didn’t finish…..unless your leg was hanging off!” However he had been “so focussed, personally…..just progressing and putting your energy into that, otherwise I think I’d fall over and not get up.” He was also able to recall a time when the race became for him a moment of humour.

We were going across the salt flats where it was really rough, and it was a hazy heat, three sixty degrees and I just started cracking up. And I was just like this is …… bonkers like could not get further from reality, not reality, because it was reality, but from your day-to-day reality, and yeah I thought it was brilliant. Like couldn’t see another person and it was just like you know, that’s what you do it for.

Tremaine and Lucy had other emotions that influenced their coping strategy. Their recollections took on a very different slant. After her father’s death, Lucy and her sister, Camilla, entered the Sahara Desert Marathon and they had to split up midway as only Lucy was able to continue. At a checkpoint, one of the race doctors handed her a note passed to him earlier by Camilla. It had been written a while ago by their father, “I remember sitting quietly at the side of the camp…..bawling my eyes out because I was so tired.” The emotion, “the tears, the tiredness, I mean the whole thing was horrendous.” But this also enabled her to reflect upon why she was there and to change her thoughts “don’t be ridiculous, you’re raising money for people who are a lot worse off than you and that’s what kept me going.”

Tremaine experienced a great deal of reflection in the times of isolation in the race when “who do you talk to……your mind and soul has to dig up some serious questions.” The questions of regret related to being away from home when he was in Iraq and spending more time with his family surfaced when he was given that time to think “have a word with yourself.” And yet also occupying his thoughts were “you know she would be proud of me and what I’m doing you know.”

The impact of the race.
After all the miles, all the previously untapped thoughts and feelings, the physical peaks and troughs, the terrain and the temperature extremes it was all over but had it changed them? For the participants in the study at least this was the end of one journey and the start of another.

Friendships
One of the most significant changes for the participants was new and some enduring friendships, the connection with other runners from around the world and in one case, friendships that helped to change opinions. For Marilena, “I loved the way you mixed with so many nationalities, there were beautiful people; never seen them before and maybe you will never see again, but that week they were your closest friends and there was that rapport.” Tremaine had changed his views on those he had met away from his life in the military and from one that he felt instilled stereotypes of those in civilian life. He had experienced so much and identified so many things that had changed for him. Twenty two years serving in the military had left him ‘disconnected’ to civilians and now “I wasn’t a hate civvies kind of soldier that I used to be.” He highlighted what others identified as a camaraderie and respect among his fellow competitors: “No one judges you, the fit ones respect the slower ones, the slower ones respect the fit ones. It’s just like an aura around people.

Ross acknowledged it was “…..the friends that you make and the memories that you create there…..I don’t think it changed my life, but it’s certainly made it a lot richer.” With all the wealth of memories that arose Sam highlighted “what I take away from it (the race), from the journey of running, particularly in those early day races, were just the friendships I made”. Andrea found “one of the unexpected treasures of the experience” was “that you had to like earnestly connect with people in a way that you don’t get to in your life.” Murakami (2009) commented that one of the real pleasures of running has been the people he has met and who have encouraged him along the way.

New self-belief and new challenges
Six of the eight ventured back into other deserts to race and run across – these were Ricky, Lucy, Sam, Marilena, David, and Tremaine. For them the challenge had given them a change in their self-belief through this first accomplishment in an extreme endurance event. Lucy, “I do take on challenges slightly head-on now, because I, you know I‘ve put my body through some extreme situations.” The interview had taken place two weeks after she had summited Aconcagua in Argentina, which is just less than 7,000m high. “I think, I know I can, I know I can do with, like physically I can do more.” She continued to reflect on her thoughts to what lay ahead.

I’d never thought of running a hundred miles around Mont Blanc or round Mount Fuji…….now it’s perfectly normal that I am doing that at the end of April. It’s just ….you live in a tent and you get used to….a sleeping bag for three and a half weeks on a mountain or a week in the desert with ten other people, and that’s perfectly normal and you don’t bat an eyelid.

Jurek (2012) believes that runners are transformed by these challenges and that they can “illuminate the path leading to something larger than ourselves” (p.227). It was evident that the race had a transformational and profound effect on all the interviewees both during and after the race. Marilena had “always tried to challenge (herself)” and now

So when I crossed the line, ah, it’s just amazing, you look back and think wow, I did that 250 kilometres, six days and you did that. It shows what you can do if you put your mind to it.

David has since completed the Sahara Desert Marathon in 2012 and one where he felt this experience helped him in his approach. He finished tenth overall in his second desert race, in Atacama he placed outside the top fifty. “I think you definitely come back with a different mind-set, just on your own ability to take on a challenge and achieve it I think.” He has actively “sought out more” events like this because “your outlook changes.” Since 2010 Ross has continued to seek out running challenges and in 2012 completed the 100 mile footrace called the Centurion in just over 24 hours. Sam had reached a new “physical barrier” in terms of how hard she was able to push herself. This was one aspect identified by many of the runners before the race. “We’d never at home, would have considered doing a third marathon (of an eventual six)……that’s quite amazing.”

Sir Steve Redgrave, five time Olympic Gold medallist, asked himself the question upon retirement if he would go through all the sacrifices and training again; he felt he would.

“It was a privilege, a quest. It was a challenge and I have always been inspired by a challenge” (Redgrave, 2009, p.300). For those who did not draw a line at the end of their first extreme challenge, these words seemed to reflect what subsequently happened as they chose to confront another test of human endurance.

A chance to reflect
For all the runners the race had changed their thoughts about how they viewed life as well as themselves. For Andrea “it just made me think, well you might as well try more things” and was “less afraid to fail.” Since the Atacama she had been able to take more risks in her life and had moved to Tahoe from San Francisco “I would have probably never have made that decision if I wasn’t there (in the desert).” Ricky, who has since become a motivational speaker, working with charities and young children as a direct result of his completion of four desert marathons in the same year believed that “Nothing ever happens to you by saying no…..the world has just opened up by saying yeah I’m gonna do that race and its changed my life and (with it) from many different….perspectives.” There was a greater appreciation of certain aspects of life from both David, “I don’t think you worry so much about the bits and pieces, the things that can sort of clog up and take up your time, don’t actually matter or mean anything!” And Marilena, who was able to take a step back and appreciate her surroundings, her environment, “I see every beauty, I see a tree and I see the colours of the tree that maybe other people don’t see.”

Tremaine had come to terms with the loss of his partner Carla and was looking to the future. “I’ve come out the other end.” He was thankful for the race experiences in many ways and that “it’s finding my footing, and I would have never achieved that because I could have quite easily have been bitter.” Despite injury forcing him to abandon the Sahara Desert marathon he was able to complete two further races in the Gobi and Antarctica. “What I did discover on that first desert race was my respect for humanity and I really found some people that you know actually give a damn about everyone else apart from themselves.”

Work can deprive people of challenging experiences which give “effort a greater meaning to life” (p.120) and ones that provide a greater personal engagement (Pink, 2009) If this is to be achieved then it was through something providing a very different form of accomplishment. For Andrea, “I did it for nothing but the sheer aspect of seeing like that my life was really monotonous at the time. I‘d wanted to see if I have almost nothing for a week. Really what’s it gonna feel like for me and how I am, what does that actually change about me.” With Ross, the experience and “the adventure more than the race” was very different from his life as a graphic designer in London, “I sit in a studio looking at a screen for sixteen, eighteen hours, you know some days.” Sam’s achievements gained through running have led her to share those experiences in her role as an inspirational speaker. With future races she now tries to; “Align them with charitable causes, which is what I am most passionate about to be honest, probably even more than the running itself. …the capacity for it to you know really affect others and influence change.”

Final thoughts
The interviews concluded and an opportunity for the eight runners to describe what they would say to those contemplating taking part in, what has been described as. One of the toughest endurance races on earth. Words that they felt would help to prepare someone for the ‘experience’ they had all shared.

For Ross “just know that anything is achievable…..you’ve got two feet, heart, and lungs and off you go.” Lucy felt similarly that “go for it one hundred percent……it’s an incredible experience.” David wanted to highlight that this was not an exclusive challenge for elite runners. The race contained “people from all walks of life…….you can’t judge a book by its cover.” Ricky enthused “the race was epic man that was absolutely epic.” Andrea considered the experience of challenging herself and realising her potential to “see how far I could really push it” had made her feel the race “was very special, very special to have done that.”

Marilena recalled an “amazing journey….the whole journey was an amazing experience, you don’t need much in life……being with yourself sometimes and (with) nature.” Sam was able to put thoughts into a context of the ‘challenge’ by reflecting on her family background to put it into more perspective. Her father had polio as a child and her mother had “never run in her life” and so she wanted to recognise that “I had done an incredibly physical challenge….I succeeded more because of my mental capacities than my physical capacities.” The immediate impact for Sam when she finished her first desert race was evident, “I was just so happy, I felt so blessed to have finished it. “I was elated….it’s like my body was healed.” This absolute optimism and positivity……feeling fortunate to be there, I was definitely a stronger person when I finished the race.”
The final words were from Tremaine who wanted to ensure that people knew the risks and not to do it “off a whim/” The real question is “…what’s your fundamental reason? You know if it’s for fame and glory, don’t bother. The only race you have is to challenge yourself.”

Discussion
The race journey showed from starting out on this adventure the ‘line in the sand’ at the finish was merely a part of a tapestry of riches and rewards for each of the desert runners. Austin (2007) refers to runners experiencing self-discovery, a time where solitude allows reflection and that “we learn something about ourselves” (p.xii). Their learning was something that they all identified in the conversations and each was as individual and personal as the reasons they had set out on the path to adventure in the first place. The path they followed was transformational not only after but at points along the 250 kilometres of desert trail. Their stories highlighted what can be achieved when mind and body act in unison to surpass what has gone before in our lives in one of the most demanding of arenas.

There was a changed belief about themselves and having such a purpose in the race provided them with a fulfilling activity that gave them their own reward. Pink (2009) discusses a relationship between a challenge that is neither too easy and yet too difficult. With that step being beyond one’s current capability which “stretched the body and mind in a way that made the effort itself the most delicious reward” (p.115). The effort in each of their stories, proved worthwhile in many ways from the charities that they ran for to the people they met and the places they saw. Their ability to recall such vivid moments even when time had passed (nearly three years) since they finished the race, highlighted the impact of the race. These vivid recollections showed such detail that, one could argue, the journey had a deep and profound effect. Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University believes “the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life, your mind-set” (Dweck, 2006). It is clear the race affected each of the runners in terms of how differently they viewed themselves, if not openly in the interview but by the directions their lives took after leaving the desert.

Conclusion
If running is to be a metaphor for life as Whalley (2012) comments, then in this case the desert was to provide that stage. Running in “straight lines along city streets bears little resemblance to life” but venture away from these and the trails will reflect the “life twists and turns” (p.266, 267). When one takes the leap of faith away from the confinement those streets impose into the unpredictable twisting and tortuous routes that desert running is, then this truly reflects what living is really about. Roll (2012) believed that when deciding to test ourselves there is a “new path waiting for (us)” and dare to “take that first step and then (it will) show us who we really are” (p.125).

Some have continued to run, others have found a peace in the accomplishment and so the desert was hardly to be a desert at all. It was to be a treasure trove of memories, of new and life-long friendships and greater self-belief. “Our past makes us” (Jurek, 2012, p.264) and for these runners the past has shaped their future.

Applications in Sport
The heightened interest in extreme endurance events over recent years has made it possible for many people to achieve success in events they otherwise thought impossible. An insight into the experiences of a few of these who chose to venture into such unknowns can create an awareness of the impact such events can have on individuals. This study aimed to explore outside physiological and psychological research parameters and provide those considering embarking on a similar journey with simple narratives that could inspire them to realise what is possible and what can be realised.

Acknowledgements
I should like to thank the eight participants who willingly shared their stories with me so openly and honestly. They not only provided me with their experiences but also proved inspirational. I should also like to thank colleagues for their interest and encouragement throughout this research process as well as the University of Winchester for the financial support with this project. Finally, I should like to thank my patient family who recognised how important this research was for me.

References
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4. Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York. Random House.

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6. Harvie, R. (2011). Why we run. A story of obsession. London. John Murray Publishers.

7. Isherwood, B. (2009). Dead man running. From alcohol to Atacama. Kennoway, Fife, Scotland. Spiderwize.

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11. Karnazes, D. (2011). Run. 26.2 stories of blisters and bliss. London. Allen and Unwin.

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20. Powell, B. (2011). Relentless forward progress. A guide to running ultramarathons. New York. Breakaway Books.

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2014-02-04T13:47:58-06:00February 4th, 2014|Contemporary Sports Issues, General, Sports Exercise Science, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off on ‘The Personal Journey’: A Study of the Individual Race Stories of Desert Marathon Runners

The Relationship Between Racial Diversity and Winning Percentage: A Study of Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams and Coaching Staffs in the Atlantic Coast Conference From 2005-2009

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2014-02-11T15:30:51-06:00February 3rd, 2014|Contemporary Sports Issues, General, Sports Management, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology, Women and Sports|Comments Off on The Relationship Between Racial Diversity and Winning Percentage: A Study of Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams and Coaching Staffs in the Atlantic Coast Conference From 2005-2009

Determining team identification, service quality perceptions, and sport consumption intentions of professional soccer spectators: An investigation of gender differences

Submitted by Ali Aycan, Olcay Kiremitci, Erdinç Demiray, R. Timuçin Gençer

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study has been to determine the relationships among gender, team identification, service quality perceptions and sport consumption intentions of professional soccer team spectators. 694 soccer spectators (female = 180, male = 514) participated in the study. T-test results demonstrated no significant difference between male and female sample groups in team identification and sport consumption intentions. T-test results revealed statistically significant difference between male and female only in physical environment quality perceptions. In the male spectators’ sample, the physical environment quality perception stands out among service quality sub-dimensions whereas the merchandising consumption intention stands out among sport consumption intentions. For female spectators, the physical environment quality perception stands out among service quality sub-dimensions, whereas the media consumption intention stands out among sport consumption intentions.

INTRODUCTION

Today, sports and leisure activities continue to affect society (1). Attending sporting events, the top leisure activity, is a common interest long-held especially in modern societies (28). Despite its gradually increasing popularity, competition for spectators is increasing among sports organizations (14). Determining what variables attract spectators is important to clubs’ continued existence in this competitive environment (9, 30).

Professional soccer is a main part of the sports industry, bringing in many spectators, supporters, facilities, events, media connections, and sponsors. Shank (26) stated that “if the sporting event is the heart of sports industry, then the spectator is the blood that keeps it pumping”. Soccer clubs are the building blocks of professional soccer and draw their strength from spectators. The budget of soccer clubs depends on attendance fees, but also on media and merchandising revenues (13, 14). In this regard, rather than the behavioral intentions of the spectators, determining the factors affecting these intentions may be beneficial for soccer clubs to develop efficient strategies.

Professional soccer clubs are basically service organizations. Each exists for a specific purpose, and its success depends on the consistency of its efforts to accomplish that purpose (23). The concept of “quality” plays a critical role in the success of service organizations. Meeting and exceeding target customers’ expectations of service quality sets an organization apart (17).
Because services have an intangible character, service quality has an intangible structure. Therefore, we speak of “perceived service quality,” not objective service quality (4). Perceived service quality is the direction and degree of difference between customers’ expectations before they receive the service (expected service) and their real service experience (perceived service or perceived performance) (21, 22).

While measurement of service quality has become more advanced, very little development has concerned what is measured (2). All that sources seem to agree upon is the necessity of performance measurement. The roles of expectations and importance of service quality measurement have become the two most commonly discussed issues (24). Some definitions of quality in services have focused on what to assess. These definitions include the core service, the physical environment including service-related equipment and facilities, and the interaction among individuals in service performance (5).

These three elements shape spectators’ perceptions of service quality. The core service provided by professional soccer clubs is the game of soccer itself. A game of soccer can only become a service delivery in the presence of people who will watch it. Hence, the clubs produce each game with the spectators, who also consume it simultaneously (20). This causes interactions among the spectators, and between them and the service providers. These interactions need a physical environment in which to take place.

Although sports are an important social institution, sport spectatorship is an individual behavior that can take different forms such as attendance, watching, and listening (12). Identification with the team has been found to be the most important predictor in many studies (31). However, along with individual factors, environmental factors affect sport’s relationship with individuals as well (20). Wakefield and Sloan (33) state that attendance in soccer matches is not only a function of team performance or team attachment, but also of all the experiences of spectators in the stadium.

Understanding spectators’ intentions regarding their sport consumption is important to efficient, targeted strategy. This study aims to determine team identification levels, service quality perceptions, and sport consumption intentions of professional soccer spectators by gender. It should also specify the relationship between sport consumption and service quality perceptions of female and male spectators.

METHODS

Participants
Participants in this study included 694 spectators of professional soccer teams operating in Izmir, the third-largest city in Turkey, and playing in the PTT 1.League. Among these participants, 233 (33.6%) were Göztepe SC spectators, 247 (35.6%) were Karşıyaka SC spectators, and 214 (30.8%) were Buca SC spectators. Among them, 514 (74.1%) were males while 180 (25.9%) were females. Their average age was 25.27 ± 8.66 years.

Measures
The study used the Scale of Perceived Service Quality in Professional Sport (8), Sport Consumption Behavior Intention Scale (15) and team identification subscale of the Points of Attachment Index (25, 29). The S_PSQPS, consists of 20 items within three subscales, including: (a) Interaction Quality (IQ, 6 items) (b) Physical Environment Quality (PEQ, 8 items) and (c) Core Service Quality (CSQ, 6 items). Items were scored on a five-point Likert-scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) and each item was preceded with the phrase, “In (the name of the stadium) stadium …”. Confirmatory factor analysis results (χ2 = 468.46, df = 162, χ2/df = 2.89, RMSEA = .056, SRMR = .048, GFI = .93, AGFI = .91, CFI = .94, IFI = .94, NFI = .92, NNFI = .93) and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (varied between .83 and .88) reveal the measurement tool is valid and reliable.

The Sport Consumption Behavior Intention Scale (15) consists of three items each listed under the sub-dimensions of attendance intention, sport media consumption intention and licensed merchandise consumption intention. The Turkish version of the scale is assessed over a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Confirmatory factor analysis results (χ2 = 22.73 df = 12, χ2/df = 1.89, RMSEA = .036, SRMR = .012, NFI = 1.00, CFI = 1.00, IFI = 1.00, NNFI = .99, GFI = .99, and AGFI = .97) and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (varied between .80 and .87) reveal that the measurement tool is valid and reliable (16).

Team identification is one of the subscales of the Points of Attachment Index (PAI) (25, 29) and consists of three items based on a seven-point Likert-type scale response format ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). The Turkish version of PAI is valid and reliable (10, 11).

Statistical Analysis
For the descriptive analyses of the data obtained from participants, we used the SPSS 13.0 statistic package program to make t-test and canonical correlation analyses. In the data analysis, first, we compared average spectator scores for each gender in the sub-dimensions of service quality, sport consumption, and team identification. To present the relationship between spectators’ service quality perceptions and sport consumption intentions, we applied canonical correlation analysis separately to each gender. Within the scope of this analysis, we considered canonical correlation coefficients, canonical redundancy analysis results and cross-loadings of the sub-dimensions.

RESULTS

Results showed a significant difference in service quality perceptions between male and female sample groups in the physical environment quality sub-dimension (p<.05). Other sub-dimensions, including consumption and team identification, show no such significant difference (p>.05) (Table 1).

In addition, we analyzed canonical correlations to determine the relationship between variable sets of service quality perceptions and sport consumption intentions to the data obtained from male and female sample groups separately. The first canonical function of both groups was statistically significant (p<.01) (Table 2). That first function considered redundancy analysis results, presenting the explanation percentages of variable sets. For male spectators, service quality perception explains 75.9% of its variable set, while sport consumption intentions explain 6.0%. Sport consumption intentions explain 73.9% of its variable set whereas service quality perceptions explain 5.9%. As for female spectators, service quality perception explains 72.5% of its variable, sport consumption 11.2%; sport consumption intention 79.3% of its variable set and service quality perception 12.2% (Table 2). In terms of perceived service quality, males seemed to pay the most attention to quality of the physical environment (canonical loading = -.991; cross loading = -.279) and interaction (canonical loading = -.837; cross loading = -.236); and in terms of their intentions, they cared most about merchandising (canonical loading = .963; cross loading = .271) and attendance (canonical loading = .930; cross loading = -.262) (Table 3). Females seemed to care most about physical environment (canonical loading=-.978; cross loading=-.384), interaction (canonical loading=-.954; cross loading=-.375), media (canonical loading=.946; cross loading=.372) and attendance (canonical loading=.910; cross loading=.357) (Table 3). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Although female and male spectators’ media and merchandising-related intentions were high, their service quality perceptions were rather low. There was no significant difference between males and females in terms of team identification or consumption intentions. Quality perceptions of core service, interaction and physical environment may be low because these spectators’ teams compete in a lower league, and their stadiums suffer by comparison to the super league. Their directors spend most of their budget on player transfers to create a team that can move up to the super league and therefore ignore stadiums’ issues.

Physical environment quality perceptions of the female spectators participating in the study are significantly lower than the male spectators. Social interaction plays an important role in female attendance. Dietz-Uhler et al. (6) says that women often attend games with family and friends, and continue their sport spectatorship for social reasons. Although the structure of stadiums and popularity of soccer provide social opportunities, low perceptions regarding physical environment quality may affect female attendance. Physical environment does affect the quality of social interaction (3, 34).

Although males have a poor opinion of soccer’s physical environment and interaction low, they maintain their merchandising and attendance intentions positively. This situation results from their high team identification levels. Spectators with high team identification levels attend more games and watch more sports through media. They also buy more merchandise (31). Although Matsuoka et al. (19) states that the satisfaction from team identification and game experience have a remarkable effect on attendance intentions for future games, Mahony and Moorman (18) claim spectators with high identification levels attend games regardless of any other factors. However, according to Theodorakis et al. (27), high service quality raises the willingness to attend future games among those with medium and high identification levels, but does not influence those with the highest identification levels.

The high identification levels of this study’s participants and the negligible gender difference in those levels increases the importance of physical environment and interaction for female spectators. Females often attend sports for social interaction, attaching more importance to the stadium environment. Even though they have high identification levels, their poor perception of the environment and interaction makes them more likely to consume media than attend games. Media help spectators sustain their emotional attachment and feel the uncertainty of the score (7), particularly through live broadcasting. Wann et al. (32) emphasizes that spectators should not be mistaken for fans. Some fans with high identification levels do not attend games, and some spectators have very low identification levels.

In conclusion, professional soccer spectators with high levels of identification do not consider service quality perceptions very much. They continue attending the games of their teams, consume merchandise and follow their teams on the media even when the related service quality is low. Male spectators show a special interest in their teams’ merchandise despite their low service quality perceptions. However, female spectators’ high media consumption intentions compared to their attendance intentions shows the importance of the physical environment. Sports directors and marketers who wish to attract spectators, especially female spectators, to stadiums should work to improve their environment, not just identification with their teams.

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TABLES

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2014-02-03T13:22:33-06:00February 3rd, 2014|Contemporary Sports Issues|Comments Off on Determining team identification, service quality perceptions, and sport consumption intentions of professional soccer spectators: An investigation of gender differences
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