Spectators' perceived social benefits, subjective well-being and support intention: non-mega-parasporting events' educational perspective
International Journal of Event and Festival Management
ISSN: 1758-2954
Article publication date: 28 September 2021
Issue publication date: 8 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
It is crucial to create an inclusive society through sport. Many researchers have focused on the social benefits of hosting events and identified the necessity of revealing the impact of parasport. There is inadequate knowledge of what local residents perceive from spectating non-mega-parasporting events. Therefore, this research aimed to reveal the influence of spectators' perceived social benefits, subjective well-being, and support for parasport events.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted with questionnaires distributed to spectators of two wheelchair basketball tournaments. Of the 2,100 questionnaires distributed, 1,996 were returned; of these, 1,544 were rejected because of not having local resident status. The final response rate of useable questionnaires was 22.6% (n = 452).
Findings
Both community benefits and cultural/educational benefits positively affected subjective well-being, which also significantly affected support for the event. Further, there was no significant moderating effect of having family members or close friends with disability.
Practical implications
The results indicate that sporting event managers can collaborate with local educational boards and use sporting events as educational material for children to raise next-generation, highly diversity-minded leaders from the local area.
Originality/value
This study revealed that parasporting events have educational value. Additionally, athletes with disabilities inspire spectators, which changes the perception of their educational impacts.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the associate editor for their support and anonymous reviewers for constructive feedbacks. The authors also sincerely appreciate for Japan Wheelchair Basketball Federation and the undergraduate students for their help in data collection.
Funding: This research was supported by The Nippon Foundation Paralympic Support Center.
Citation
Yamashita, R. and Muneda, M. (2021), "Spectators' perceived social benefits, subjective well-being and support intention: non-mega-parasporting events' educational perspective", International Journal of Event and Festival Management, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 454-469. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-03-2021-0026
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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