The effects of social media on sporting event satisfaction and word of mouth communication: An empirical study of a mega sports event

This study examines the impact of word of mouth (WOM) communication through social media and how it affects satisfaction with the Summer Universiade in Taipei. This study hopes to understand the usage characteristics of social media among university students and the implementation of social media and their effectiveness as a marketing strategy for sport organization. The hypotheses were verified using a survey of 572 university students from four universities that hosted competitions for the Summer Universiade Games. Data were analyzed using t test, Pearson’s correlation analysis and two-way ANOVA analysis. The results indicated that WOM has impacted satisfaction via social media, and the level of understanding of sporting events was significantly affected by WOM communication and overall satisfaction. Moreover, gender showed no significant differences in WOM communication and overall satisfaction with sporting events. However, male participants had significantly higher value in WOM dissemination than female respondents. In addition, the spectators’ understanding of the sporting event on WOM communication and overall satisfaction was not affected by the continued use of social media. Suggestions are provided, including sufficient sports marketing and service quality from the organizers, in order to maintain good sports events and enhance spectators’ feelings.