The impact of sports event brand experience on spectator loyalty: mediating roles of attitude and subjective norms

Abstract

Abstract Sports events play a vital role in driving mass fitness, competitive sports, and the sports industry. Grounded in the Theory of Reasoned Action, this study surveyed 1,009 Chinese sports event spectators to examine how brand experience influences spectator loyalty, focusing on the mediating roles of attitude and subjective norms and the moderating effect of gender. Structural equation modeling revealed that brand experience has a significant direct effect on loyalty. Subjective norms partially mediate this relationship, while attitude alone does not show significant mediation. The chain mediation through both attitude and subjective norms is partially significant. Gender moderates the pathway from brand experience to subjective norms, with women being more influenced than men. The findings suggest that in collective consumption contexts, subjective norms play a more critical role than attitude in mediating loyalty. This study extends the application of the Theory of Reasoned Action in sports tourism and provides insights for differentiated event brand management and destination promotion strategies.