The effect of event quality on participants’ intention to revisit a sport event: Monetary valuation and mitigation of hypothetical bias

Abstract

The purposes of this study are (1) to examine the contribution of one event quality attribute (i.e., a scenic parkway) to participants' intention to revisit, (2) to assign a monetary value to this attribute, and (3) to estimate the magnitude of hypothetical bias in revisit intention and monetary values. The event is the Blue Ridge Brutal amateur bike ride in North Carolina, USA, where participants ride on the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. Participants received a post-event survey with different hypothetical scenarios after the 2021 and 2022 ride, including riding on the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway or not. Monetary values were obtained by converting willingness-to-travel into willingness-to-pay based on travel cost. The regression results show that including the Blue Ridge Parkway significantly increases intention to revisit. The monetary value of the scenic parkway is $38.40 (2021) and $23.59 (2022) in the revealed preference setting. In the stated preference setting, the corresponding values are $48.02 (2021) and $41.18 (2022). Respondents overstated their intention to revisit by 14% (2021) and 38% (2022). The magnitude of hypothetical bias is $27 (2021) and $95 (2022) with the parkway; without the parkway it is $18 (2021) and $78 (2022). Although the magnitude in hypothetical bias is significant, it can be mitigated by combining revealed and stated preference data. The findings have implications for event organizers: Understanding the monetary value of the parkway is important as it shapes participants’ willingness-to-pay for the overall event experience and affects their intention to register again for the race.