Title: Spectator motives for attending professional women's tennis events: linking marketing and Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory

Authors: Allen L. Sack, Parbudyal Singh, Tony DiPaolo

Addresses: Department of Management, University of New Haven, CT 06516, West Haven, USA. ' School of Administrative Studies, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada. ' Department of Management, University of New Haven, CT 0615, West Haven, USA

Abstract: The major purpose of this study was to assess spectator motives for attending a major event on the Women|s Tennis Association (WTA) tour, and to determine whether spectator motives varied by gender and other relevant variables. Several hypotheses derived from Maslow|s (1970) hierarchy of needs theory, as well as from theories of social class and consumer behaviour, were tested. It was found that spectator motives varied significantly by gender, social class, and by whether spectators were active participants in the sport of tennis. The implications of these findings for marketing professional women|s sports are examined.

Keywords: sport marketing; women|s tennis; Maslow; needs theory; spectator motives; gender; marketing; sports promotion; professional tennis; WTA tour; hierarchy of needs; social class; consumer behaviour; active participation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2009.026753

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2009 Vol.6 No.1, pp.1 - 16

Published online: 25 Jun 2009 *

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