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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of relationship quality and calculative commitment on sport consumers’ game attendance, donation intentions, and customer referral in the context of intercollegiate athletics. Relationship quality was operationalized as a higher-order construct containing trust, satisfaction, and affective commitment (De Wulf, Odekerken-Schröder, & Iacobucci, 2001). Calculative commitment, on the other hand, was conceptualized as a cost-induced commitment between relationship partners (Geyskens, Steenkamp, Scheer, & Kumar, 1996). Based on previous studies, a 29-item instrument was developed, and modifications were made to adapt it to intercollegiate athletics. Research participants (N = 350) were consumers of a Division I intercollegiate athletic program located in the southeast region of the United States. The result of a confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the measurement model fit the data well. In addition, the result of a structural equation modeling indicated that both relationship quality and calculative commitment are predictive of sport consumer behaviors at the intercollegiate level. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications of this study’s findings are discussed.

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