Examining Sport Tourists’ Information-Processing Strategies for Smartphone Apps Acceptance

Abstract

The evolution of the smartphone continues. The rapid rise in the number of applications (apps) means that sport consumers can now truly enjoy a 24/7 experience during which they are able to communicate, socialize, entertain, and make purchases. Smartphone apps are also commonly used in marketing strategies in the sport and tourism industry, but there has been very little academic research on sport consumers’ technology acceptance processes. Specifically, several questions must be answered, such as how sport consumers use information processing and decision making in order to accept new and existing technology, and how an individual’s involvement level influences the process. The purpose of this study was to: (1) gain an understanding of sport tourists’ information processing as it relates to the use of smartphone apps; (2) examine the effects of different types of advertising messages on sport tourists’ smartphone apps acceptance; and (3) investigate the potential moderating role of sport tourists’ levels of involvement with sporting events on the relationship between persuasive messaging and perceptions of the use of smartphone apps. This research proposes a new conceptual model, integrating three theoretical frameworks: the elaboration likelihood model, technology acceptance model, and involvement theory. To test the proposed hypotheses, a 2 (argument quality: strong vs. weak) x 2 (source credibility: high vs. low) analysis of variance and partial least squares structural equation modelling were employed through an online experiment. Two roleplaying scenarios were used to measure respondents’ degrees of involvement. Additionally, four advertising messages with different manipulation conditions and manipulation checks were successfully conducted. A total of 333 participants were recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). The results show that both argument quality (i.e., the central route) and source credibility (i.e., the peripheral route) effectively persuaded sport consumers to accept information presented in a smartphone app. Other results indicate that persuasive messages in the smartphone app were able to extensively affect sport consumers’ perceptions of that app and their behavioral intention to use the app to consume sports. The findings provide both theoretical and practical implications for sport teams and event managers in terms of creating effective mobile advertising strategies.