Barriers to Spectator Behavior among Tennis Participants: Focusing on Two Big Tournaments in Japan

Abstract

    The purpose of this study was to examine barriers to spectator behavior among tennis participants in order to increase the number of participant spectators in tennis. We focused on two big tennis tournaments in Japan to clarify this.
    We extracted barriers to spectator behavior by qualitative methods, and then analyzed the degree of these barriers by statistical methods. As a result, the main findings are summarized as follows:
1) Barriers to spectator behavior among tennis participants consist of “Time” , “Distance” , “Lack of information” , “Absence of cynosure players” , “Cost” , “Unaccompanied” , “Partner” , “Child” , “TV” , “Lack of intention and interest” .
2) “Time” is the largest barrier to spectator behavior among tennis participants, so the tactic of changing the time of main events from daytime to nighttime could be effective. Additionally, “Lack of information” and “Cost” were relatively large barriers to spectator behavior in tennis participants, so marketers need to distribute discount tickets that also promote informational purposes.