The Attributes, Consequences, and Values Associated With Event Sport Tourists' Behavior: A Means–End Chain Approach

A phenomenological study was conducted to investigate event sport tourists' behavior and experiences. Members of a sport fan club were invited to participate in this study. The laddering technique was used in the interviews for discovering participants' cognitive structures. The findings were presented on Hierarchy Value Maps that depicted relationships between attributes, consequences, and values in a means–end hierarchy. This study found that the study participants were highly involved event sport tourists. Personal balance and socialization were the essential parts of experiences that participants were seeking. Thus, event sport tourists can obtain personally relevant goals (consequences and values) through various means (traveling and socializing) that allow them to watch competitions and participate in related social events. The study findings contribute to the understanding of event sport tourists' behavior and the development of marketing strategies.