Factors Influencing College Students in Taiwan, Japan, and

China to Attend Professional Pool

Games DISSERTATION CHAIRPERSON: 

Dr. Akunna Winston 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:   Dr. Bijan Massrour

   Dr. Ali Abu-Rahma.

Presented By Hsing-Tung Ho

Introduction

• There are hundreds of pocket billiards games. Some of the more well known games include eight-ball, nine-ball, straight pool, and one-pocket.

• A few major pool associations such as World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU), and the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS)

Introduction

• Today, pool games have become professionally known in the sports industry.

• Asia’s economic growth has risen significantly over the years and Asia people look for entertainment.

• The rules are easy to understand and there are no physical requirements to play.

Introduction

• Many factors can influence people’s interest in watching professional pool games.

• This study investigates the factors that will influence college students’ attendance at professional games, examining these factors in three Asian countries–Taiwan, Japan, and China.

Background of the Problem

• In Taiwan, Japan and china, the market share for professional pool is far behind that of other professional sports games.

• This study attempts to explore the factors that will influence college students’ attendance at professional pool games.

Statement of the Problem

• Any professional sport needs an audience for survival and growth.

• The problem has always been how to get more and more people involved with a particular sport.

• In Asia, professional pool game schedule depended on sponsorship to survive.

Statement of the Problem

• Game attendance and broadcasting rights are two primary revenues for professional sports teams.

• It becomes important to understand the many factors that relate to sports games spectator attendance.

The factors, relationships, and differences encouraging the college students in three

countries

• 1. Three countries

• a. Taiwan

• b. Japan

• c. China

The factors, relationships, and differences encouraging the college students in three

countries

• 2. Demographics Variables

• a. Age

• b. Gender

• c. Income

• d. Religion

The factors, relationships, and differences encouraging the college students in three

countries

• 3. Promotional Strategies• a. Television• b. Radio• c. Print media• d. The Internet• e. Mobile advertising• f. Word-of-mouth

The factors, relationships, and differences encouraging the college students in three

countries

• 4. Marketing Strategies

• a. Popularity of the sport

• b. Video games

• c. Celebrity spokesperson

• d. Ticket price

The factors, relationships, and differences encouraging the college students in three

countries

• 5. Competitive Events

• a. Local

• b. Domestic

• c. International

The factors, relationships, and differences encouraging the college students in three

countries

• 6. Environmental Factors

• a. Government policies

• b. Corporate sponsorship

• c. Venue: internal/external

• d. Social impact

The factors, relationships, and differences encouraging the college students in three

countries

• 7. Player Attributes

• a. Gender

• b. Reputation

• c. Income

Importance of the Study

• The results of the study are important for business applications and academic research.

• In Asia, there is no official marketing research in pool marketing, so those three countries’ pool associations cannot set up proper marketing to increase the audience size.

Literature Review

• Demographics Variables

• Promotional Strategies

• Marketing Strategies

• Competitive Events

• Environmental Factors

• Player Attributes

Demographics Variables

• Both Ou (2007) noted that the variable of demographics plays an important role in bulding marketing strategy.

• Schneider and Bristow (2007) held that there is a positive relationship between demographic variables and sports fans’ loyalty, especially in the areas of age and gender.

Age, Gender, Income, Religion

• Bennett, Sagas, and Dees (2006) argue that people of different ages and generations are influenced by different media tools to watch sports games.

• Hall and O’Mahony (2006) revealed that there are different factors influencing male and female attendance.

Age, Gender, Income, Religion

• Rivers and DeSchriver (2002) noted consumer income is one of the factors significantly related to spectator attendance at major league baseball (MLB) games.

• Tanida (2000) reported three major religions in Japan, including Shinto, Buddhism, and Christianity. Shinto and Buddhism have more in common than Christianity.

Promotional Strategies

• Television Ridinger and Funk (2006) found that women were more li

kely to watch television for companionship and to share the experience with family and friends.

• Radio Zhang, Pease, and Smith (1998) noted that listening to g

ames on the radio is positively related to attendance, explaining a total of 6-11 percent game attendance variance.

Promotional Strategies

• Print Media

Mirral (1994) found that attitudes toward television advertising were significantly less positive than those toward print advertising.

• The Internet

Evans and Smith (2004) considered the lack of an official Internet marketing strategy to represent a significant weakness for an organization.

Promotional Strategies

• Mobile Advertising Wang (2007) noted the importance of mobile marketing is

its interactive platform and ability to share information from one channel to other channels.

• Word-of-Mouth Swanson, Gwinner, Larson, and Janda (2003) wrote that

positive word-of-mouth advertising would promote higher levels of attendance, and this would cause fans increased team identification.

Marketing Strategies

• Popularity of the Sport Ferreira and Armstrong (2004) declared that the popularit

y of a sport is one of the factors influencing college students to attend sport events.

• Video Games Yang, Roskos-Ewoldsen, Dinu, and Arpan (2006) agreed

in-game advertising could influence memory and suggest the possibility that in-game advertising could increase a player’s interest in the brands appearing in the video games.

Marketing Strategies

• Celebrity Spokespersons Shuart (2007) stated that sports hero worship is

still prevalent, particularly among college students.

• Ticket Price Hansen and Gauthier (1989) noted that the ticket

price has a positive relationship with professional sports league attendance.

Professional Players’ Attributes

• Gender Boyd and Shank (2004) added that the gender of the

athlete endorser could influence the perception of his or her trustworthiness, attractiveness, and expertise.

Reputation Yu (2005) wrote that the fact that the athlete maintains a

successful career and a positive image in his or her personal life is very important for both the sponsor and the target market consumer.

Professional Players’ Attributes

• Income

Rivers and DeSchriver published a paper in 2002 stating that there is a positive relationship between star players and spectator attendance.

Environmental Factors

• Government Policies Liu (2003) reported that the sports lottery on Mainland Ch

ina developed in the year 1994. The success factors include a market-oriented and service-oriented attitude, solid management, teamwork, and a specialty retail store.

• Corporate Sponsorships Koo, Quarterman, and Flynn (2006) found that sports spo

nsorship activities could position a brand name by using the elements of the marketing strategy to make positive, unique associations with the brand.

Environmental Factors

• Venue: Internal/External Hall and O’Mahony (2006) stated that the back room, inc

luding parking, ease of getting a seat and stadium accessibility, was the one of three most dominant factors for both genders of sports fan. 

• Social Impact Wann and Robison (2002) pointed out that sports team i

dentification is an important link between a college student and his or her university, a link that may enhance one’s likelihood of graduation.

Competitive Events

• Local/Regional/International

Funk, Mahony, and Ridinger (2002) wrote that entertainment value has a relationship with a consumer’s motives. Based on their research, they found that people feel watching a close match between two teams is more enjoyable than watching a one-sided game.

Marketing StrategiesPopularity of the sportVideo GamesCelebrity Spokes personsTicket Price

Demographics StudentsAgeGenderIncomeReligion

Communication Strategies TelevisionRadioPrint Mediathe InternetMobile AdvertisingWord-of-Mouth

Professional Players’AttributesGenderReputationIncome

Competitive EventsLocalDomesticInternational

Students’ Attendance

To Professional Pool Games

Environmental FactorsGovernment PoliciesCorporate SponsorshipsVenue: Internal / ExternalSocial Impact

Research Questions

1.What relationships exist between demographic college students who attend professional pool games and various demographics variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• 1a. Age

• 1b. Gender

• 1c. Income

Research Questions

2. What relationships exist between college students who attend professional pool games and various promotional strategy variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• 2a. Television• 2b. Radio• 2c. Print media• 2d. The Internet• 2e. Mobile advertising• 2f. Word-of-mouth

Research Questions

3.What relationships exist between college students who attend professional pool games and various environmental factor variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• 3a. Government policies• 3b. Corporate sponsorships• 3c. Venue: internal/external • 3d. Social impact

Research Questions

4.What relationships exist between college students who attend professional pool games and various competition event variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• 4a. Local events

• 4b. Domestic events

• 4c. International events

Research Questions

5. What relationships exist between college students who attend professional pool games and various professional pool players’ attribute variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• 5a. Player’s gender

• 5b. Player’s reputation

• 5c. Player’s income

Research Questions

6. What relationships exist between college students who attend professional pool games and various marketing strategy variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• 6a. Popularity of the sport• 6b. Video games• 6c. Celebrity spokespersons• 6d. Ticket price

Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis 1 H1: There will be significant relationships between college

students who attend professional pool games and various demographic variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• H1a. Relationships between age and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H1b. Relationships between gender and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H1c. Relationships between income and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H1d. Relationships between religion and college students who attend professional pool games.

Research HypothesesHypothesis 2 H2: There will be significant relationships between college students

who attend professional pool games and various communication strategy variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• H2a. Relationships between television advertising and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H2b. Relationships between radio advertising and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H2c. Relationships between print media advertising and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H2d. Relationships between Internet advertising and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H2e. Relationships between mobile advertising and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H2f. Relationships between word-of-mouth and college students who attend professional pool games.

Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis 3H3: There will be significant relationships between college students who attend professional pool games and various environmental factor variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• H3a. Relationships between government policies and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H3b. Relationships between corporate sponsorships and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H3c. Relationships between venue and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H3d. Relationships between social impacts and college students who attend professional pool games.

Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis 4 H4: There will be significant relationships between college students

who attend professional pool games and various competition event variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• H4a. Relationships between local events and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H4b. Relationships between domestic events and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H4c. Relationships between international events and college students who attend professional pool games.

Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis 5 H5: There will be significant relationships between college students

who attend professional pool games and various professional pool player attribute variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• H5a. Relationships between player’s gender and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H5b. Relationships between player’s reputation and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H5c. Relationships between player’s income and college students who attend professional pool games.

Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis 6H6: There will be significant relationships between college students who attend professional pool games and various marketing strategy variables in Taiwan, China, and Japan, including:

• H6a. Relationships between popularity of the sport and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H6b. Relationships between video games and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H6c. Relationships between celebrity spokespersons and college students who attend professional pool games.

• H6d. Relationships between the ticket price and college students who attend professional pool games.

Research Design

• The study design used a survey as the tool for data collection.

• The study included the use of a descriptive Coefficient of Correlation, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), to measure the relationships and differences among college students attending pool games in these three countries.

Data Collection

• The process of data collection for the present study was by questionnaire.

• There were two versions of the questionnaire, one in Japanese and the other in Mandarin. The primary data in the present study was collected from 900 students, 300 from each country.

Data Sources

• The primary data was collected with two versions of the questionnaire

• The method of sample selection was non-probability sampling.

• All prospective respondents were selected randomly in colleges in the three countries.

Any comment?

Thank you very much!