Elements of Customer Experience in Sports VIP Business: customer cases from Elämys Live Ltd
Palsa, Jami (2022)
Palsa, Jami
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022052411679
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022052411679
Tiivistelmä
Previous studies have predicted growth for the global sports hospitality business in upcoming years. Yet, customer insights and customer experience management have not been further studied in the sports VIP business context in Finland. The purpose was to study what are the elements of a successful VIP
experience in sports events. The gathered findings were discussed in relation to customer experience management in the sports VIP business.
The research method was qualitative. The qualitative research was conducted through semi-structured interviews via the TEAMS platform. The selected interviewees had purchased VIP services for the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship from the commissioner company. The commissioner company, Elämys Live Ltd, was one of the official VIP re-seller companies of the event, which was held in May 2022 in Finland. Interviews were conducted during January and February 2022 to understand customer insights before the VIP event. The transcribed interview data were further analyzed by coding, categorizing and combining them into themes. The themes were conducted from the theoretical framework.
The findings indicated that the elements of a successful VIP experience were needs, expectations and motives. The primary needs were to ensure high-quality of service, to offer tailor-made solutions and to achieve customers’ loyalty. The main expectations were effortlessness, price-quality ratio and total benefits. In addition, the findings demonstrated that the essential motives to participate
were the event itself, personal interest in sports and once-in-a-lifetime-experience. All these needs, expectations and motives affected customers’ buying behavior in sport-related VIP events.
In future research, the study could be continued by observing the fulfilled connection between customers’ expected VIP experience and experienced services after the event. Furthermore, future research could expose new methods for better customer experience management in the sports VIP business. Customer experience management would enable as well other sport-related organizations to understand their customers’ expectations to create more profitable experiences in the sports VIP business context.
experience in sports events. The gathered findings were discussed in relation to customer experience management in the sports VIP business.
The research method was qualitative. The qualitative research was conducted through semi-structured interviews via the TEAMS platform. The selected interviewees had purchased VIP services for the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship from the commissioner company. The commissioner company, Elämys Live Ltd, was one of the official VIP re-seller companies of the event, which was held in May 2022 in Finland. Interviews were conducted during January and February 2022 to understand customer insights before the VIP event. The transcribed interview data were further analyzed by coding, categorizing and combining them into themes. The themes were conducted from the theoretical framework.
The findings indicated that the elements of a successful VIP experience were needs, expectations and motives. The primary needs were to ensure high-quality of service, to offer tailor-made solutions and to achieve customers’ loyalty. The main expectations were effortlessness, price-quality ratio and total benefits. In addition, the findings demonstrated that the essential motives to participate
were the event itself, personal interest in sports and once-in-a-lifetime-experience. All these needs, expectations and motives affected customers’ buying behavior in sport-related VIP events.
In future research, the study could be continued by observing the fulfilled connection between customers’ expected VIP experience and experienced services after the event. Furthermore, future research could expose new methods for better customer experience management in the sports VIP business. Customer experience management would enable as well other sport-related organizations to understand their customers’ expectations to create more profitable experiences in the sports VIP business context.