Exploring the attitudes and behavioral intentions of marathon racers: a cross-national inquiry

In light of the anticipated expansion of marathon events on a global stage, this study collected survey data from marathon participants who traveled to two prominent events in Chicago, USA, and Xiamen, China. On average, Chinese marathon travelers had higher scores than their American counterparts in all major constructs, including embodied experiences, destination personality, perceived event image, and behavioral intentions. This study adopted the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework to propose a conceptual model that illustrates how embodied experience affects destination personality, event image, and intentions to participate in a sports event. Both an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the PLS-SEM technique were then used to analyze the data. The empirical findings demonstrated a positive impact of embodied experience (a stimulus) on destination personality and event image (organisms). Furthermore, both destination personality and event image positively impacted the behavioral intentions of marathon racers (a response). Both theoretical implications and managerial implications are discussed.