Identifying and prioritizing indicators of sports customers' delight: with emphasis on Iranian professional athletes

The aim of this study was to identify and prioritize the indicators of sports customers' Delight. The research method was a combination of exploratory consecutive design and was performed in two phases, qualitative and quantitative. The research method was qualitative in the thematic analysis and in the quantitative part was prioritized by the AHP method. The statistical population of the qualitative section of consumers (customers) of sports goods and services who had a history of at least five years of consumption of goods and services in sports was selected. The sampling method was purposive. The statistical sample was determined according to the researcher's theoretical saturation and to ensure the theoretical saturation, three more samples were selected after sample 16 (16 + 3). Data collection tool was in-depth interview and to analyze the data, the technique of coding and drawing a network of topics was used. In a quantitative stage, a questionnaire was designed based on the obtained components and distributed among the interviewed customers. A pairwise comparison of the components was performed and the weight of the components was obtained. Analysis of findings in four dimensions of customer factors (with two themes of expertise and product uniqueness); Service dimension (the main theme of differentiation in service delivery); The environment dimension (friendly and supportive atmosphere and professional interactions) and the staff dimension (specialized knowledge and awareness and customer spirits). In the qualitative stage, NViVO quality data analysis software was used and in the quantitative stage, Expert Choice software was used.