THE STRATEGY CHRISTIAN CHRUCHES USE IN MARKETING AND BUILDING BRAND IN MACAU: A CASE STUDY OF MACAU BAPTIST CHURCH

ABSTRACT

MANY SPORTS EVENTS HAVE BEEN REOPENED SINCE THE RECOVERY FROM THE GLOBAL COVID19 EPIDEMIC. AS COUNTRIES WORK TOWARD THE THIRD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL OF GOOD  HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, SPORTS EVENTS HAVE RECEIVED INCREASING SUPPORT AND INVESTMENTS.  THIS STUDY FOCUSES ON THE XIAMEN MARATHON, WHICH HAD REACHED THE PLATINUM LEVEL OF  SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND IS A BENCHMARK MARATHON RACE IN CHINA.  TO ASSESS THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE BRAND IMAGE AND BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS OF  THE XIAMEN MARATHON, THIS DISSERTATION REFERENCES THE CONCEPTUAL MODELS IN PREVIOUS  STUDIES AND HYPOTHESIZES THAT EXPERIENCE, BRAND IMAGE, LOYALTY, SATISFACTION, MOTIVATION,  ORGANIZATION, QUALITY, AND TRUST ARE THE DIRECT INFLUENCING FACTORS OF BRAND IMAGE AND  INDIRECT DETERMINANTS OF WORD OF MOUTH, SPORT, AND BEHAVIORAL INTENTION. THIS STUDY  SURVEYED PARTICIPANTS OF THE XIAMEN MARATHON IN 2024 AND COLLECTED DATA FROM A SAMPLE  OF 285 PARTICIPANTS. ALL THE RESPONDENTS WERE LOCAL RESIDENTS AND OVER 90% WERE  CONTESTANTS. THE LARGEST PROPORTIONS WERE 36-TO-55-YEAR-OLD, MARRIED, HIGHLY EDUCATED,  AND EMPLOYED, EARNING MONTHLY INCOME BETWEEN ¥5000 TO ¥15000 AND SPENDING OVER  ¥1000 ON MARATHON EQUIPMENT.  IBM SPSS AND AMOS WERE USED FOR THE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS BASED ON STRUCTURAL  EQUATION MODELING TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING RELIABILITY TEST, VALIDITY TEST, AND HYPOTHESIS  TESTING. THE QUESTIONNAIRE QUALITY WAS GOOD, THE SCALE DATA WERE SUITABLE FOR FACTOR  ANALYSIS, AND THE QUESTIONNAIRE DATA FITTED WELL. HOWEVER, QUALITY AND TRUST WERE  EXCLUDED DUE TO LOW SIGNIFICANCE. THE RESULTS SHOW THAT EXPERIENCE, LOYALTY,  SATISFACTION, MOTIVATION, AND ORGANIZATION HAVE SIGNIFICANT AND POSITIVE IMPACTS ON  BRAND IMAGE, WHICH IN TURN HAS SIGNIFICANT AND POSITIVE IMPACTS WORD OF MOUTH, SPORT,  AND BEHAVIORAL INTENTION. THE RESULTS SUPPORT THE EIGHT HYPOTHESES OF DIRECT EFFECTS AND  THE 15 HYPOTHESES OF INTERMEDIATE EFFECTS