Communication factors and attitudes affecting participation in a virtual marathon during the Thailand COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

The research on “Communication factors and attitudes affecting participation in a virtual marathon during the Thailand COVID-19 outbreak” is a study using quantitative research methods. The data were collected from male and female populations living in Thailand using 400 online questionnaires. The data were collected specifically from those who had previously participated in a marathon on a paying platform.
            The study found that more than 50 percent of runners paid to participate in both regular and virtual marathons. It can be said that they are the same group of consumers. The sample had an average of 4.6 years of experience participating in marathons. Most people who had participated in paid marathon events were males, single, with a bachelor's degree, working as a private/company employee, and having an average monthly income of at least 50,001 baht. They are classified to be of a high socio-economic status with high purchasing power. The communication factor which affected the samples applications for a virtual marathon is intrapersonal communication, that is, deciding on their own to run a marathon. This requires endurance and courage in overcoming one’s own abilities in achieving goals.  For the factor of communication channels affecting applications for a virtual marathon, it was found that the samples were open to Facebook as the only channel which affected their applications for the virtual marathon. The samples were exposed to the medium at a high level, followed by websites and Instagram as media that they are exposed to at a moderate level.

It was also found that the spread of COVID-19 inevitably affected activities that the samples used to do in their daily lives. The samples agreed, at the highest level, that the COVID-19 situation had affected the marathon running on a regular platform. This is because those who applied for a virtual marathon had also once applied for the regular marathon, and thus adapted to the situation by applying to run on the virtual platform. The people who applied for a virtual platform highly agreed on the following elements: the reputation of the event organizer, impressive medals, beautiful event shirts, and a simple system for submitting running results more than the people who have never applied to run on the virtual platform. The prize money was the only factor in which those who had never applied to a virtual run agreed to more than the people who had previously applied.