Experienced vs. Novice Participants Perception of Overall Quality and Intention to Join in Future Sport Trials: Case European Duathlon Championship

Even though athletes’ experience has been ascertained to shape the perception of quality in sports events, scarce studies have addressed this issue jointly with the intent to join in upcoming comparable sports challenges. (1) Background: The present research investigates how the experience determines the evaluation of the championship and future intentions. (2) Methods: The PLS (SEM) method was evaluated specifically for both novice and experienced duathlon participants, and secondly, the fsQCA methodology was applied with the intention to estimate combinatorial net effects to confirm the hypothesis proposed. (3) Results reveal that the overall quality is equally important for novice and experienced individuals as a determinant of future intentions. However, novices tend to value more positively all the dimensions analyzed, while experienced ones noted higher levels of demand. (4) These findings highlight the importance of designing adequate management strategies for the participants with different levels of performance.