The impact of volunteer experience at sport mega-events on intention to continue volunteering: Multigroup path...

This study examined the impacts of volunteers' motivation and satisfaction through Olympic/Paralympic volunteering experiences on their intention to volunteer for future community events and the moderating role of previous volunteering experience in the relationships among motivations, satisfaction, and intention to continue volunteering. A sample of volunteers (N = 4,824) was drawn from the data collected by Nielsen during the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Responses from a total of 25 items of volunteer motivations, satisfaction, future intention to volunteer, and previous experience status were used for the study's analyses. Path analysis revealed that among the total sample, motivations had direct and indirect (through satisfaction) effects on intention to volunteer. Results of multigroup path analysis showed that the relationships among motivations, satisfaction, and intention vary by returning and first-time volunteers, supporting the moderating role of prior volunteering experience in the path model. This study provides a systematic examination of how volunteer motivations and satisfaction may operate differently or similarly between returning and first-time volunteers.