Relationship Between Sports Policy, Policy Satisfaction, and Participation Intention During COVID-19 in Korea

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the effect of trust in and contents of sports-related policies during COVID-19 on public policy satisfaction and examine the relationship between policy satisfaction and sports participation intention. People living in Korea were selected as the study population using convenience sampling, and 441 responses were collected using an online questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0. The results indicated that policy trust had a positive effect on policy satisfaction in the order of consistency, expertise, and existing policy performance. In addition, social equity, market responsiveness, and policy effectiveness, which are sub-factors of policy content, had a positive effect on policy satisfaction. Furthermore, sports policy satisfaction had a negative effect on sports participation intention. This study suggests that the government should equally consider policy trust and content when establishing sports-related policies and strive to establish policies based on the positive functions of sports. What is the effect of the COVID-19 policy on the intention to participate in sports?Our study began with the question of "How closely the government's sports-related policies during COVID-19 affect infection prevention?" Despite the fact that positive outcomes of physical development, emotional stability, and social harmony can be achieved through sports, we attempt to verify whether policies that restrict sports participation are effective. To this end, the relationship between sports policy, policy satisfaction, and intention to participate in sports was investigated. Data on the period of COVID-19 were collected and analyzed. As a result, first, the government should consider policy consistency, expertise, and existing policy performance complexly in the policy-making process. Second, it is necessary to construct a policy that considers social equity, market responsiveness, and policy effectiveness in implementing sports-related policies. Third, the government should come up with a sports-related policy that can elicit public understanding and empathy, not a rather rigid policy that restricts the use of sports facilities. As such, this study provides meaningful implications for the government's effective sports-related policy establishment by verifying the effect of sports-related policy trust and content on satisfaction, and further clarifying the relationship between policy satisfaction and sports participation intention.