The impact of internet marketing on pooled interdependent Australian sporting organisations : a study of the effects of Internet marketing practice and its relationship with revenue and costs associated with an online presence

This study investigated the impact of Internet marketing on pooled interdependent Australian sporting organisations. Determinants of revenue and costs in Australian sporting organisations involved in Internet marketing were examined and, in addition to investigating for revenue and costs, literature driven Internet marketing practices were used to analyse Internet marketing practice in the study's population. Thus, a bigger picture of the effects and impacts on Internet marketing in these organisations could be presented. Internet marketing practices were proposed mostly by practitioner oriented exploratory literature and the limited empirical research literature available regarding Internet marketing in Australian sporting organisations. Therefore, the study examined relationships among Internet marketing practices in the context of Australian sporting organisations and their utilisations of various Internet marketing techniques. Local, state/territory and national level pooled interdependent Australian sporting organisations with websites represented the population of the study (N=100). Sixty-seven (n = 67) local, state/territory and national level Australian sporting organisations completed a 41 question questionnaire. Local, state and national level Australian sporting organisations were grouped into three geographic regions: (1) South East region (Victoria and Tasmania), (2) North East region (New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory and, (3) the West region (South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory). The study used Parametric and Non-Parametric statistical analysis procedures (Descriptives, Independent t test, ANOVA and Scheffe and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) to measure the data received from the respondents for the purpose of determining the results of the study's three (3) research questions: 1)Are Australian sporting organisations' Internet marketing revenue greater than Australian sporting organisation Internet marketing costs? 2)Do Australian sporting organisations' Internet marketing costs for a financial year significantly exceed budget allocation in that same financial year? 3) Do Australian sporting organisations' employees rate tactical Internet marketing practice as a better practice relative to strategic Internet marketing practice? A critical alpha level of .05 was used to reject the null hypotheses of equal means. The data indicates that Internet marketing revenue is less than its Internet marketing costs for all respondents nationwide. Nationwide Australian sporting organisations costs from Internet marketing do not differ significantly from their revenue (t = 1.27). Research questions 2 identified that Internet marketing costs are significantly higher than the amount they budgeted for Internet marketing (t = 2.215). Research question 3 suggests Australian Sporting organisations' employees' rate tactical Internet marketing as significantly better Internet marketing practice than strategic Internet marketing practice (Z value interpretation of .0123). Although there is evidence of revenue and costs differences, budgeting imbalances, and dissimilar decision making procedures in Australian sporting organisation Internet marketing, the data suggests that an online presence is vital for a competitive business advantage thus justifying its use as a marketing tool. This thesis serves as a seminal first step in establishing an empirical knowledge base for pooled interdependent Australian sporting organisation Internet marketing practice. Sporting organisations located outside of Australia may consider using this study as a point of reference.