# Study on preference and willingness to pay for urban marathon event experience from an embodied perspective

## TL;DR

This study explores what urban marathon runners value most in their experience and how much they are willing to pay for it.

## Contribution

The study introduces an embodied perspective to analyze urban marathon experiences using choice experiments and social network data.

## Key findings

- Embodied experiential attributes like visual and auditory experiences are most valued by marathon runners.
- Preferences vary by income, education, and participation frequency, leading to four distinct runner types.
- Higher-income runners prefer visual experiences, while frequent runners show less interest in kinesthetic experiences.

## Abstract

Urban marathons have become important platforms for fulfilling individuals’ aspirations for a better life and promote residents’ health. This study employs a choice experiment method and utilizes embodied theory to explore attributes and design attributes levels of urban marathon products, based on an analysis of social network text content. Through a questionnaire survey of marathon participants, the results reveal that prioritize embodied experiential attributes in the following order: visual experience, auditory experience, extended recollection, self-transcendence, kinesthetic experience, registration fees, and social bonding. Runners with higher incomes and event expenditure prefer visual experiences, while those who participating more frequently exhibit lower preferences for kinesthetic experience. Runners with higher education levels prioritize off-scene experiences. Based on preference heterogeneity, four distinct runner types are identified: ritual-driven runners, audio-visual experience-oriented, achievement-oriented, and social emotion-oriented. Management implications and recommendations for organizers of urban marathon events are provided.