Grounded Theory-Derived Quality Assessment of Indoor Badminton Venues Based on Online Reviews: From Functional Experience to Acoustic Perception

Indoor badminton venues are common mass-fitness spaces in China, but their acoustic environment remains underexamined relative to lighting, thermal comfort, and functional facilities. This study uses grounded theory to examine how users perceive acoustic conditions within the broader experience of indoor badminton venues. A total of 4,721 raw online reviews for seven purposively selected venues in five Chinese cities were collected, and 3,937 valid reviews remained after preprocessing. A hybrid text-processing procedure combining DeepSeek-V3-assisted term pre-screening and Python jieba segmentation identified 74 core high-frequency terms; all grounded-theory coding was conducted manually in NVivo 15. Open, axial, and selective coding generated 32 initial categories, 6 main categories, and an Indoor Badminton Venue User Experience Perception Model. Acoustic-related categories were then extracted to construct an Acoustic Environment Perception Mechanism sub-model. The results show that noise level was directly mentioned in only 45 reviews but was indirectly embedded in sport atmosphere, time-based flow, and user experience, indicating a latent perceptual role. Moderate sound may be interpreted as a vibrant sport atmosphere, whereas crowd overload and reverberant spatial conditions may shift perception toward chaotic noise. The findings provide qualitative evidence for integrating user-centered acoustic considerations into the design and operation of mass-leisure sports venues.