A systematic literature review of charity sport event sponsorship

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research question Organisations choose to sponsor charity sport events (CSE) to achieve a variety of marketing objectives. Sponsoring CSEs is different than traditional sport event sponsorship programmes because CSEs combine sport with charity. The complexity of CSE sponsorship has attracted researchers from different disciplines, which has resulted in a wide-ranging body of literature. The purpose of the current systematic literature review is to synthesise the existing body of knowledge to identify future research opportunities. Research method A systematic literature review of the existing CSE sponsorship literature was conducted. In total, 42 English peer-reviewed journal articles were analysed to summarise the geographic location, methodologies, theories, constructs, and managerial implications of the existing body of literature. Results and Findings The results reveal that a high proportion of the existing research has examined CSE sponsorship programmes in the United States. The majority of the articles reviewed collected cross-sectional data through questionnaires to investigate the outcomes of CSE sponsorship. Based upon the managerial implications advanced within the existing body of CSE sponsorship literature, event participation segmentation can assist in creating meaningful leverage initiatives. Furthermore, event sponsors are encouraged to share their underlying motivation to support the CSE and invite employees to volunteer at the event. Implications Future research should collect longitudinal data from event participants and use the scroll back method to examine CSE sponsorship programmes. Scholars should also adopt physiological measures as a complementary data source to self-reported data to create a more holistic understanding of CSE sponsorship.