Event social responsibility: A note to improve outcomes for sponsors and events

Abstract

Via a field study (n=879), the authors introduce the concept of event social responsibility (ESR) and show how it is a catalyst for key outcomes in the business of sport. Specifically, event social responsibility leads to fan attachment to an event, event word-of-mouth, and sponsorship patronage. Fan attachment lifts consumer promotion of an event to others and mediates the relationship between ESR and the extent to which attendees share favorable WOM about the sponsored event. Results also confirm the strong link between ESR and attendees' support for sponsors, via patronage of their products. For corporate sponsors, the results offer evidence for how sponsorship of community-based events provides an opportunity for a company to demonstrate good corporate citizenship while lifting patronage intent of attendees at a professional sporting event.