Leveraging the Olympic volunteer legacy: From perceived benefits to sustained volunteer behavior

Abstract

Host cities have shown the intention of using the Olympic Games as a leverageable resource in achieving sustained volunteering among Olympic volunteers. I examined the relationship between the perceived benefits of Olympic volunteering and sustained volunteer behavior years after the megaevent. Participants were 353 volunteers who had been involved with the Beijing 2008, Singapore 2010, or Nanjing 2014 Games. The results of an online survey reveal that perceived benefits directly influenced sustained volunteering. A critical relationship between the development of volunteers' role identity and volunteering afterwards was confirmed. Perceived benefits were positively associated with role identity and, thus, indirectly promoted sustained volunteering behavior. Hence, perceived benefits arising from Olympic volunteering are the key to volunteer identity and sustained volunteering. For future practice, significant efforts are needed in the development of perceived benefits and role identity as a volunteer via individuals' experience of volunteering at sporting megaevents.