Marketing and communicating sustainability through college athletics: the effects of pro-environmental initiatives on the belief-attitude-intention hierarchy

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the psychological mechanism of consumers’ environmentally responsible behaviors in college sport. The research is guided by a belief-attitude-intention (B-A-I) hierarchy model. The results revealed that consumers who see benefits in a college athletic department’s pro-environmental initiatives (PEIs) have positive attitudes toward the PEIs. These attitudes then drive the consumers’ intentions to engage in environmentally responsible behaviors. The findings of this empirical study confirmed the causal flow of a B-A-I link in a college athletic department’s PEIs. In the hierarchy-of-effects process, belief is a key precursor of action. Attitude appears to function as a mediator between belief and behavioral intention. Practical implications, in terms of communication strategies to strengthen consumers’ beliefs about the benefits of PEIs, are presented. In short, the college athletic department is crucial in the fulfillment of an institutional priority.