The Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility of Major Sport Organizations by the German Public: An Empirical Analysis During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Sport governing bodies have played a special role in society during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following stakeholder theory and consumption capital theory, this study investigated the actions of the German Bundesliga (DFL), Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during this phase as perceived by the German population and through the lens of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Based on a representative sample of the German resident population (N = 1,000), the study examined the individual characteristics that influenced the perceived CSR of these organizations and what population clusters emerged from this perception. The survey applied a CSR scale that was previously validated in a professional team sports context. The results confirmed the equally strong applicability of the scale to the sport governing context. Cluster analysis yielded three distinctive clusters, namely, "supporters," "neutral observers," and "critics." Regression analyses and the cluster analysis identified those with frequent consumption and high involvement in sport as rating the actions of the three sport organizations more positively. They are also more strongly represented in the "supporters" cluster. In contrast, those threatened the most by the virus are overrepresented in the "critics" cluster.

Intentions of Environmentally Friendly Behavior Among Sports Club Members: An Empirical Test of the Theory of Planned Behavior Across Genders and Sports.

Environmentally friendly behavior has become increasingly important in recent years to reduce the speed of climate change and its negative impacts. Individual behavior, including environmentally friendly behavior, is largely formed by behavioral intentions. This study draws on the theory of planned behavior to examine the effects of attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on intentions of environmentally friendly behavior. It also investigates differences between genders and among sports. The study is based on data from a nationwide online survey of community sports club members in Germany in five team/racket sports (n = 3,036). Existing measures to operationalize the constructs were adapted to the present research context. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that the theoretical assumptions of the theory of planned behavior were largely supported by the data, implying that the antecedents of environmentally friendly behavioral intentions can be applied to club members. Furthermore, gender- and sports-specific differences in the antecedents-intention relationship were detected. This study is among the first to examine environmentally friendly behavioral intentions in community sports clubs. It adds to an increasing body of research investigating environmental sustainability in sports.