Articles in this issue:

• Exploring Greenwashing in Sport: A Scoping Review

  Jessica R. Murfree and Natasha T. Brison

  Organizations are increasingly prioritizing green, or pro-environmental, goods and services due to the heightened urgency of environmental concerns. However, this trend has given rise to instances of greenwashing, or deceptively marketing pro-environmental claims with or without intention (Delmas & Burbano, 2011). Greenwashing has been present in marketing campaigns for several decades and is gaining attention in sport organizations, though scholarly exploration remains limited. This study utilizes Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) framework for a scoping review to investigate the extent of...Read more

• Exploring the Impact of Sports and Fitness Live Streamer Attributes on Consumer Well-Being: Symmetric and Asymmetric Modeling Approaches

  Weisheng Chiu

  Han Soo Kim

  and Young Suk Oh

  This study aimed to explore how the attributes of sports and fitness live streaming (SFLS) streamers—namely social attractiveness, physical attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise—affect consumers’ subjective well-being through their flow experience and emotional attachment. Study participants were recruited using Wenjuanxing, an online survey platform based in China. Among the total sample collected, 1,047 valid cases were utilized for analysis. Data were analyzed using both symmetric and asymmetric approaches: partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy...Read more

• Omni-Channels: A New Paradigm to Understanding Purchase Decisions in the Sporting Goods Domain

  Sardar Mohammadi

  Wenche Wang

  Seyyed Iman Ghaffarisadr

  and Jamil Nawkhasi

  Omni-channel marketing, which seamlessly integrates both offline and online channels, has ushered in transformative shifts in sport consumer expectations for shopping experiences, as well as their decision-making and purchasing processes. The current study presents a model that integrates four existing frameworks to explicate consumer purchasing decisions of sporting goods on omni-channels. We conducted empirical testing using survey data from 401 respondents, revealing the important roles of technology acceptance, pleasure, arousal, dominance, perceived compatibility, perceived risk,...Read more

• A Failed Relationship or a Great Opportunity: Professional Runners’ Experience With Sponsorships

  Austin C. Bogina

  Thomas J. Aicher

  Kaylee C. Bogina

  and Brian S. Gordon

  The primary purpose of this study was to explore how professional runners form attitudes toward sponsors. The secondary purpose was to understand perceived relationships of professional runners with sponsors. This study was guided by the relationship marketing theory, and the conceptual background on sponsorship relationships was presented in detail. The research was conducted with a USA Track & Field certified professional running team, using semi-structured interviews with eight of 12 team members. The results were categorized into three common themes: (1) relational benefits, (2)...Read more

• Measuring the Perceived Social Impact of Sport Organizations’ CSR: A Longitudinal Study of the Public Benefits on Social Media

  Yoseph Mamo

  Despite ample research over the past two decades on the perceived social impact of sport events and event-related activities for residents, participants, program recipients, and fans, there is a dearth of research on sport organization efforts on digital media, particularly social media. One pivotal avenue for inducing social impact is through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Drawing from stakeholder, use, and gratification theories, we address this gap by examining public emotional and psychological benefits of CSR initiatives on social media. We analyzed 35,931 tweets...Read more

• Ambush Marketing by Athletes on Social Media During the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Eight Nations

  Andrea N. Geurin

  Natasha T. Brison

  Lauren M. Burch

  Nicholas M. Watanabe

  and Akira Asada

  This study examined social media posts by athletes from eight nations (Australia, Brazil, Germany, Iran, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom, and United States) with varied applications of the International Olympic Committee Rule 40 during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Guided by the concept of ambush marketing, we sought to determine to what extent Olympic athletes followed or violated Rule 40 during the Tokyo Games and what impact that had on engagement with their posts. Our quantitative content analysis of 9,387 Instagram posts from 622 athletes revealed that 4.32 percent of posts...Read more