Title: Social effectiveness and sport personnel: the impact of athlete political skill and influence tactics on sport organisation CSR reputation and consumer advocacy intentions

Authors: Marshall J. Magnusen; Sungil Hong; Michael Mondello

Addresses: Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97313, Waco, TX 76989, USA. ' Sport Management Department, The Florida State University, 1002 Tully Gym, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4280, USA. ' Sport Management Department, The Florida State University, 1002 Tully Gym, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4280, USA

Abstract: Despite CSR research receiving increased attention and academic acceptance in the sport management literature, minimal attention has been paid to the characteristics and behaviours of sport personnel who are actively engaged in CSR activities. Therefore, this study sought to examine how professional athlete political skill and proactive influence tactics impact sport organisation CSR reputation and sport consumer advocacy intentions. Guiding the development of the research model and hypotheses was political skill theory. Sport consumers attending an NBA competition were surveyed and 207 usable samples were included for data analysis. This included confirmatory factor analysis of the first order factors and a test of the structural model (along with the second order model) using SEM. Results indicated the proposed model was psychometrically sound and the proposed associations in the model were largely supported. The only exception came from the multiple-sample SEM analysis; this found the moderating effect of political skill was insignificant.

Keywords: advocates; inspirational appeal; influence strategies; sport fans; sport figures; political skills; sport employees; social effectiveness; sport personnel; athletics; consumer advocacy ;consumer intentions; sports organisations; reputation; corporate social responsibility; CSR; professional athletes; proactive tactics; National Basketball Association; NBA; sporting competitions; confirmatory factor analysis; first order factors; SEM; structural equation modelling; sport management; sport marketing; stewardship; sustainability; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2011.043619

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2011 Vol.10 No.1/2, pp.61 - 82

Received: 30 Jul 2010
Accepted: 10 Aug 2011
Published online: 21 Feb 2015 *

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