Communicating sustainability through college athletics

College athletic departments in the United States have invested in a variety of pro-environmental initiatives not only to minimize carbon emissions but also to inspire various stakeholders to adopt environmentally responsible practices such as recycling, carpooling, and making donations. College athletics managers believe that their pro-environmental efforts motivate sport fans to take sustainable actions. If that is the case, what is the key underlying mechanism that drives consumers to adopt environmentally responsible behaviors?

This study aims to demonstrate a causal sequence of psychological responses of environmentally responsible behaviors. The authors adopted Madrigal’s (2001) belief-attitude-intentions hierarchy model to test the psychological mechanism of consumers’ pro-environmental behavior in the context of college sport. The results of this study suggest that consumers who believe in the positive consequences of the athletic department’s pro-environmental initiatives have a favorable attitude toward the initiatives. In turn, these favorable attitudes lead to their intentions to engage in environmentally responsible behaviors through volunteerism and donation. From a theoretical standpoint, beliefs lay the groundwork for the hierarchy process. Attitude, as a mediator, fully connects beliefs to behavioral intentions.

The authors conclude by urging college athletics managers to develop creative and effective communication strategies to make their target consumers believe in the environmental benefits of their pro-environmental efforts. The article also discusses two managerial insights about communication strategies.

CITE: Kim, Y.D., Nam, C., & LaPlaca, A. (2023). Marketing and communicating sustainability through college athletics: the effects of pro-environmental initiatives on the belief-attitude-intention hierarchy. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 33 (1), 58-78. doi: 10.1080/08841241.2021.1892897

#ProEnvironmentalBehavior #Attitudes #TransformativeChange #Communication #Marketing #Intentions