Sporting Event as a Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become one of the principal components of corporate strategy. While firms are busy improving and adopting CSR practices, research on the effect of CSR is scarce, particularly in the sports marketing context. The present study traces the consumer response to CSR. Upon conducting field surveys with consumers (n=399) at an international sporting event. The findings reveal a significant influence of perception of firm's CSR on consumers’ commitment, identification and trust and a significant effect on purchase intention. These results provide academicians as well as managers with means of improving sports marketing communications.