To read this content please select one of the options below:

A systematic review of sports sponsorship for public health and social marketing

Krzysztof Kubacki (Department of Marketing, Social Marketing @ Griffith, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia)
Erin Hurley (Department of Marketing, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia)
Sharyn Robyn Rundle-Thiele (Department of Marketing, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia)

Journal of Social Marketing

ISSN: 2042-6763

Article publication date: 9 October 2017

Issue publication date: 2 January 2018

1616

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a systematic review of evaluations of public health and social marketing campaigns reporting the use of sports sponsorship. Sports sponsorship is a key health promotion strategy, yet academic literature on the use of sponsorship in social marketing and public health is surprisingly limited.

Design/methodology/approach

Seventeen studies were identified following systematic literature review procedures.

Findings

Coupling of social marketing and public health sponsorship with changes in policies in sporting clubs and associations offers an effective means to achieve desired outcomes, e.g. behaviour change.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis presented in this review included information that was reported in the identified studies, which might be an incomplete representation of work undertaken but not reported. All of the studies identified in this review were conducted in English-speaking countries. Considerable opportunity for future research is apparent, and areas for future research are outlined.

Practical implications

Limited evidence was available, and additional research examining the effectiveness of sponsorship in attaining behavioural change is urgently needed. Future studies should assess the role, scope of involvement in, aims and benefits of non-government sponsors of public health and social marketing campaigns; use methods that do not rely on self-reporting, such as observations; and explore the influence of health sponsorship on attitudes, social norms and behaviours.

Originality/value

This is the first study to provide a systematic review of the use of sports sponsorship in public health and social marketing.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The early search work that focused on social marketing and on which this article was based was funded by Population & Social Health Research Program, Menzies Health Institute Queensland. This base served as an important platform for the current study. The evidence synthesis on which this article was based was funded by Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth). The funders played no role in study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, or in the decision to submit the paper for publication. They accept no responsibility for contents.

Citation

Kubacki, K., Hurley, E. and Rundle-Thiele, S.R. (2018), "A systematic review of sports sponsorship for public health and social marketing", Journal of Social Marketing, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 24-39. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSOCM-01-2017-0001

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles