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Article
Publication date: 13 March 2017

Christos Anagnostopoulos, Terri Byers and Dimitrios Kolyperas

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the efficacy of using a multi-paradigm perspective to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the efficacy of using a multi-paradigm perspective to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and strategic decision-making processes in the context of charitable foundations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper integrates and synthesizes the micro-social processes of “assessable transcendence” (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2014) with Whittington’s (2001) perspectives on strategy. “Assessable transcendence” was achieved from the constant comparison of categories developed through an early iterative process in which data collection and analysis occurred during the same period. In all, 32 interviews were conducted among a sample of key managers in the charitable foundations for the first two divisions of English football.

Findings

The present study illustrates empirically that strategic decision making in charitable foundations does not “seat” neatly in any one of Whittington’s perspectives. On the contrary, this study indicates a great deal of overlap within these perspectives, and suggests that conflicting paradigms should be celebrated rather than viewed as signs of theoretical immaturity. Multi-paradigm approaches can potentially reveal insights into the “mechanics” of managerial decision making that are not easily discernible from a mono-paradigmatic perspective.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical work that examines CSR in relation to strategy within the context of the English football clubs’ charitable foundations, and does so by employing a multi-paradigm perspective on strategy formulation and implementation.

Details

Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-678X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 March 2024

Edgar Romero-Jara, Francesc Solanellas, Samuel López-Carril, Dimitrios Kolyperas and Christos Anagnostopoulos

In a dynamic, continuously evolving sports landscape, social media have become an indispensable tool for sports organizations to cultivate meaningful connections with fans. The…

Abstract

Purpose

In a dynamic, continuously evolving sports landscape, social media have become an indispensable tool for sports organizations to cultivate meaningful connections with fans. The rapid pace of technological advancements has elevated these digital platforms from a supplementary role to a pivotal position within strategic management frameworks. The existing literature explores how football clubs can utilize social media, but analyzing social media strategies within the context of football leagues is lacking. The absence of comparative studies benchmarking clubs across different geographical regions while simultaneously analyzing multiple social media platforms is especially noteworthy. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of social media engagement is undertaken within esteemed football leagues spanning Europe, South America and North America.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on relationship marketing and employing content analysis as a methodological tool, the study examined 10,772 posts from the official accounts of eight football leagues on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Findings

Across the leagues, the findings reveal that content quality drives engagement more than frequency. In addition, several format combinations were identified that facilitate engagement and Instagram emerged as the top social media platform for generating fan engagement.

Originality/value

This is one of the first empirical studies focusing on optimizing the use of social media to amplify fan engagement across various geographies and social media accounts and formats simultaneously.

Details

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1464-6668

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2019

Nikolaos Papacharalampous, Dimitra Papadimitriou and Christos Anagnostopoulos

This study aims to examine the actions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) at a national business context that is firmly defined by prolonged financial crisis. It does so by…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the actions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) at a national business context that is firmly defined by prolonged financial crisis. It does so by using a critical view on CSR disclosures in an attempt to get to the heart of the real matter of CSR, from both a thematic content and strategic orientation perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on a sample of 50 firms that operate in the Greek market and belong to the most significant sectors of the national economy. Their CSR disclosures are content-analyzed, providing a body of 836 pragmatic CSR actions.

Findings

The key findings of the study denote differences among the examined sectors, with banks and financial services being the most active in terms of CSR actions. Regarding the thematic content, firms choose mainly to implement actions with a societal character, while in terms of strategic orientation, they opt for CSR actions that serve existing cause-related programs without any brand presence. Moreover, profound interest appears for the external business environment, whereas the number of CSR actions with employees’ participation is limited.

Practical implications

The study offers a descriptive account of the actual CSR engagement in Greece amid a prolonged downturn, thus shedding light on the current CSR trends and deficits and helping decision makers embed CSR as an integral part of their business operation.

Originality/value

During adverse economic conditions, this study captures potential discrepancies between the “walk” (doing) and the “talk” (self-reporting) of CSR. In so doing, it contributes to CSR literature by exploring both the “what” and the “how” these actions are implemented.

Details

Journal of Global Responsibility, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2041-2568

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2017

Petros Parganas, Christos Anagnostopoulos and Simon Chadwick

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of social media in brand associations, particularly in regard to soccer fan clubs.

5281

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of social media in brand associations, particularly in regard to soccer fan clubs.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a professional English Premier League soccer team to investigate the effects that social media interaction had on brand associations of the team’s fan clubs in two national contexts – England and Greece.

Findings

In total, 207 online questionnaires from six fan clubs were collected and analyzed using descriptive and inferential (t-tests and χ2 tests) statistics.

Originality/value

The results revealed similarities on Facebook in terms of positive receptions of brand attributes and resonance of perceived brand benefits, while significant differences were observed on Twitter, particularly in terms of brand benefits.

Details

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1464-6668

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-678X

Article
Publication date: 8 May 2017

Petros Parganas, Roman Liasko and Christos Anagnostopoulos

Professional football clubs currently strive for a number of concurrent goals, ranging from on-field success to profit maximization to fan expansion and engagement. The purpose of…

1794

Abstract

Purpose

Professional football clubs currently strive for a number of concurrent goals, ranging from on-field success to profit maximization to fan expansion and engagement. The purpose of this paper, theoretically informed by the social penetration theory, is to analyze the economics behind such goals and examine the association between team performance, commercial success, and social media followers in professional team sports.

Design/methodology/approach

A data set relating to 20 European professional football clubs that combines financial (revenues and costs), sporting, and digital-reach measures for three consecutive football seasons (2013/2014 to 2015/2016) was used. In addition, to elaborate on this data in terms of a descriptive study, the study constructs a range of correlation statistical tests and linear modeling techniques to obtain quantitative results.

Findings

The results indicate that all the three main sources of club revenues (match-day, commercial/sponsorship, and broadcasting) are positive drivers for Facebook followers. Staff investments (staff costs) are also positively related to Facebook followers, albeit to a lesser extent, while higher-ranked clubs seem to follow a constant approach in terms of their revenues and cost structure.

Originality/value

This study seeks to bridge the communication and sport economic research, providing evidence that Facebook followers are part of the cyclical phenomenon of team revenues and team performance. In doing so, it initiates a debate on the relationship between the digital expansion of a football club and its sports and financial indicators.

Details

Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-678X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 August 2019

Brent D. Oja, Minjung Kim, Pamela L. Perrewé and Christos Anagnostopoulos

In an attempt to promote sport employees’ well-being, the purpose of this paper is to examine the more traditional constructs of psychological capital (i.e. hope, efficacy…

Abstract

Purpose

In an attempt to promote sport employees’ well-being, the purpose of this paper is to examine the more traditional constructs of psychological capital (i.e. hope, efficacy, resiliency and optimism) and to feature the inclusion of authenticity, an often overlooked construct, among sport employees.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper is designed to create an expanded sport employee psychological capital construct, labeled A-HERO, and a subsequent theoretical model to improve their well-being.

Findings

In detailing a conceptual model of A-HERO for well-being, the model includes and explains the relationships among sport employee antecedents (i.e. sport employee identification, pride and passion), an organizational contextual variable (person–organization fit), and an important employee and organizational outcome (i.e. employee well-being) in contemporary sport organizations.

Research limitations/implications

A-HERO offers a necessary first step for future theoretical research and empirical applications to improve sport employees’ well-being.

Originality/value

By elucidating the role of authenticity at work with traditional psychological capital constructs in the current sport industry, this paper stimulates sport business and management scholars to validate empirically the A-HERO construct and examine proposed relationships for an improved prediction of sport employees’ well-being.

Details

Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-678X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 July 2017

Leah Gillooly, Christos Anagnostopoulos and Simon Chadwick

The purpose of this paper is to thematically categorise sports sponsorship-linked Twitter content and, by drawing on uses & gratifications theory, to map the extent to which these…

2617

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to thematically categorise sports sponsorship-linked Twitter content and, by drawing on uses & gratifications theory, to map the extent to which these categories cohere with known user motivations for consuming social media.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative content analysis of a sample of 1,502 tweets by London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games sponsors posted between January 2011 and September 2012 was used to develop the typology of sponsorship-linked Twitter content.

Findings

From the data, a typology is developed, comprising 17 categories grouped under four main types: informing, entertaining, rewarding and interacting. The majority of sponsor tweets (68 per cent) fell into the informing type, with 17 per cent categorised as interacting. While few (2 per cent) tweets were categorised as entertaining, the link to the sponsored event implies a degree of entertaining content even in ostensibly informative, rewarding or interactional sponsorship-linked tweets. Therefore, the typology categories highlight Twitter content produced by sponsors which engages customers, fostering dialogue alongside providing informative and entertaining content.

Practical implications

The typology can inform practitioners’ future sports sponsorship activation planning decisions and can also aid rights holders in tailoring appropriate sponsorship opportunities to potential sponsors, based on an appreciation of the nature of content sought by brand followers.

Originality/value

The typology extends existing understanding of the use of social media within sponsorship activation campaigns by thematically categorising content and mapping this against known user motivations for consuming brand-related social media content.

Details

Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-678X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 August 2023

Yoseph Z. Mamo and Christos Anagnostopoulos

Previous corporate social responsibility (CSR) research has mainly revolved around the “usual target” (that is, fans and consumers) that invest money, time and energy in…

Abstract

Purpose

Previous corporate social responsibility (CSR) research has mainly revolved around the “usual target” (that is, fans and consumers) that invest money, time and energy in supporting their teams in isolation while largely ignoring individual members of the public. Building on social exchange theory and social media analytics, the authors examine the social outcomes of CSR aggregated from individual members of society's perceived benefits (intangible and psychological).

Design/methodology/approach

Raw data were drawn from the CSR-focused Twitter accounts of six professional leagues (i.e. @nbacares, @nflplay60, @InspireChange, @thewnbpa, @Pr_nhl, @Mlsworks and @Mlbsocial). The authors collected historical data from each CSR-focused Twitter account (N = 136,076) from March 2010 to September 2022.

Findings

After conducting sentiment analysis of public perceptions, the majority of tweets (53%) were neutral, 39% were positive and 8% were negative. All CSR-related accounts received more positive tweets about their initiatives than negative ones did. The most prevalent positive topics are supporting the community, education, youth wellness and health and inspiring the young generation. The most prevalent negative topics were related to fake, hypocrite, hate and social justice.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the CSR-sport literature by incorporating members of the general public into the stakeholder ecosystem and empirically examining their perceptions of sport organizations' CSR activities. Also, by drawing on the social exchange theory and the unique nature of social media, the authors highlight when and how the public expresses positive, neutral and negative perceptions over time. Finally, it joins a small but growing body of research that adopts the application of big data to sport management, and it measures the sentiment, frequency, distribution and topics of tweets, thereby determining positive and negative public perceptions.

Details

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, vol. 24 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1464-6668

Keywords

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1464-6668

1 – 10 of 35