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This study aims to explore spectators' awareness of and attitudes toward sponsoring firms as well as to propose a model predicting their purchase and word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions toward the sponsors of a major sporting event during a pandemic crisis.

A quantitative method was used to collect the data, with 1,259 questionnaires being effectively collected and analyzed using SPSS and AMOS. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), path analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the data.

Factors such as sports involvement, sincerity, social media use, beliefs about sponsorship, sponsor's image, Covid-19 beliefs and emotions, awareness of and attitude toward sponsors were found to significantly predict spectators' purchase and WOM intentions.

The results support the structural equation model, providing a multidisciplinary conceptual framework that highlights the significance of comprehending the role of significant factors in sponsorship efficiency during the Covid-19 crisis. The proposed framework adds to the knowledge corpus of this field.

Despite fast developments in esports sponsorship, limited research exists in the area of sponsorship evaluation in the esports context. The purpose of the present study was to test the relationships among esports involvement, sponsorship perceived fit and viewers’ intention to buy the sponsor’s products, and examine the degree to which perceived fit mediates the relationship between the involvement dimensions and intention.

The study draws on the theoretical model of sponsorship effects proposed by Wakefield et al. (2020) and obtained quantitative data from sampling esports viewers (n = 285). Statistical analysis was carried out in three steps. Beyond the descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess the goodness of fit of the measurement model. The mediation analysis was performed at the end of the study.

The results supported the impact of one of the esports involvement dimensions (i.e. self-expression) on both perceived fit and esports viewers’ intentions to buy sponsors’ products. Involvement (self-expression) was found to have both direct and indirect relationships, through perceived fit, on purchase intentions. The study provided support for the associations among esports involvement dimensions, sponsorship perceived fit and purchase intentions.

The practitioners should first consider the involvement profile of esports viewers. The more involved viewers will be more likely to have positive perceptions about the fit between the esports tournament and the sponsor.

It is the first study to test a sponsorship evaluation model in the context of esports users. It does so by including a more detailed measurement of involvement (with three-dimensions) in the hypothesized model.

This study aimed to identify subgroups of esports players based on their gaming behavior patterns across game genres and compare self-efficacy, social efficacy, loneliness and three dimensions of quality of life between these subgroups.

324 participants were recruited from prolific academic to complete an online survey. We employed latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify subgroups of esports players based on their behavioral patterns across genres. Additionally, a one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to test the association between cluster memberships and development and well-being outcomes, controlling for age and gender as covariates.

LPA analysis identified five clusters (two single-genre gamer groups, two multigenre gamer groups and one all-genre gamer group). Univariate analyses indicated the significant effect of the clusters on social efficacy, psychological health and social health. Pairwise comparisons highlighted the salience of the physical enactment-plus-sport simulation genre group in these outcomes.

This study contributes to the understanding of the development and well-being benefits experienced by various esports consumers, as well as the role of specific gameplay in facilitating targeted outcomes among these consumer groups.

Storytelling has long been a popular strategy in marketing. Despite its ubiquity, the influence of storytelling in the sport marketing literature has not been investigated, especially on consumers' perspective. Thus, the purpose of this study is to (a) examine the effect of storytelling on sport consumers, and (b) explore the moderation effect of product involvement on the relationship between storytelling and purchase intention of a signature sneaker.

Two experiments using 3 (storytelling: bullet-point type vs. athlete-based story vs. product-based story) × 2 (product involvement: low vs. high) between-subjects experimental design were conducted.

The main finding illustrates that both the athlete-based story and the product-based story had a stronger influence on a consumer's purchase intention than the information that was given in a bullet-point condition. This study provides a theoretical implication of storytelling strategy for sport marketing literature. From a managerial perspective, the authors heavily recommend the use of storytelling in sport product advertisements.

Previous literature has highlighted the effect of storytelling in sports organization such as professional sports team or utilization in social media. However, limited studies could be found in the sports product industry and consumer behavior sector. Thus, the current study has a significant value of understanding the storytelling strategy in the perspective of sports consumers as well as brand marketers.

Although many attempts to discover key segments of sport spectators have been extant, little segmentation effort has been made to reflect pandemic situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this research is twofold: (1) to classify sport spectators into key segments based on perceived risks associated with a mass-gathered sporting event during the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) to identify each segment’s profiles.

Questionnaire surveys of spectators attending a Japanese rugby game during the COVID-19 pandemic (January–June 2021) were conducted (n = 1,410). A combination of hierarchical and non-hierarchical clustering methods was executed.

The results revealed the five-cluster solution as the optimal number of clusters representing the samples (i.e. spectators with extremely low-risk perception, those with low-risk perception, those with moderate-risk perception, those with high-risk perception and those with higher social risk perception). This five-cluster solution showed sufficient stability and validity. Moreover, each segment had different profiles regarding three background aspects – demographics, psychographics and behavioral variables.

This study is the first effort to segment sport spectators based on perceived risks associated with a mass-gathered sporting event in the pandemic situation. Despite extensive segmentation studies to explore sport fans, contribution reflecting the post-crisis situations is scant. Therefore, the findings provide insight into this realm by providing a new viewpoint for understanding sport spectators during a possible future pandemic era.

Identity regulation is part of a management control package. Organizations regulate employees’ self-identity to influence their behaviors. The success of this regulation depends on its trade-off with employees’ work identities and personalities. Organizational discourse nurtures this dynamic and interactive process. We focus on the regulation of an (undesired) organizational identity that is born at the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, sex and migrant discrimination in accounting-related positions. We aim to analyze how Latina accountants who migrate to Spain perceive that their triple status as Latina, women and migrants affects their careers as accountants and interpret whether this triple intersectional discrimination aims to create a Latina accountant’s self-identity.

This critical study follows a phenomenological approach to analyze the experiences of women born in Latin America who migrated to Spain to occupy accounting-related positions. A thematic analysis of their semi-structured interviews allowed us to examine the challenges faced by Latina accountants in their accounting careers in Spain.

Our interviewees' narratives display an internalization of, even resignation to, a self-identity that we label “Latina accountant identity.” This identity is based on explicit discrimination discourses that cause them to suffer from the intersection of racism, sexism and migrant conditions and is nurtured by the discourses of their senior managers, co-workers and subordinates.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to frame the regulation of an intersectional discriminatory identity that is used to control Latina accountants from the inside, acting on the triple condition of Latinas, women and foreigners, influencing their self-perceptions regarding work and personal lives.

With the competitive nature of golf club operations, understanding the loyalty formation process is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. This study investigated the sequential developmental stages of consumer loyalty, progressing through cognitive, affective, and conative stages.

The study conducted a survey targeting consumers who have experienced golf club services in the United States. This study operationalized reliability and trust as key indicators of the cognitive stage, hedonic motivation and social engagement as indicators of the affective stage, and loyalty as the indicator of the conative stage.

Using structural equation modeling (SEM), this study found that reliability has a significantly positive influence on trust. Trust has a significantly positive influence on hedonic motivation and loyalty. Furthermore, hedonic motivation has a significantly positive influence on social engagement and loyalty.

By integrating these findings within the Cognitive-Affective-Conative (CAC) framework, this study contributes to both the theoretical literature on consumer loyalty and provides practical insights for golf club management.

This study, informed by the Situational Crisis Communication Theory, aims to suggest two primary response strategies that can be used for effective internal crisis communication during a pandemic situation, such as COVID-19. The effect of base response strategies on employees' perceptions of communication quality, leadership and relational outcomes were investigated.

An online survey of full-time employees in the United States was conducted.

The findings showed that for an instructing information strategy, not all types of information were equally associated with positive employee responses in terms of perceived quality of internal communication related to the COVID-19 pandemic and transformational leadership. Specific information that employees need to know in order to safely perform daily tasks, such as organizational protocols and thorough preparation, seem to be the most needed and desired information. Adjusting information was positively associated with employee perceptions of internal communication quality and perceptions of CEO leadership. Employees' perceived quality of internal communication affected by the base crisis response strategies were positively correlated with perceptions of transformational leadership and relational outcomes (i.e. employee trust in the organization, employee perceptions of the organization's commitment to relationships with employees, employee support for organizational decision-making related to COVID-19).

This study presents important theoretical and practical insights through an interdisciplinary approach that applies the theoretical framework and relationship-oriented outcomes of public relations to public health crisis situations.

As the tourism industry emerges from full or partial closure caused by the COVID-19 crisis, it is imperative to understand the internal conditions that assisted organizations to maintain positive employee attitudes despite the adverse effects of unpopular cost–retrenchment strategies. Therefore, this study aims to understand the impacts of transformational leadership (TFL), human resource management (HRM) crisis cost–retrenchment and ethical climate (EC) on employee job outcomes affected by COVID-19 pandemic.

Mid-level managers of service organizations from a travel destination heavily reliant on the tourism participated in an online self-administered survey one month after the state eased its COVID-19 travel restrictions. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) examined how TFL and EC influenced cost–retrenchment crisis–management HRM, satisfaction and trust in the organization, followed by PLS multi-group analysis (PLS-MGA) to understand differences between hospitality and non-hospitality employees.

Results revealed an overall positive effect of TFL that diminished the negative affect of HRM cost-retrenchment on employee satisfaction. PLS-MGA showed a significant positive role of other-focused EC on employee outcomes, especially for hospitality organizations, whereas self-focused EC had a negative impact for non-hospitality firms.

This study contributes to contingency theory of leadership by demonstrating that TFL in combination with EC mitigates or overpowers the negative effects of cost–retrenchment crisis management strategies on employees. The study advances knowledge of self-focused and other-focused moral reasoning climate impacts under COVID-19 conditions for hospitality organizations. The industry comparison results highlight the important positive characteristics of hospitality crisis management.