The Impact of Corruption on Sport Sponsorship JYU DISSERTATIONS 109
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JYU DISSERTATIONS 109 Mark Dodds The Impact of Corruption on Sport Sponsorship JYU DISSERTATIONS 109 Mark Dodds The Impact of Corruption on Sport Sponsorship Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston kauppakorkeakoulun suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi Agora-rakennuksen Gamma-salissa syyskuun 27. päivänä 2019 kello 12. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics, in building Agora, hall Gamma on September 27th, 2019 at 12 o’clock noon. JYVÄSKYLÄ 2019 Editors Tuomo Takala Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics Timo Hautala Open Science Centre, University of Jyväskylä Copyright © 2019, by University of Jyväskylä Permanent link to this publication: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-7821-1 ISBN 978-951-39-7821-1(PDF) URN:ISBN:978-951-39-7821-1 ISSN 2489-9003 ABSTRACT Dodds, Mark The Impact of Corruption on Sport Sponsorship Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2019, 112 p. (JYU Dissertations, ISSN 2489-9003; 109) ISBN 978-951-39-7821-1 Finnish Summary Diss Corruption can have a major impact on sport sponsors. Competition corruption, which influences the outcome of a contest, or management corruption, which deals with the administration of a sport event or organization, may have a negative effect on a sport sponsor’s brand. The corruption may create a negative impact for the sport sponsors. The association with a corruption sport organization can create a horn effect thus tarnishing the sponsor’s brand image. Further, a consumer may lower its intent to purchase the sponsor’s product based on that association. This paper investigates the impact of corruption on sport sponsorships. Global sport is besieged by corruption. For example, the FIFA’s World Cup events and organizational elections are consistently accused of fraud. The IOC had the Olympic Games bidding process tarnished due to bribery. The United States’ NCAA faces illegal payoffs associated with its basketball programs. International cycling suffered a devastating response by sponsors to its doping and cheating scandals. Cricket continues to suffer from match-fixing allegations. Corruption infects all sports. First, this study investigates the issue of sport corruption and scrutinizes the legal constraints to recommend effective sport sponsorship activation. It focuses on the act of bribery because this behavior led to many of the more infamous and problematic scandals for sponsors. Then the study examines the impact of this behavior on the sponsors, sport organizations, and consumers. Thus, this dissertation seeks to answer four research questions: First, how can a sport sponsor protect itself from a bribery violation? Next, is there a horn effect for a sponsor affiliated with a corrupt event? Then, does a sponsor suffer lower purchase intentions when affiliated with a corrupt event? Finally, does a sponsor suffer lower purchase intentions when the sponsor commits corruptive behavior? The findings of this study confirm that corruption may negatively impact the sport sponsor. Sport sponsors need to invest financial and human resources to create a compliant corporate culture to protect against corruptive behavior. Sport fans may support sponsors of an alleged corrupt sport but this support lessens when that corruption is proven. This support is further lessened when that corruption brings harm to the fan’s favorite team, country or sport. Conversely, the ongoing FIFA scandals have not created a negative association for a local Finnish football club. Finally, although fans suggest a negative purchase intention for corrupt sponsors. The potential insights are valuable to a sponsor and a sport organization. Both take proactive steps to protect the marketing investment against negative actions resulting from corruption. Keywords: sport corruption, sponsorship, sponsorship activation, bribery, sport marketing, sport ethics TIIVISTELMÄ (ABSTRACT IN FINNISH) Dodds, Mark The Impact of Corruption on Sport Sponsorship Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2019, 112 p. (JYU Dissertations, ISSN 2489-9003; 109) ISBN 978-951-39-7821-1 Finnish Summary Diss Korruptio urheilussa voi vaikuttaa suuresti urheilusponsorointiin. Kilpailuihin ja niiden lopputuloksiin liittyvä korruptio tai urheilujohdon korruptio voi vaikuttaa negatiivisesti urheilusponsoroijan brändiin. Äärimmäisimmillään tämä kielteinen vaikutelma voi johtaa heikentyneeseen brändikuvaan ja heikentää kuluttajien ostoaikeita. Koska urheilun sponsorointi vaatii merkittäviä rahallisia panostuksia ja on erittäin näkyvä markkinointistrategia, on brändeille tärkeätä välttää korruptiota ja reagoida mahdollisiin korruptioskandaaleihin. Tämä väitöskirja tutkii korruption vaikutuksia urheilun sponsorointiin tarkastelemalla korruptiota monista eri perspektiiveistä. Korruptio rajoittaa maailmanlaajuista urheilua. Tämä koskee käytännössä kaikkia isoja urheilulajeja. Esimerkiksi, FIFA:n MM-tapahtumia ja järjestäytymisvaaleja syytetään jatkuvasti petoksista. KOK: n olympialaisten tarjousprosessi oli pilaantunut lahjonnan vuoksi. Yhdysvaltain NCAA järjestöä on syytetty korruptiosta koripalloon liittyen. Kansainvälinen pyöräily sai sponsoreiden tuhoisan reaktion doping- ja huijausskandaaleihin. Kriketti kärsii edelleen otteluiden sovittuja lopputuloksia koskevista väitteistä. Korruptio tarttuu kaikkiin urheilulajeihin. Korruptio voi aiheuttaa kielteisiä vaikutuksia urheilun sponsoreille. Urheiluorganisaation yhdistyminen korruptioon voi tahrata sponsorin brändi-imagon. Lisäksi, kuluttajan ostoaikomukset voivat heikentyä tästä assosiaatiosta johtuen. Brändiin liittyvä korruptio voi olla vielä haitallisempaa brändi-imagolle ja tulevaisuuden ostoaikomuksille. Tämä väitöskirja tutkii korruption vaikutusta urheilun sponsoreihin. Tämän tutkimuksen tulokset vahvistavat, että korruptio voi vaikuttaa kielteisesti urheilun sponsoriin. Urheilun sponsoroijien on investoitava taloudellisia ja inhimillisiä voimavaroja yhteensopivan yrityskulttuurin luomiseksi suojautuakseen korruptiolta. Urheilufanit voivat tukea väitetyn korruptoituneen urheilun sponsoreita, mutta tämä tuki vähenee, kun korruptio on osoitettu. Fanien tuki vähenee entisestään, kun korruptio aiheuttaa vahinkoa fanien suosikkijoukkueelle, maalle tai urheilulajille. Toisaalta meneillään olevat FIFA-skandaalit eivät ole luoneet negatiivista sidettä paikalliselle suomalaiselle jalkapalloseuralle, vaikka fanien ostoaikomus on negatiivinen korruptoituneita sponsoreita kohtaan. Väitöskirjan tulokset ovat merkittäviä sekä urheilun sponsoreille että urheilujärjestöille. Molemmat pitäisi ottaa ennakoivia askeleita suojatakseen markkinointisijoituksia korruption aiheuttamilta kielteisiltä vaikutuksilta. Asiasanat: urheilun korruptio, sponsorointi, sponsoroinnin aktivointi, lahjonta, urheilumarkkinointi, urheilusetiikka Author Mark Dodds University of Jyväskylä School of Business and Economics email: [email protected] Supervisor Professor Heikki Karjaluoto University of Jyväskylä School of Business and Economics Reviewers Dr. Sungho Cho Associate Professor Bowling Green State University Dr. Andrew Goldsmith Assistant Professor Troy University Opponent Dr. Sungho Cho Associate Professor Bowling Green State University FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Suos Cultores Scientia Coronat When I completed my undergraduate studies, I had no idea what the motto of Syracuse University meant. First, I cannot read Latin. Also, at that time I thought education was a destination, not a journey. In the many years since that graduation, I have come to appreciate that phrase- Knowledge Crowns Those Who Seek Her. I am grateful for the hard work and dedication provided to me by Professor Heikki Karjaluoto. He gave me support, he challenged my thinking, and he navigated my doctoral process. I realize my route was very different than other students. I truly appreciate the late emails, the skype calls and the January meetings – all of which depended on a seven-hour time difference and a 4,013- mile (6458 km) separation. Thank you Heikki. I would be remiss if I did not thank Aila Ahonen and Kevin Heisey. Both are colleagues and friends. Both listened to this wacky notion of going back to school and getting a Ph’D and gave great advice and the perfect program for me. The internal support from both the University of Jyväskylä and SUNY Cortland allowed me to pursue this dream. Even though both villages went above and beyond, I wanted to thank my current department Chair, Peter Han, for his encouragement and assistance. To the professors at JSBE, I learned a lot from you and I hope to pay it forward within my own classes. Thank you to both Dr. SungHo Cho and Dr. Andrew Goldsmith. I am grateful for the time and effort that each of you gave during the review of the dissertation. Finally, I want to thank my family for their support. My parents, who are always giving me words of encouragement, and my children (Spenser and Quinn), who are always inspiring me, thank you. Finally, to Jeannine, you will never know how thankful I am for you. I realize that my time doing coursework, researching, writing, and traveling to Finland created extra responsibilities for you. I would love to promise you that I am now finished, but there are always new crowns out there. Amica veritas – Truth is a friend FIGURES FIGURE 1 Dissertation research plan.................................................................. 17 TABLES TABLE 1 Outline of the dissertation ................................................................. 22 TABLE 2 List of dissertation articles