The Relationship Between Triple Bottom Line Leverage and Branding of Sport Events

The Relationship between Triple Bottom Line Leverage and Branding of Sport Events Author Karamchandani, Sushil Kumar Published 2011 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School Griffith Business School DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/3115 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367221 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au The Relationship between Triple Bottom Line Leverage and Branding of Sport Events Sushil Kumar Karamchandani Master of Sport Management Department of Tourism, Leisure, Hotel and Sport Management Griffith Business School Griffith University Submitted in the fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September, 2010 Abstract The focus of this study is on the relationship between triple bottom line leverage and the branding of sport events, which has been explored from an internal stakeholder perspective. Despite the fact that sport events have been known to have significant impacts on a host destination‘s economy, society and environment, the majority of research in this area has had an ex post rather than ex ante focus. That is, many researchers have evaluated economic, social, and/or environmental impacts of sport events on host communities, rather than investigating how stakeholders can strategically plan to maximise the positive, and minimise the negative, outcomes from sport event hosting. Thus, moving on from this impact-oriented focus of the sport event literature, there is growing interest in the strategic leveraging of sport events. Leverage in this context refers to the activities that need to be undertaken around an event itself in order to maximise the benefits from hosting that event. Although authors have conceptually investigated the potential for triple bottom line (economic, social, and environmental) leverage in sport events (cf. Hede, 2008; O‘Brien & Chalip, 2008), there is a lack of empirical research in this area. The utility of sport subcultures in order to facilitate triple bottom line leverage has also been discussed. Research on sport event leverage has highlighted the significant role subcultures can play in enhancing economic (Green & Chalip, 1998), social (O‘Brien & Chalip, 2008) and environmental outcomes (Trendafilova & Chalip, 2007). What is less understood is how certain values, such as those relating to social/environmental concerns can be incorporated into sport subcultures. This question led to further investigation of event branding, as the role of subcultures has also been discussed from a branding perspective (Schouten & McAlexander, 1995). Similar to research on sport event leverage, however, the ii literature on event branding is also limited, with Parent and Séguin (2008) being among the first to propose a model that demonstrates how an event‘s brand may be developed. Therefore, this study builds on this burgeoning literature, particularly the work of Parent and Séguin (2008) and O‘Brien and Chalip (2008). Specifically, this thesis investigates the relationship between branding and triple bottom line leverage of sport events. Thus, this research explores the utility of an event‘s brand in planning for sustainable economic, social and environmental outcomes from event hosting. This extends the existing literature in this area by empirically demonstrating the potential opportunities that event branding holds for triple bottom line event leverage. The specific research questions developed to guide the resolution of the research problem are: . How are internal stakeholders influenced by external stakeholders during the event branding process? . How do internal stakeholders interact with sport subcultures when developing and promoting a sustainable event brand? . How can internal stakeholders integrate the event brand to facilitate the triple bottom line leverage of sport events? Data were gathered through a qualitative ethnographic-type methodology. This involved the use of participant observation, informal interviews, and semi-structured interviews with internal stakeholders of two international multisport events. Both events were properties of the Olympic Council of Asia and were new events; the 2007 Asian Indoor Games in Macau was in its second edition, while the 2008 Asian Beach Games in Bali was an inaugural event. I gained access to the research sites as an employee of the marketing agency in the Macau event and as an accredited guest of the marketing consultants during the Bali event. Such access enabled me to gain an insider‘s iii perspective and understand how internal stakeholders developed their events‘ respective brands and strategies for leverage. The findings from this study revealed the focus of the Macau and Bali events‘ respective organisers on visiting sports delegates. Organisers of both events were concerned about their events being perceived as quality events by visiting sports delegates, as building relationships with these delegates was seen as a gateway to developing their respective city‘s sport tourism industry. Although this sport tourism focus suggested the organisers were primarily concerned with economic outcomes, the expectations of some of the external stakeholders led to organisers incorporating environmental themes into their respective events‘ brand elements. Additionally, the utility of sport subcultures when developing an event‘s brand was also evident, particularly at the Asian Beach Games, where an ubiquitous beach-sport subculture was found. Overall, the findings from this study have empirically contributed to our understanding of triple bottom line leverage and event branding. The discussion in the thesis‘ final chapter demonstrates the utility of an event‘s brand elements (such as logo and mascot) in realising long-term economic, social, and environmental outcomes through sport event hosting. It has also been found that a strong event brand plays a critical role in attracting event visitors and media and generating communitas within the host community. While these three factors have been justified as key opportunities for leverage at mega-events such as the Olympics (Chalip, 2004; Chalip, 2006), this study focused on two new events, which did not have a strong parent brand (as opposed to an Olympic Games). This context presented a unique opportunity to demonstrate the role an event brand plays in generating opportunities for leverage. Additionally, this study also explores how sport subcultures manifest within a multisport event context. While iv authors have suggested the utility of sport subcultures in realising economic, social and environmental outcomes through sport participation and event hosting (cf. O‘Brien, 2007; O‘Brien & Chalip, 2008; Trendafilova & Chalip, 2007), the focus of such studies has been on single-sport events. This study, however, demonstrates the potential for an event subculture within a multisport event context to unify disparate sport subcultures featured within an event program, and ultimately, to contribute to economic, social, and environmental event outcomes. The findings from this thesis also have implications for practice. With the number of new events increasing exponentially in recent years, the study‘s findings urge event owners to adopt a more strategic approach in event concept development. Such an approach needs to be considered in order to transform new event concepts into successful event brands capable of generating positive outcomes for hosts. Simultaneously, the findings present tangible empirical exemplars for event organisers to more strategically address stakeholder expectations regarding economic, social and environmental outcomes. The role of event branding and specific tactics that can be considered by event organisers to achieve desired triple bottom line outcomes are highlighted. The delimitation of the internal stakeholder perspective adopted for this study is acknowledged. Additionally the Asian context of the research sites has also been acknowledged as a delimitation. Both delimitations have been considered when suggesting directions for future research. v Declaration This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. ______________________ Sushil Karamchandani September 2010 vi Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ ii DECLARATION ....................................................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................................... x ACKNOWLEDGMENT ........................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1

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