Why sponsors should worry about corruption as a mega sport event syndrome

Research question: Today, corruption is considered to be a mega sport event syndrome. This research paper assesses whether and how perceived corruption of event-governing bodies (and at the host country level) reduces a host population’s attitude toward event sponsorship. The paper also assesses whether the perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of event-organizing bodies can weaken the negative effects. The authors build upon associative network theory, attribution theory, and the CSR literature to derive a theoretical framework of how perceived corruption influences attitude toward event sponsorship. Research methods: Three empirical studies and one follow-up study were conducted to test the hypotheses. In total, a convenience sample of 876 Brazilian residents was surveyed, referring to the 2014 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games as the sponsored mega sport events. The authors used regression-based (moderated) mediation analyses to test their hypotheses. Results and findings: Perceived corruption of the event-governing body has a negative impact on the host population’s attitude toward event sponsorship. Attitudes toward both the event-governing body and the event mediate this effect. Perceived CSR activities implemented by the body (here FIFA and the International Olympic Committee respectively) can reduce (or even eliminate) the negative indirect effect of perceived corruption on attitude toward event sponsorship, but only if individuals attribute philanthropic (vs. profit-driven) motives for CSR. Implications: Attitude toward event sponsorship in the host population is negatively affected by perceived corruption (be it on the organizational level of the event-governing body or on the host country level). Stakeholders are thus encouraged to reduce corruption and implement philanthropic CSR to weaken (and possibly eliminate) negative spillover effects on sponsors.