The relationship between ESG management of professional baseball clubs and visitor emotions, corporate reputation, and repurchase intention: Focusing on the Doosan Bears baseball team

[Purpose] The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of a professional baseball club's ESG management activities on visitor emotions, corporate reputation, and repurchase intention. [Method] A total of 361 responses to the questionnaire were received, but 345 of these, excluding 16 with missing answers, were analyzed as research statistical data. SPSS 27.0 and Amos 27.0 were used for data processing, and the research results are as follows. [Results] First, the environment and governance structure of professional baseball clubs' ESG management activities were found to have a significant impact on spectator emotions. On the other hand, social factors did not appear to be significant in visitor emotions. Second, environmental and social factors among professional baseball club ESG management activities were found to have a significant impact on corporate reputation, but governance factors were found to be insignificant. Third, visitor emotions toward professional baseball clubs were found to have a significant impact on repurchase intention. Fourth, the corporate reputation of a professional baseball team was found to have a significant effect on repurchase intention. [Conclusion] This study empirically analyzed the impact of a professional baseball team's ESG management on visitor emotions, corporate reputation, and repurchase intention. As a result of the study, environmental and governance elements of ESG management had a significant impact on visitor emotions, which also had a positive effect on repurchase intention. In particular, visitor sentiment and corporate reputation played a key role in strengthening fan loyalty and club sustainability. On the other hand, the influence of social factors was minimal, raising the need for a communication strategy that could form a consensus with fans.