The role of identity on receptivity to environmental messaging and its impact on fandom

Negative fan responses to social messages reinforce sport practitioners’ reluctance to implement and engage external stakeholders in environmental messaging out of fear of backlash. Drawing from the Sport Sustainability Campaign Evaluation Model (SSCEM) and its extended version (eSSCEM), we aim to empirically understand how consumers react to environmental messages. Specifically, the objectives of this paper are threefold: (1) Incorporate aspects of the SSCEM (internal constraints) and pre-existing perceptions of the importance of acting sustainably excluded from prior research into the extension; (2) Include two new KPIs specific to the sport organization (a stronger connection to the sport organization or supporting the sport organization less); and (3) Test the moderating effects of environmentalism identification on the model to determine whether environmentalism impacted the relationships within the model suggesting potential market segments. We use data from a sample of 429 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision team ticket purchasers to show that fans’ receptivity to environmental sustainability messages impacts their connection with the organization and future support. The perceived fit between environmental sustainability and the organization strongly influences receptivity. Environmentalism identification moderates these relationships to some extent, indicating differing fan responses to sustainability efforts. The study’s results underscore the importance of sport organizations’ effective communication of sustainability efforts to elicit positive fan responses and strengthen connections to the team.