Examining environmental fan engagement initiatives through values and norms with intercollegiate sport fans

The United Nations has asserted that sport organizations and/or allied sponsors can influence fans to engage in more sustainable behaviours intentions at sporting events and at home; however, more investigation is necessary to assess this assumption. The purpose of this study was to examine values and norms related to the natural environment and perceptions of fan engagement sustainability initiatives that influence sustainable at-home behaviours. Season ticket holders (N = 267) of a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's collegiate basketball programme completed a preseason survey assessing values, norms, and perception of environmental efforts; at the conclusion of the season, recall and influence of three environmental initiatives (recycling, water conservation, and composting) featured at each game over the season were assessed. Results indicate that sport-event norms were a significant predictor of lower perception of recycling inconvenience, higher perception of recycling benefits, and positive influence of athletic department sustainability efforts while values and personal norms were non-significant predictors. Values and personal norms were not significantly related to sponsored initiative awareness, sponsor recall, and perceptions of influence related to at-home behaviour change. Sport-event norms significantly predicted influence towards at-home composting. Future research should longitudinally examine the influence of environmentally sustainability focused fan engagement initiatives on sustainable behavioural change at events and at-home.