A systematic review of sports sponsorship for public health and social marketing
ISSN: 2042-6763
Article publication date: 9 October 2017
Issue publication date: 2 January 2018
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a systematic review of evaluations of public health and social marketing campaigns reporting the use of sports sponsorship. Sports sponsorship is a key health promotion strategy, yet academic literature on the use of sponsorship in social marketing and public health is surprisingly limited.
Design/methodology/approach
Seventeen studies were identified following systematic literature review procedures.
Findings
Coupling of social marketing and public health sponsorship with changes in policies in sporting clubs and associations offers an effective means to achieve desired outcomes, e.g. behaviour change.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis presented in this review included information that was reported in the identified studies, which might be an incomplete representation of work undertaken but not reported. All of the studies identified in this review were conducted in English-speaking countries. Considerable opportunity for future research is apparent, and areas for future research are outlined.
Practical implications
Limited evidence was available, and additional research examining the effectiveness of sponsorship in attaining behavioural change is urgently needed. Future studies should assess the role, scope of involvement in, aims and benefits of non-government sponsors of public health and social marketing campaigns; use methods that do not rely on self-reporting, such as observations; and explore the influence of health sponsorship on attitudes, social norms and behaviours.
Originality/value
This is the first study to provide a systematic review of the use of sports sponsorship in public health and social marketing.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The early search work that focused on social marketing and on which this article was based was funded by Population & Social Health Research Program, Menzies Health Institute Queensland. This base served as an important platform for the current study. The evidence synthesis on which this article was based was funded by Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth). The funders played no role in study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, or in the decision to submit the paper for publication. They accept no responsibility for contents.
Citation
Kubacki, K., Hurley, E. and Rundle-Thiele, S.R. (2018), "A systematic review of sports sponsorship for public health and social marketing", Journal of Social Marketing, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 24-39. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSOCM-01-2017-0001
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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