The influence of organizational social responsibility on involvement behavior in community sport membership associations

• Author: Micheal Shier,Katie Misener,Kathy Babiak,Kristen Morrison
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21406
• Published date: 01 June 2020
• Date: 01 June 2020

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The influence of organizational social

responsibility on involvement behavior in

community sport membership associations

Katie Misener

1

| Kristen Morrison

1

| Micheal Shier

2

|

Kathy Babiak

3

1

University of Waterloo, Waterloo,

Ontario, Canada

2

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario,

Canada

3

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,

Michigan

Correspondence

Katie Misener, Department of Recreation

and Leisure Studies, University of

Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W.,

Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.

Email: k.misener@uwaterloo.ca

Abstract

Membership-based associations are critical to their local

communities and the overall social impact of the non-

profit sector. This study examines how organizational

social responsibility within nonprofit membership asso-

ciations influences positive member involvement behav-

iors, including volunteering, speaking positively about

the club, and member loyalty. Self-administered online

questionnaires were completed by 735 members within

seven grassroots membership associations in Ontario,

Canada offering community-based sport programs.

Results show that members are somewhat aware of and

felt positively about their organization's socially respon-

sible efforts. Awareness of these efforts had a positive

direct effect on the involvement behaviors of members,

including intention to stay involved with their club and

speaking positively about their club to others (i.e., word

of mouth). Members' level of social consciousness was

found to have a positive direct effect on word of mouth.

Furthermore, members' positive evaluation of sport

clubs' socially responsible initiatives was found to par-

tially mediate the positive relationship between social

consciousness and involvement behavior, as well as par-

tially mediate the positive relationship between aware-

ness of those efforts and involvement behavior. Results

of this research provide grassroots membership

Received: 7 March 2019 Revised: 24 January 2020 Accepted: 29 January 2020

DOI: 10.1002/nml.21406

Nonprofit Management and Leadership. 2020;30:591–611. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nml © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 591

associations with an in-depth understanding of how

their organization's efforts toward social responsibility

influence member perceptions and behaviors, which

may help them focus their efforts and more effectively

manage their social change agenda moving forward.

KEYWORDS

community, member behavior, membership association, social

responsibility, sport

1|INTRODUCTION

Membership-based nonprofit associations play a central role in strengthening local communi-

ties (Doherty, Misener, & Cuskelly, 2014; Hager, Juaneda-Ayensa, Nogueira, Pstross, & Smith,

2016; Tschirhart & Gazley, 2014). One form of membership association, which is prominent in

communities around the world, is community sport organizations (CSOs). These member-based

organizations operate at a local level and provide pathways for children, youth, and adults to

take part in a range of sport participation opportunities (Sharpe, 2006). CSOs provide an impor-

tant structure that enables individuals and families to engage in organized, volunteer-run sport

(Doherty et al., 2014). Given that sport and recreation represents one of the largest subsectors of

nonprofit and voluntary organizations in many Western countries (Hall et al., 2005), this is a

vital context for nonprofit studies.

In addition to providing sport services, which represent the primary mandate for CSOs, these

membership associations are also taking on other activities and initiatives that extend their role

in local communities and contribution to society (Robertson, Eime, & Westerbeek, 2018). Many

of these initiatives can be conceptualized within a broader framing of “social responsibility,”

which refers to ethical practices and a more generalized concern for the community beyond an

organization's narrow mandate and which is not required by law (Babiak & Wolfe, 2013; Carroll,

1979; Persson, 2008). While corporate social responsibility (CSR) among commercial sector orga-

nizations has become an important focus within management research in the past few decades

(e.g., Weyzig, 2009), studies investigating the practice of social responsibility (SR) within non-

profit organizations are much less prevalent (Andreini, Pedeliento, & Signori, 2014; Morris, 2013;

Persson, 2008; Zeimers, Anagnostopoulos, Zintz, & Willem, 2019). This may be partly because

nonprofit organizations are inherently viewed as being socially responsible by virtue of providing

a“social good”or service to society. However, SR embodies a broader philosophy of impact by

and through an organization's discretionary activities (Carroll, 1979, 1999) and requires organiza-

tions across all sectors to ensure that the totality of their actions are socially responsible and not

just their primary program/area of interest (Vidal, Torres, Guix, & Rodríguez, 2005). Indeed, non-

profit organizations can be active agents of SR rather than merely recipients of corporate goodwill

(Lee & Babiak, 2017; Pope, Bromley, Lim, & Meyer, 2018).

CSOs depend on the involvement of their members (participants and volunteers) for organi-

zational sustainability given that they primarily rely on member-paid fees for revenue and rely

almost exclusively on volunteers for their administrative and operational functions (Doherty

et al., 2014). Given the growing competition and commercialization within the member-based

community sport context (Wicker & Breuer, 2011), engaging in new organizational practices

592 MISENER ET AL.