Sponsorship-based health care programs and their impact on employees’ motivation for physical activity

Figures & data

Table 1. Viewpoints from 10 interviewed employees.

Question/employee number	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Physical activity level?	2–3 times a week.	Use bicycle to work every day.	2–3 times a week,	Little.	3–4 times a week.	2–5 times a week.	About 3 times a week	Quite a lot, both outdoor and in studio.	About twice a week. Walk to/from the bus.	About three times weekly.
Reason to do physical activities?	Self-esteem. Clear head. New energy	Stay healthy. Weight control. Clear thoughts.	Get stronger physically and mentally	Feel better in my body. Energy boost.	Easier to handle pressure when in good shape	Increase sense of well-being. Weight control.	Get more energy. Fun. Weight control.	Better mood. Increased energy level. Self-esteem.	Get more energy It is fun	Extra energy. Stay in good shape.
How do you use the akeraktiv.no portal?	Register about twice a week. Follow the rankings relative to colleagues.	Register almost daily. Read news, training tips and nutrition information.	Register activities. Check status of colleagues. Read articles, blogs and diets.	Used to register this fall.	Twice a week. Looking at others. News. Reading training tips.	Register about twice weekly – use as training diary. Follow activities of colleagues.	Had a look just two times.	Have been to a course in nutrition ran by Aker. Never used the portal.	Register at least once a week. Read about nutrition, news, comments and stories.	Use the portal every week to read about tips. Comparing myself with others.
Have you exercised more after the portal was launched?	No.	No, same.	Yes. It is motivating.	No, same.	Yes. The portal motivates me.	No.	About the same.	I exercise independent of the portal.	No, may be less.	Yes, it keeps my motivation level high.
Are the AkerActive incentives appealing?	Not interested in meeting athletes. Prefer family activities.	It’s fun to win things, but it could be only an orange.	Yes, the rewards are important and the fun part. They should have a certain value.	This is at a different level than where I am. Not motivating.	Yes	Yes, they motivate me.	Not those promoted till now. Need more variation.	Yes. I have heard that the trips are great fun.	I am positive. But the rewards and incentives must be obtainable.	Yes, nice. But they are not the drivers for me.
What do you think about the sponsorship?	Very visible. It is impossible not to see the Aker logo on the athletes and the arenas.	Good exposure. The sense of pride will increase and may motivate employees to exercise.	I am proud when I see the logo on our cross-country skiing heroes. It communicates a sense of togetherness.	I have no particular thoughts.	The co-operation with the national team has contributed positively both internally and externally.	A smart investment and good program for employees.	Very good and fun.	Very positive. It contributes to engagement and involvement.	The sponsorship has made me proud.	Cross-country skiing is a national sport. Therefore, I think the sponsorship is great.
Do you think AkerActive will have an impact on the sick leave?	Yes, absolutely. The sick leave rate may go down.	Yes, I think it can have an impact.	Yes, at least it has a positive influence on me.	I am not sure. Not really.	May be in the long run if more employees will train more.	For some. Others find the whole sponsorship meaningless.	I don’t know.	I am sure it has a positive impact.	Maybe positive because the focus is on health.	Yes, definitely. Many need a motivator. AkerActive is that.

Figure 1. The testable model.

Table 2. Factor analysis and solution.

Independent (F1-F2) and dependent variables (F3)	Factor 1	Factor 2	Factor 3	Constructs
				Cronbach’s alpha	Mean	Std. dev.
	User-friendliness of the AA portal	Attitude toward the AA health care program	AA based (sponsorship-based) motivation to do physical exercises
The Aker Active portal is well organized with good overviews	.92
The educational training of how to use the portal has been good	.76			.63	4.50	1.09
There is plenty of useful information on the Aker Active portal, which I can use	.66
It is easy to register my fitness time on the Aker Active portal	.65
I am positive toward the Aker Active program		.55
The others at work are positive toward the Aker Active activation program		.42		.65	5.11	1.04
The Aker Active activation program rewards are best when they are varied		.84
Items of the dependent variable
I have become more motivated to do physical exercises after the start-up of Aker Active			.65
The use of well-known cross-country skiers makes me more motivated to take part in physical activities			.90
I feel proud of the partnership between Aker and the National cross-country team			.63	.69	4.10	1.4
The rewards we could win appealed to me			.85
It is motivational to get rewards for my physical exercise efforts			.71

N = 544.

Extraction method: Principal component analysis.

Rotation method: Promax with Kaiser Normalization – rotation converged in 5 iterations.

Cronbach’s alpha = .75

Figure 2. The tested model.

Table 3. Regression solution.

Independent variables	N	Mean	Std. dev.	Beta weight	Sig. level
User-friendliness of the AkerActive portal	544	4.53	1.09	.25	.00
Attitude toward AkerActive health care program	544	5.11	1.05	.29	.00
Dependent variable
AkerActive-based (sponsorship-based) motivation to do physical exercises	544	4.10	1.40
Control variables
Number of times using the portal per week	544			.27	.00
Number of times doing physical exercise per week	544			-.08	.04
Education (number of years)	544			.00	.99
Income (household)	544			.00	.97
Sex	544			.04	.34
Regression model* (including independent and control variables)
R^2 = .38
F = 41.31
p = .00

*One regression model, enter method, constant is insignificant (p = .56).

Figure 3. The Internal CSR and Sponsorship-linked Health Care Strategy Model.