Developing a Conceptual Model of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Chinese Super League Clubs

ABSTRACT

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is seen as one of the key areas of sustainability for sport organizations. Although the rapid development of professional sport is evidenced, the evaluation and classification of CSR is still an under-researched area, especially in the eastern context. This study proposes a conceptual CSR model of the Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs, including five dimensions: economic, youth, community, environmental, and cultural responsibility. The establishment of the conceptual model is based on sound theoretical foundations, such as sustainable development, positive youth development, a sense of community, and globalization theories. Each dimension’s validity is assessed while considering the uniqueness of Chinese Super League. This study provides theoretical evidence to support the multidimensional nature of CSR, which adds value to CSR research in the Chinese professional sport context. At a strategic level, it enlightens club managers and the Chinese Football Association to develop better CSR strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• Corporate social responsibility
• consumers’ CSR perception
• Chinese super league clubs
• conceptual model

Introduction

Companies have increasingly considered their impact on society, leading to a growing focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR) among practitioners and academics (Havlinova & Kukacka, 2023). Corporations are recommended to continue their CSR commitments and carry out CSR programmes for economic development and improving the community members’ quality of life on a large scale (Mahmud et al., 2020). Meanwhile, CSR programmes have become increasingly popular in the professional sport context as well, with the unique abilities of sport organizations to contribute to the wider society beyond sport performance development (Babiak & Kihl, 2018). The United Nations (UN) stated that sport acts as an essential enabler of sustainable development and is recognized as making a rising contribution to the realization of development and peace, with the promotion of goals related to health, education, and social inclusions such as the empowerment of individuals, communities, young people and women (United Nations [UN], 2015). Although CSR is seen as one of the key areas of sustainability for sport businesses and has been increasingly researched in a wide range of academic literature, there is still no consensus regarding its conceptual framework.

CSR was first introduced to China in the late 1990s, in response to the country’s economic reform and opening-up in 1978 (Sullivan et al., 2019). Given the high economic, social, and cultural relevance, football is considered the most predominant sport, which outnumbers other sport in terms of the followers, viewers, and media coverage, ensuring a high degree of visibility and popularity (Pifer et al., 2018). Following the huge changes of the Chinese society, the Chinese Super League (CSL) has been established during the process and received attention from industries and academics (Zhang, 2020). CSR activities have developed into a prevailing corporate practice in the mid-2000s, with an increased awareness of CSR in professional sport (Li & Belal, 2018). Professional football is developing rapidly with strong political and social support, with President Xi Jinping stating that the country would support China to become a football superpower by 2050, which forms part of the Chinese Dream (Sullivan et al., 2019). However, negative incidents in the CSL have disrupted the development of the football industry, such as match-fixing, black whistle scandals, mass brawls and football hooliganism, bribery of players and officials, and illegal gambling, which have challenged the legitimacy of the Chinese Football Association and again slowed the progress of the football industry (Connell, 2018).

Given the role of football in the current Chinese context, the significance of football CSR has been rather underestimated in research. In the professional sport context, most of the past literature has been limited to the US and European markets (e.g., Mamo, et al., 2023). It is important to note that China has a completely different cultural, political and economic conditions from the west (Liu & Schwarz, 2020). Although the application of CSR in sport is still in its initial stage, consumers’ support toward CSR has improved considerably due to the huge economic growth, urbanization and changing of the lifestyle (Ramasamy & Yeung, 2009). There is a big difference in the CSR practice between sport and other generic industries, and there is limited research conducted to understand consumers’ perceptions of CSR implemented by CSL clubs. Therefore, this study aims to develop a comprehensive conceptual model encapsulating various domains of CSR perceived by Chinese consumers.

CSR in sport

Definitions of CSR

Bowen (1953, p. 6) first defined social responsibility as “the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, make those decisions, or follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society.” The definition of CSR expanded in the 1960s (e.g., Davis, 1960) and proliferated in the 1970s (e.g., Carroll, 1979). On the one hand, CSR activities are considered voluntary because CSR is a concept that companies integrate social and environmental practices in their operations and interactions with stakeholders on a voluntary basis (Van Marrewijk & Werre, 2003). On the other hand, CSR activities are mandatory, as the compulsory CSR disclosure could generate positive externalities for a company (Chen et al., 2018). There is even one particular perspective that CSR can be regarded as “a subversive doctrine” because the primary purpose of social responsibility for business is profit increase (Friedman, 1962, p. 133). It is worth noting that there has been no universally accepted definition, and it is difficult to specify a particular meaning of CSR (Mitnick et al., 2021). This field has grown significantly and developed a great many proliferations of theories, terminologies, and approaches.

In the sport industry, it has long been advocated for CSR and researchers have started feeling compelled to investigate this industry-specific application. Babiak and Wolfe (2009) defined social responsibility as “an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it organisation or individual, has an obligation to act in a manner that contributes to and benefits society at large” (p. 17). Similarly, Anagnostopoulos and Shilbury (2013, p. 268) summarized the term as “an organization’s duty to maximize the long-term impact on the society, while simultaneously minimizing its negative effect.” Before the 1990s, CSR concepts had rarely been applied or studied within the sport contexts. However, CSR research in sport has gained momentum with the increasing professionalization of sport, highlighting sport organizations to develop capabilities beyond sport provision and skill development (Rowe et al., 2019). CSR is a phenomenon that occurs at all levels of sport but is most visible within professional sport leagues as the power of star athletes and high-level sport teams build particularly close connections with the public (Walker & Kent, 2009). In summary, CSR is a complex concept involving various aspects concerning the interests of different stakeholders in both generic and sports industries.

CSR dimensions in professional sport

There have been various CSR perception dimensions, developed for the professional sport (see Table 1). One of the first and widely supported multidimensional approach of CSR was Carroll’s (1979) four-dimensional model, which include economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibility. Another popular approach is the sustainable development (SD) theory, which can be modeled by three aspects: social, economic, and environmental development (World Commission on Environment and Development [WCED], 1987). Besides, the stakeholder theory has often been applied to study CSR, which believe that companies should be responsible to different stakeholders such as consumers, employees, investors, shareholders, and suppliers (Freeman, 1984). Due to the different characteristics between sport and generic industries, scholars have tended developed new dimensions specific for their own context (e.g., Mamo et al., 2023; Walker & Kent, 2009), while some follow the classic Carroll model (e.g., Sheth & Babiak, 2010), or stakeholder theory (e.g., Babiak & Kihl, 2018). Based on CSR definitions and dimensions developed in professional sport, in this study, CSR refers to a company’s commitment and practices for maximizing the long-term economic, social, environmental and cultural considerations of the society. Consequently, CSL clubs’ CSR is defined as CSL clubs’ balanced practice of economic, youth, community, environmental and cultural responsibilities for the long-term sustainable development of Chinese football, which meets the needs of both present and future generations of China.

Table 1. Dimensions of CSR perception in sport literature.

Author	Theoretical base/Dimension	Sport	Population
Walker and Kent (2009)	Philanthropy; community involvement; youth educational initiatives; and youth health initiatives	NFL	Fans
Sheth and Babiak (2010)	Carroll theory: economic; legal responsibility; ethical responsibility; and philanthropic responsibilities	NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB	Team owner and community- relation director, and team president
Walker and Parent (2010)	Community involvement, community development, fair business practice, conduct codes, worker safety, cultural diversity, the environment, philanthropy, youth education, youth health, volunteerism	General sport	US sport entities
Walker et al. (2010)	Monetary charitable event; non-monetary charitable event; volunteerism/community outreach; event to honor “meritable” work; community appreciation; and social awareness promotion	NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL	E-newsletters
Walker and Heere (2011)	CARES scale: cognitive awareness	NHL and NASCAR	Spectators
Breitbarth et al. (2011)	Economic; political; integrative; ethical; and emotional responsibility	European football	NA
Hamil and Morrow (2011)	Education-related activities; charitable activities; youth development-/gender-related activities; environmental initiatives; health initiatives; supporter-related initiatives; economic/regeneration issues; and social inclusion/exclusion	Scottish Premier League	Annual report and clubs’ websites
Roşca (2011)	Educational; sport; social inclusion; cultural integration; family; health; and charity programmes	English football	20 Premier League clubs’ official websites
Lacey et al. (2015)	Overall CSR perception	NBA	Customers
Kolyperas et al. (2015)	Youth development/community coaching initiatives; education/learning initiatives; charity/fundraising activities; social inclusion initiative (gender and disabled); fan-led initiatives; and health-related initiatives	Scottish Premier League	Interview, clubs’ websites, and clubs’ annual CSR reports
Kulczycki and Koenigstorfer (2016)	Overall CSR perceptions	German professional football	Residents in Munich
Lacey and Kennett-Hensel (2016)	Overall CSR perception	NBA	Fans
Chang et al. (2016)	Overall CSR perception	Professional baseball and football in South Korea	Fans
Anagnostopoulos et al. (2017)	Sport participation; education; health; social inclusion; parent club; commercial; and other	Community sport foundations of English football	Twitter
Montazeri et al. (2017)	Economic; philanthropic; ethical; legal; and environmental issues	Iran’s Football Premier League.	Fans
Inoue et al. (2017)	Overall CSR perceptions	Australian professional football	Customers
Rowe et al. (2019)	Economic, legal; ethical, discretionary; environment; diversity; governance; labor relations; philanthropy; community relations	Australian Football League (AFL), National Football League (NFL), English Premier League (EPL)	No certain population (organizational websites)
Liu et al. (2019)	Public health; charity; CSR to customer and employee; community development and youth education; economic and financial responsibility; and environmental responsibility	Chinese professional football	Fans
Morrison et al. (2020)	Overall CSR perception based on CARES scale: cognitive awareness	Major Junior Hockey (Canada)	Spectators
Yiu et al. (2020)	Stakeholder theory: audience; general public; state sport authorities; the UFC’s owner; the UFC’s fighters; other sport companies; federal authorities	Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)	NA (Case study)
Liu and Schwarz (2020)	Responsibilities to spectators; youth educational initiatives; responsibility to employees; financial responsibility; health initiatives; environmental initiatives; and philanthropic activities	Chinese professional football	Fans
Yu (2021)	Overall CSR perception	Professional baseball games (Taiwan)	On-site spectators
Mamo, et al. (2021)	Philanthropy; community relations; environmental management; labor relations; diversity and equity; and sport governance	NBA	Sport fans (US)
Mamo, et al. (2023)	Philanthropy; community relations; environmental management; labor relations; diversity and equity; and corporate governance	NBA	Fans (USA, UK and India)
Kim and Manoli (2022)	Overall CSR perception	Baseball (Samsung Lions baseball club in South Korea)	Fans

The conceptual framework of CSR

In order to identify the CSR conceptual model, this section elaborates on the theories which support the proposed CSR model in this study, including sustainable development (SD), positive youth development, sense of community, and globalization and glocalization theories.

Sustainable development (SD) theory

One of the earlier approaches that encompass the spectrum of CSR activities is the “three concentric circles” (Committee for Economic Development, 1971), which has been developed into the SD theory as one of the most critical focuses of governments, business organizations, and civil society in the 21st century (Halkos & Argyropoulou, 2022). According to the SD paradigm, CSR refers to the “responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society” (European Commission, 2014, p. 3). The concept SD has become familiar and widespread in the public since the introduction of its definition in the report entitled “Our Common Future” (also known as “Brundtland Report;” WCED, 1987). SD was initially defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987, p. 41). The concept of SD is often regarded as an integrated concept of three dimensions: economic, social and environmental (Global Reporting Initiative [GRI], 2013). Since the Brundtland report, the term SD has been transitioned from being an interesting but sometimes ideal notion, to being a concept that receives widespread endorsement by international institutions, businesses, governments, and civil society (Drexhage & Murphy, 2010). SD is a conceptual shift in thinking about development beyond economic growth only, envisioning a desirable future that is equitable, inclusive, peaceful, and environmentally sustainable. The SD paradigm converts the traditional “baseline” of economic profitability into the “triple bottom line” (Garriga & Melé, 2004). Moreover, SD is a hyper-norm that not only offers universal principles but also demands attention at an organizational level, which is more tangible and accessible to consumers (Alvarado-Herrera et al., 2017). Based on SD theory, economic and environmental dimension were identified in the CSR model.

Positive youth development theory

Larson (2000) proposed the positive youth development theory, suggesting that structured voluntary activities (e.g., sport, art, and other organization participation, etc.) associates with positive youth development. Brennan et al. (2009) stated that youth development is the key to long-term social and economic stability. Youth involvement has a close connection with social responsibility in history, since youth not only has significant meanings to the present but also provides hope for the future (Youniss & Yates, 1997). Similarly, Benson et al. (2006) stated that positive youth development is related to various programmes, agencies, policy initiatives, federal grant programmes, foundations, and youth-serving professionals. According to the positive youth development theory (Larson, 2000), youth activities can trigger adolescents’ intrinsic motivation and concentration and help them acquire an operation language of the agency, leading to positive outcomes (e.g., higher achievement, diminished delinquency, and increased self-control and self-efficacy). Bloyce and Smith (2009) saw sport as a tool to help promote youth sport development, including physical education, school sport and community club sport. It is affirmed that sport programmes, when appropriately implemented, can yield positive benefits to prevent the prosocial behavior of disaffected young people (Sandford et al., 2006), and sport can act as a primary vehicle for youth rehabilitation (Andrews & Andrews, 2003). Therefore, youth responsibility is considered an essential dimension of the CSR model.

Sense of community theory

Sarason (1974) first introduced the concept of the sense of community as a new community psychology, which emphasizes the sense of belonging and responsibility among community members. The sense of community was defined as “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together” (McMillan & Chavis, 1986, p. 9). Similarly, Nowell and Boyd (2014) defined sense of community as “a feeling of personal responsibility for the individual and collective well-being of a community of people not directly rooted in an expectation of personal gain, is theorised to operate on a different logic, and suggests a different pattern of relationships to well-being and engagement” (Nowell & Boyd, 2014, p. 231). Studies demonstrate that the sense of community does exist and functions as a force in human life, which is valued in society (Farahani, 2016). Therefore, based upon the sense of community theory proposed by McMillan and Chavis (1986), this study identifies community responsibility as another important dimension of the CSR model.

Theory of globalisation and glocalisation

The globalization theory was first introduced by Robertson (1992), which defined globalization as a concept “refers both to the compression of the world and intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole” (p. 8). Giulianotti and Robertson (2009) proposed the interrelationship of globalization process and football in terms of four domain: culture, economics, politics and social. Football’s globalization must be interpreted in the context of the intricated local and the glocal circumstances. Therefore, the concept of “glocalisation” is particularly useful in revealing how globalization is marked by trends toward commonality or uniformity, as well as divergence and differentiation, which register the trend toward cultural convergence and disparity (Giulianotti & Robertson, 2009). It is increasingly important to deeply understand the process of the football globalization, as it is a game for the whole world far from a marginal and academic pursuit. For example, the World Cup Final, which is the world’s biggest football event, is a representative of worldwide connectivity and global consciousness. Thus, as one of the world’s most powerful communication tools, football should be considered pivotal in a cultural sense within different societies (United Nations [UN], 2003). Therefore, drawing upon the theory of globalization and glocalization, cultural responsibility is proposed as another dimension of CSR.

Proposed conceptual model of CSR

Both academia and industry call for a further study of consumers’ CSR perception in the Chinese professional football context. The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual model of CSR perception about the CSL clubs. Firstly, economic and environmental responsibilities are underpinned by the SD paradigm (WCED, 1987). Youth and community responsibility are proposed grounded on Larson’s (2000) positive youth development theory and McMillan and Chavis (1986) sense of community theory. Cultural responsibility is considered as another component of CSR, with a belief that it has an essential function of reflecting unique cultures of Chinese professional football.

To develop the CSR perception model, the validity of each dimension in the other industries and its suitability to the CSL are both considered. Therefore, based on the review of a plethora of generic and sport-context studies, combined with the specific context of CSL, the proposed CSR perception model contains five dimensions: economic, youth, community, environmental, and cultural responsibilities. The model is presented in Figure 1. In this section, the definition for each dimension is elaborated and justified under the professional sport contexts. To develop the CSR perception model, the validity of each dimension in generic industry and its suitability to the CSL are taken into consideration.

Figure 1. Conceptual model of CSR perception.

Economic responsibility

In the past, researchers tended to consider the economic responsibility mainly based on a firm’s financial performance only. For example, Friedman (1962) argued that companies’ primary goal is to be profitable for their stockholders. The economic domain captures the company’s activities intended to maximize profit or lead to real economic consequences (Schwartz & Carroll, 2003). However, according to the SD paradigm, there is an obvious shift toward business sustainability. Economic responsibility refers not only to the company’s financial performance or profit increase but also to the broader influence of the business activities on the whole economy (WCED, 1987). The economic line connects the company’s economy growth, as well as focusing on the organization’s economic value to the surrounding system in a way that benefits the society and encourages its ability to support future generations (Alhaddi, 2015). Based on the SD theory, this study considers economic responsibility as a basic dimension in the CSR model. Economic responsibility refers to the CSL club’s business practice of producing football merchandise and services at a fair price to increase the club’s revenue and promote local economy, so as to achieve long-term sustained development and benefit future generations.

In the sport context, although matches and accompanying emotions are the main products a football club offers, it is essential that in the commercialized world, a club is also an enterprise that should guarantee profitability for its development. In general, sport organizations can grow better with the support of the sport entrepreneurship (Ratten, 2011). A professional football club has the attribute of enterprise with sport entrepreneurship, which could be compared to medium-sized enterprises with similar characteristics in terms of entity size, turnover or mentality (Moore et al., 2012). Despite similar aspects that football clubs share with the conventional enterprises, the unique characteristics of football can result in complications. For example, the pressure of success on the pitch forces clubs to prioritize short-term results rather than long-term revenue generation (Moore et al., 2012). Besides, incomes from match ticket sales do not always guarantee stable proceeds for the football clubs. Thus, other business activities from various sources appear to support an extra share of revenues, such as TV broadcasting, sport sponsorship, licensed merchandise sales, concession, stadium operations, player transfer, and prize money (Archer & Prange, 2019).

The China’s football industry has seen rapid professionalization and commercialization, with corporations constantly seeking opportunities for new revenue streams and sustainable businesses (Sullivan et al., 2019). Major conglomerates (e.g., Wanda Corporation, Evergrande and Fosun) have actively pursued profitable investments in football, domestically and internationally (Chadwick, 2017). However, the commercial operation of CSL is still in its infancy stage and the financial situation of the CSL is extremely unstable. Currently, with financial issues hitting most CSL clubs, Chinese professional football’s economic situation is atrocious. Some CSL clubs have lost major sponsoring companies (e.g., Wanda and Suning), resulting in the clubs struggling to pay staff and players, even with some months of salary owed (Eckner, 2021). The football dream has turned into a “debt-addled nightmare” (Feng, 2021), indicating the significance of economic responsibility in the current Chinese professional football context.

Youth responsibility

Based on Larson’s (2000) positive youth development theory, youth responsibility is proposed as another dimension of CSR. Youth-related responsibility is one of the most frequently studied responsibilities in the sport literature (e.g., Coalter et al., 2020; Walker et al., 2017). According to Walker and Parent (2010), youth education responsibility refers to programmes aimed at educating children (e.g., reading, teaching, mentoring, etc.), and youth health responsibility indicates programmes directed at child health and disease (e.g., obesity, drug prevention, health living, etc.). From the public perspective, professional organizations are expected to serve as support networks or social anchors, through social activities such as involvement in mentoring youth (Alonso & O’Shea, 2012). Youth related initiatives is one of the key CSR practices implemented by the western countries. For example, many sport leagues (e.g., NBA, NFL, MLB, etc.) in the US have corresponding CSR initiatives toward youth (e.g., Walker & Parent, 2010), and Premier League clubs are also highly involved in educating young generation (e.g., Roşca, 2011). Those CSR initiatives are consistent with the Larson (2000)’s positive youth development theory, which show that football clubs tend to utilize youth CSR activities for youths’ better development. In this study, youth responsibility refers to the CSL clubs’ CSR strategies and practices that benefit the young generations’ education and health, contributing to the future long-term development of Chinese youth. To be specific, youth responsibility comprises promoting youth school football, encouraging young generations to participate in other sport, and improving youth education through sport.

In China, the 2015 Chinese national football reform emphasized youth’s football skill development, with the aim to improve Chinese football at both elite and grassroots levels, depicting a clear vision of making China a football power by 2050 (Chinese State Council, 2015). This reform agenda is considered the most radical in Chinese football, which marks an unprecedented emphasis on youth football development (Peng et al., 2022). Conforming to the China’s policy reform, youth responsibility has become a center focus of CSL clubs, with many relevant CSR activities being carried out. For example, in 2019, Shanghai Port FC officially signed a contract with the Bureau of Cultural, Sport, Radio, Television and Tourism, reaching an agreement on establishing a youth training base, which has officially become part of the youth training system for Shanghai Port FC (Shanghai Port, 2019). Such youth-related social activities that CSL clubs have carried out are not only in accordant with the Chinese government’s football policy but also in line with the psychology of positive youth development. Therefore, youth responsibility is identified as an essential dimension in the CSR model.

Community responsibility

Based on the sense of community theory (McMillan & Chavis, 1986), community responsibility is proposed as one of the essential domains in the CSR model. The sense of community is reflected in neighborhood attachment which consists of social bonding and behavioral rootedness (Riger & Lavrakas, 1981). In sport, clubs engage in community CSR activities based on the psychological sense of community. Walker and Parent (2010, p. 203) defined community involvement as “local community investments in areas needing improvement/betterment not classified as developmental, health or educational, or philanthropic” and community development as “community construction projects to benefit the local area (e.g., parks, playgrounds, athletic fields, etc.).” A positive relationship exists between a sense of community and the ability to function in the community competently (Walker & Parent, 2010). As sport teams have close relations with their local communities, people in the community would be more involved in CSR programmes implemented by the teams, where CSR efforts can, in turn, highlight the sport teams’ profiles and show their dedication to and involvement in the local communities, consequently building up a loyal fan base and receiving stronger local support to operate (Babiak & Kihl, 2018). In this study, community responsibility refers to CSL clubs’ CSR practices that focus on their community, which can increase sport participation, improve fitness, and enrich the lives of the community residents. The objectives of community responsibility are the long-term development of the local area and the establishment of a harmonious society that allows community members to live happily and healthily. The forms of community CSR can be tangible establishments and institutions (e.g., sport facilities, playgrounds, parks, athletic fields, etc.) or intangible products and services (e.g., educational projects, health support, sport instruction, etc.).

China has attached great importance to the community, which has been demonstrated by the central government and regional policies. The “Sport for All Program” aims to improve the whole nation’s physical fitness by implementing the national strategy of “sport for all” (Chinese State Council, 2016). The “sport for all” strategy requires the improvement of the public service system, construction of sport facilities, promotion of sport activities, and intelligent sport for all development (Chinese State Council, 2019). Alongside the governments’ interests, CSL clubs have implemented a wide range of community activities. For example, Guangzhou FC has successfully held the Guangzhou Football Association Seven Player Football Match for many years, for promoting football and increasing sport participation in the community. CSL clubs’ community responsibility involves local investment, as well as the sense of belonging and identification, which are essential elements in the sense of community theory.

Environmental responsibility

Environmental responsibility refers to activities that do not compromise natural resources (Elkington, 1997). It is concerned with the efficient use of energy resources, the effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and ecological footprint (Goel, 2010). SD requires organizations not to endanger the natural systems (e.g., the atmosphere, seas, soils, and living creatures) and to save species and protect ecosystems (WCED, 1987). Sustainable development requires the conservation of plant and animal species, since the loss of plant and animal species can drastically limit the alternatives available to future generations (WCED, 1987). In this study, environmental responsibility refers to a CSL club’s environmental practice and strategies to reduce pollutions, protect resources, improve the environment, and achieve long-term sustainable environmental benefits.

Environmental activities have an impact on the business sustainability of organizations, and are inextricably linked to the operations and socioeconomic consequences of professional sport (Babiak & Trendafilova, 2011). Certain types of environmental degradation (e.g., air pollution) can cause health risks and costs to individual consumers, affecting their willingness to attend matches and disrupting the market order as well as sport organizations’ ability to accumulate resources (King & Pearce, 2010). Consumers’ interest in response to contaminated environments can play a significant role in influencing sport organizations’ decision-making process and environmental performance (Watanabe et al., 2019). A lineage of studies was conducted to look into the environmental impact of sporting events in terms of energy consumption, waste generation, natural resource depletion, and various forms of pollutant production (e.g., Wicker, 2019). Such studies not only highlighted the negative environmental consequences of sports participation and consumption, but also revealed that, in some cases, sports activities might be part of a vicious cycle that exacerbates already fragile ecosystems. In the CSL context, many clubs execute environmental activities. For instance, in 2019, Shanghai Shenhua FC launched initiatives regarding garbage classification and environmental protection, and a video for protecting marine space was posted on official Weibo (Shanghai Shenhua, 2019). Another example is Tianjin Teda FC, whose staff and players visited the environmental protection education center to learn about garbage classification, garbage incineration and its electricity generation technology, and other related environmental strategies. To summarize, considering the existing issues and initiatives executed, CSL clubs should take environmental responsibility for future sustained development. Thus, environmental responsibility is regarded as one essential dimension of CSR perception.

Cultural responsibility

Culture is considered as a significant dimension that fosters the SD paradigm shift toward a more inclusive, diverse, people-centered, and context-relevant approach. The UN 2030 Agenda framework highlighted two cultural aspects: tangible or intangible cultural heritage and cultural creativity resources (UN, 2015). More specifically, tangible heritage contains cultural infrastructure, goods and heritage; intangible heritage includes cultural services, policies, music, indigenous and local knowledge systems (e.g., local language, local crafts and craftspeople), and other creative industries (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2019). In sport, professional teams inherently improve cultural understanding within the community (Smith & Westerbeek, 2007). Due to the sheer volume and importance, sport is complexly interconnected to broader cultural, spatial, and political forces and formations in contemporary society (Woods & Stokes, 2019). Although a growing number of studies examining the CSR practice in sport, these efforts largely fail to reflect cultural considerations (Woods & Stokes, 2019). In this study, cultural responsibility is defined as a CSL club’s CSR initiatives that are devoted to promoting CSL clubs’ culture, football culture, regional city culture, as well as Chinese social values and national pride. It includes glocalizing the global value into the Chinese context (e.g., hosting football-related activities through local-oriented activities) and conveying the Chinese value to the world (e.g., hosting football-related activities in other countries or utilizing foreign social media to promote Chinese culture).

China has a different social condition with its own local cultural identity as the key feature of the fandom in football (Lee, 2021). For example, CSL fans typically choose to support a football club based on “a geographical identity and personal passion for the game” (Liang, 2017, p. 1839). Meanwhile, through the implementation of cultural CSR initiatives, CSL clubs can glocalize their historical and local culture, as well as national and international identity (Giulianotti, 2015). At the global scale, CSL clubs should translate worldwide commitment and values to the “glocal” approach and become more acquainted with global culture within its local or national context. At the local level, CSL clubs could provide a regular social space for cultural activities, implement innovative activities to promote Chinese national history and culture, and establish consumer culture popularity through new social media platform (e.g., Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, and BiliBili). CSR reports show the CSL clubs’ efforts to fulfill cultural responsibilities. For example, Shanghai Port FC staff visited the history site of the First National Congress to deliver spiritual support, calling for the public to reflect on the history and recall the revolutionary martyrs (Shanghai Port, 2019). Guangzhou FC players attended the 8th-anniversary ceremony of Online Fan League and participated in various activities during the event. To promote patriotism and inherit traditional Chinese culture, CSL clubs (e.g., Shanghai Shenhua FC, Beijing Guoan FC, Dalian FC, Tianjing Teda FC, etc.) held a series of activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary National Day and traditional Chinese festivals. Some clubs (e.g., Beijing Guoan FC and Jiangsu Suning FC) held free Open Day, allowing fans to visit and participate in club activities.

Conclusions

Based on sound theories and consideration of the uniqueness of Chinese professional football, the proposed CSR conceptual model contains five dimensions: economic, youth, community, environmental, and cultural responsibilities. The economic and environmental dimensions are identified based on SD theory. The social domain in SD is considered as two separate dimensions: youth dimension, based on Larson’s (2000) positive youth development theory; and community dimension, grounded on McMillan and Chavis (1986) sense of community theory. The last dimension, cultural responsibility, is proposed upon the globalization and glocalization theory (Giulianotti & Robertson, 2009).

This study provides theoretical and practical evidence to support the multidimensional CSR in the Chinese professional football context. The proposed conceptual model offers the theoretical base for further empirical research on CSR scale development. It also provides conceptual support for the exploration of the potential CSR antecedents (e.g., CSR capability and communication) and outcomes (e.g., attitude and behavior intentions) to better understand consumers’ decision-making process on their football consumption intentions. This study adds value to the CSR research in the Chinese professional sport context. At a strategic level, the findings of this study can assist club managers in enhancing their CSR strategy planning and shed light on the Chinese Football Association to direct a positive course of CSR actions.

Ethics approval

The questionnaire and methodology for this study was approved by the Human Research Ethics committee of the Loughborough University.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Acknowledgements

This research has no funding support. The authors also would like to thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).