Inspiring sport event volunteer engagement and sense of pride: the importance of organisational environmental factors

ABSTRACT

The success of sport events is closely related to volunteer dedication. Sport event organisations must recognise volunteers’ needs and motivate and retain loyal volunteers. However, the approach to motivate sport event volunteers and the role of consistent values, beliefs, and affiliation needs in guiding volunteers’ performance in event duties remain unexplored. This study explored the role of organisational environmental factors in influencing volunteers’ engagement, sense of pride, and intent to continue volunteering. A theoretical model was constructed to verify their inner relations by incorporating person – environment fit, social exchange, and social identity theories. Data were collected from 452 volunteers who participated in two marathon races in China and analysed using structural equation modelling with SmartPLS 4.0. The findings show that perceived organisational support has a positive impact on individual – organisation value congruence and volunteer engagement, thus jointly boosting volunteers’ sense of pride and intent. These findings expand theoretical understanding on the psychological mechanisms of volunteer sport events and optimising volunteer management.

KEYWORDS:

• Sport event organisation
• volunteer engagement
• sense of pride
• perceived organisational support
• individual–organisation value congruence
• continued volunteering intention

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

Data that support the study findings are available from the corresponding author, [Ye Xu], upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fangyu Xia

Fangyu Xia is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau SAR, China. His research interests include sport tourism, consumer behaviour, volunteer management, and festival tourism.

Ye Xu

Ye Xu is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao SAR, China. Her research interests include festival and special event management, destination image and branding, esports, babymoon tourism, etc.

Xiaolu Zhang

Xiaolu Zhang is a postgraduate student in the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao SAR, China. Her research interest is sport event management, volunteer management and social media celebrity behaviour.