Enacted ambiguity and risk perceptions: making sense of national elite sport sponsorships

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

This paper analyses how Danish marketing directors and managers responsible for sponsoring make sense of sponsoring the kind of national elite sport that receives little or hardly any mass-media coverage. This study adds a sociological dimension to sponsorship research, which is dominated by marketing approaches. The concept sense-making, inspired by Karl Weick, provides the theoretical foundation of this paper. In 10 qualitative interviews, five ways of enactment are identified where poor sporting results are not considered a major risk faced by these kinds of sponsorships. The results provide insights into how corporate sense-making emerges and thus remain useful knowledge for national elite sport organizations in their efforts to attract external funding.

Original languageEnglish
JournalSport in Society
Volume18
Issue number10
Pages (from-to)1179-1198
Number of pages20
ISSN1743-0437
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes

ID: 254659216