Fair-weather liberals and loyal conservatives: The effects of political ideology on the loyalty of sports fans

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on moral foundations theory, this paper aims to investigate the moral component of loyalty, a critical determinant of long-term organisational success.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper contains two studies using archival data gathered from the Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association in the USA.

Findings

This paper finds empirical support for the “ideology-loyalty hypothesis” – namely, fans in more politically conservative communities are more loyal to their professional sports teams than those in more liberal ones.

Originality/value

These findings contribute to a growing literature on the moral roots of organisational phenomena by providing evidence of community-level effects of political ideology on loyalty. Based on these findings, this paper suggests that when making strategic decisions (e.g. expansion into a new market), organisations need to pay attention to the political climate of the communities in which they operate (or intend to operate) to achieve and sustain organisational success.

Citation

Soderberg, A.T., Zhang, T. and Lytle, B. (2020), "Fair-weather liberals and loyal conservatives: The effects of political ideology on the loyalty of sports fans", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 643-654. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-09-2019-1874