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This study aims to investigate the effects of sponsorship on organizational identification among employees of companies that sponsor individual athletes from the perspective of internal marketing.

An online survey was conducted in July 2021 targeting employees of Company A. Specifically, employees were invited to participate via email notifications sent through the company's intranet. To clarify the impact of company sponsorships for individual athletes on employee organizational identification, this study focused on the relationship between Company A and an athlete they support. Psychometric scales were used to measure the factors of the hypothetical model, such as sponsor fit and attitudes toward sponsorship. The analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS 28.0 and AMOS 25 Graphics, and the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.

We collected a total of 365 survey responses in two weeks. All the hypotheses in this study were supported, indicating that athlete identification and brand knowledge had a significant positive effect on perceived sponsor fit. In addition, attitudes toward the employer significantly have positive relationships with brand commitment and organizational identification. This study showed that perceived sponsor fit plays an important role in employee perceptions of sponsorship. Athlete endorsement is effective from an internal marketing perspective.

The limitation of this study is the selection of the research subject. Conducting the same survey targeting individual athletes with different characteristics may lead to discoveries about the impact of corporate sponsorship on employee organizational identification.

The practical implication of this study is that business executives should also use sponsorship for individual athletes as a means to unify and motivate their employees. In selecting athletes for sponsorship, it is necessary to select individuals who fit the company image. In this process, listening to employees' opinions may help select the most suitable athlete who matches the company's image.

Many studies conducted on sports sponsorship have focused on the impact on potential customers, from external marketing. Even in studies examining the effects of sports sponsorship on employees, the sponsored subjects are typically teams or events. Therefore, the originality of this study lies in examining the impact of athlete endorsement on the company's employees from the perspective of internal marketing.

This study examines the relationships among residents' event impact perceptions, attitude towards events, attitude towards sponsors and sponsor-related behavioural intentions (i.e. purchase intention and word-of-mouth).

Focusing on the Naha Marathon in Okinawa, Japan, as a research context, data were collected from residents of Okinawa who were familiar with the Naha Marathon and its sponsors (N = 322). Structural equation modelling was employed to test the hypotheses, developed based on theories of social exchange, image transfer and planned behaviour.

The findings revealed that residents’ perceptions of social event impacts, rather than economic and environmental impacts, were associated with attitudes towards the event. Such an effect was indirectly associated with purchase intentions and word-of-mouth intentions via attitude towards the sponsors.

The current research contributes to the literature on sport sponsorship, especially in participation-based sports, by exploring how event sponsors can enjoy fruitful returns on investment. The findings can extend our understanding by highlighting the importance of positive community engagement for sponsors. Sponsors who aim to enhance consumer behaviour should prioritize strategies aligning with the positive social impacts of events.

Recently, Jang and Byon (2020) found that esports recreational gameplay consumption is causally linked to esports online media consumption. In the context of esports, live-streaming content (by individual creators) is a new type of media consumption, which should be distinguished from esports event broadcast. Extending Jang and Byon’s finding, the purpose of this study is to examine the mediating effect of esports content live streaming in the relationship between esports recreational gameplay and esports event broadcast because it allows the games to be more accessible to viewers due to two-way communication. In order to test for stability of the mediating effect of esports live content streaming, we examined the hypothesized model across the three genres (i.e. imagination [n = 224], physical enactment [n = 195], sport simulation [n = 179]).

Data (N = 598) were collected via an online survey from individuals who had experienced esports recreational gameplay. A total of 15 items with five dimensions (i.e. esports recreational gameplay, esports content live streaming, esports event broadcast, streamer identification, and pro-player identification) were adapted from existing studies. The two identification constructs and gender were used as control variables.

The model fit of the measurement model was found to be acceptable via CFA. The results of SEM indicated that the intention of esports content live streaming consumption played a full mediation role in the relationship between esports recreational gameplay behavior and the intention of esports event broadcast consumption. Additionally, we found the mediating effect of esports content live streaming across the three genres.

This study contributes to literature related to the esports consumer behavior by conceptualizing esports content live streaming and found that esports content live streaming represents a mechanism that underlies the relationship between esports recreational gameplay intention and esports event broadcast consumption.

Event sponsorship has been recognised as an effective means through which companies can communicate with target markets and attendees of sports events. This study investigates the interrelationship between satisfaction with event sponsors, goodwill and fan identification and their influence on purchase intentions at a state sports festival held in Lakeland, Florida. Results indicate that satisfaction with event sponsors mediated goodwill and purchase intentions while controlling for the effects of fan identification. In addition, results differed between competitors and spectators of the event.

This paper examines the effects of advertising type and antecedents of attitude towards advertising in general (AG) on individuals' responses to advertising in a sports broadcast setting. Both AG antecedents and advertising type were assessed using Brackett and Carr's (2001) model. Our results indicate that individual responses to advertising vary according to the type of advertising (television commercials, virtual ads by location).

Mobility is one of the important elements in clothing design. The purpose of this paper is to examine the predictability of clothing mobility via musculoskeletal simulation.

In order to carry out the musculoskeletal simulation considering the influence of clothing, simulation of the dressed state was attempted. This paper simulated the dressed state and measured the motion-related deformation of the clothing to estimate the force applied to the human body based on the material property of the clothing samples. The dressed state was simulated using an external force in the musculoskeletal model.

When the elbow flexion torque with an elbow supporter was calculated using the above-mentioned method of musculoskeletal simulation, it was confirmed that the lower the stretchability of the sample, the higher the elbow flexion torque. In addition, the sensory evaluation performed under the same condition as that in the simulation showed that the lower the joint torque during the motion, the higher the subjective mobility, and that the higher the joint torque, the lower the subjective mobility. Thus, it is suggested that musculoskeletal simulation of the dressed state can predict the clothing mobility.

However, the method proposed in this paper requires the measurement of the deformation of the clothing to estimate the force applied to the human body. Thus, it is difficult to apply this in the measurement of general clothing that allows enough space between it and the human body, requiring further improvement of the dressed state simulation method.

Because it is difficult to estimate the force applied by the clothing to the human body, only a few studies have performed analysis on the effect of clothing by using musculoskeletal simulation. Conversely, although the force applied by the clothing to the human body needs to be estimated in advance by the measurement of the deformation, the utility of the simulation in clothing design seems to be high because the simulation can estimate clothing mobility and the effects of clothing on muscle activity.

The purpose of this paper is to find the optimal rotary motion conditions to create drapes in fabric to visually convey tactile “softness/hardness” and identify key physical factors in visual evaluations of fabric “softness/hardness” via videos of fabric draping.

Subjects evaluated visually and by touch, the “softness/hardness” of fabrics draped over a cylinder. In the visual evaluation experiment, subjects were presented with 16 videos of the movement of fabric drapes when the cylinder was rotated (four rotation speeds and four angular acceleration rates) and they evaluated the “softness/hardness” of each fabric visually. By examining the “softness/hardness” ratings in the two experiments, the optimal rotary motion condition that conveyed fabric “softness/hardness” was identified. Changes in the shape of fabric drape when moving under optimal rotary motion conditions were analyzed to determine key physical factors that affected visual evaluations of fabric “softness/hardness.”

Optimal rotary motion conditions (rotation speed and angular acceleration rate) that expressed each fabric’s “softness/hardness” appropriately were identified. Additionally, the magnitude of change in the angle of fabric drape when rotating under optimal rotary motion conditions was the key factor used in visual evaluation of each fabric’s “softness/hardness.”

The conditions needed to produce visual images that convey fabric “softness/hardness” only through visual information (i.e. without touching the fabric) were identified, based on the fabric’s bending rigidity. The magnitude of change in the angle of fabric drape enabled accurate visual judgments of fabric “softness/hardness.”