In this study, Dr. Brian McCullough explored the attitudes of sport spectators towards recycling at sporting events, the ways subjective norms influence spectators' intentions to recycle at a sport event, and the role of perceived behavioral controls in influencing recycling at a large sport event.
16 interviews were conducted with event attendees of a university football game. Respondents were asked:
- “Do you recycle when you attend Public University’s home football games?”
- “What are your attitudes towards recycling programs at Public University’s home football games?”
- “Why do you recycle at Public University’s home football games?”
- “Who expects you to recycle?” and
- “How easy is it to avoid recycling every time at football games?”
The analysis revealed that 6 of the 16 participants had recycled during their attendance at a football game. All 16 participants indicated their political orientation as a 4 or higher (on a scale of 1 = liberal, 7 = conservative) with a mean of 6.00 (SD = 1.03). Some participants recognised a change in their attitudes (to be more positive), while others’ positive attitudes toward recycling wavered. Non-student participants indicated younger individuals are more likely to recycle than older individuals. Some participants view recycling as inconvenient or personally disadvantageous, and voiced dissatisfaction with recycling programmes within their neighbourhood communities, citing those dissatisfactions as the main reason for their lack of recycling while attending Public University football games. Participants generally thought the costs of recycling outweighed the benefits.
Encouragingly, participants suggested that the athletic department could influence spectators to engage in recycling and other environmentally friendly behaviours. Significant others, such as friends, also serve as significant influences engaging in a recycling behaviors.
CITE: McCullough, B.P. (2013). Identifying the influences on sport spectator recycling behaviours using the theory of planned behavior. International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 14(1/2/3/4), 146-168.
