The role of title sponsor's philanthropy and team authenticity on fan identity and citizenship behaviors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between sport team authenticity, fan identity and citizenship behaviors, and how the link between sport team authenticity and fan identity is moderated by sponsor philanthropy. Design/methodology/approach A web survey was distributed to baseball fans in an online community in South Korea. A total of 383 valid answered questionnaires were collected and tested with confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings The findings suggested interrelationships between sport teams' brand authenticity and fan identity and between fan identity and citizenship behavior. This work also confirms the moderating effect of a title sponsor's philanthropic activities on the relationship between sport team authenticity and fan identity. Originality/value The findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating the role of title sponsor's philanthropic behavior on the sport industry. The relative importance of the team's authenticity (congruency and fan orientation) for fan identity was increased when the perception of the sponsor's philanthropy was high.