German Marathon Runners’ Opinions on and Willingness to Pay for Environmental Sustainability

Thomas Könecke, Holger Schunk, Tabea Schappel, Ine Hugaerts, Fabio Wagner and Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko
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Thomas Könecke: Policy in Sports & Physical Activity Research Group, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Holger Schunk: Research Group Management and Entrepreneurship in Media and Sport, 65022 Wiesbaden, Germany
Tabea Schappel: Department of Sport Economics, Sport Sociology and Sport History, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
Ine Hugaerts: Policy in Sports & Physical Activity Research Group, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Fabio Wagner: Department of Sport Economics, Sport Sociology and Sport History, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko: Department of Sports Tourism, Institute of Sport Sciences, Poznan University of Physical Education, 61-871 Poznan, Poland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-17

Abstract: Research on sustainability and/in sport and, specifically, on the ecological aspects of participatory sporting events is still very scarce despite the recognition these topics have received by actors like, for instance, the European Commission and the United Nations. Against this backdrop, this paper sheds light on a field that is virtually uncharted in academic research, which is the environmental attitudes and willingness to pay for environmental sustainability of participants in participatory sporting events in Europe. In collaboration with the organizer of the Frankfurt Marathon, a study was conducted with a specific focus on German (speaking) marathon runners. In total 1764 data sets were collected with a German (1455 respondents) and an English (309 respondents) online questionnaire. Very insightful descriptive analyses showed that the awareness for the issue of sustainability and sport is still low and that ecological initiatives only have a medium influence on the evaluation of a marathon event. Nevertheless, particularly the German-speaking respondents indicated a high willingness to pay for environmental sustainability in general and for specific measures that can enhance the environmental friendliness of a marathon event, in particular. As will be discussed in the paper, these insights have important managerial implications and are a valuable basis for further research in this evolving field.

Keywords: marathon; running; ecology; environment; pro-ecological attitudes; Frankfurt Marathon; Europe; Germany; willingness to pay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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