International Journal of Sport Management

The Pursuit of Legitimacy: Expanding Conceptions of Escalation of Commitment within Sport

Calvin Nite, Michael Hutchinson

Abstract: The impact of social determinants in escalation of commitment (EC) remains fairly understudied within the sport management literature. Within the setting of intercollegiate athletics, we extend understanding of social determinants of EC theory by investigating the role of institutionalism in sport organizations’ decisions to escalate their commitments to programs that have shown to yield questionable returns on investments. Data were collected from 35 administrators at 10 universities that had decided to transition to higher levels of athletic competition and/or had added football to their campuses. The findings suggested that the desire to be perceived as legitimate and reaping the benefits of legitimacy were the primary motivations for EC. From this study, we propose a model explaining the role of legitimacy in EC. New questions are raised regarding conceptualizations of escalation of commitment and future considerations for research of this framework are offered.

Keywords: Escalation of commitment, institutional theory, legitimacy, intercollegiate athletics.

Citation: Nite, C., & Hutchinson, M. (2018). The pursuit of legitimacy: Expanding conceptions of escalation of commitment within sport. International Journal of Sport Management, 19(1), 1-26.

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