In this study, we examine Sport for Development (SFD) practitioners' experiences of service-learning partnerships with universities. Although these collaborations are often framed as mutually beneficial, practitioners' perspectives remain underrepresented in relevant scholarship. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 22 practitioners from 20 U.S.-based SFD organizations from 2022, we adapt Ankrah and AL-Tabbaa's University-Industry Collaboration framework into a University-Organization Collaboration framework to better incorporate the nonprofit, community-based, and mission-driven nature of SFD organizations. Findings show that service-learning UOCs are shaped by interconnected motivations, including talent recruitment, organizational capacity building, and contribution to the broader SFD field. They also reveal that reciprocity is not guaranteed; rather, partnership quality depends on structured communication, shared responsibility, and organizational capacity to support supervision and learning. The study's primary contribution is a tailored service-learning UOC framework that positions these partnerships as mechanisms for capacity building and pipelines for talent development while also recognizing their potential to create burdens or imbalances for SFD organizations. Practical implications emphasize formalized agreements, proactive university involvement, capacity assessment, and ongoing evaluation.
Drawing on intergroup contact theory, the stereotype content model, and the elaboration likelihood model, this study examines whether exposure to a single inclusion-focused advertisement featuring athletes with disabilities is associated with within-person shifts in perceived stereotypes (competence and warmth) and personal attitudes toward athletes with physical disabilities over time, and whether reflective engagement is associated with stronger immediate and follow-up responses. Data were collected in Germany in 2025 through a three-wave online panel survey. A total of 395 adults completed measures of competence, warmth, and attitudes toward athletes with disabilities before exposure, immediately after exposure, and at a follow-up approximately three weeks later. Latent change score models showed significant increases in perceived competence and attitudes from baseline to post-exposure, but both declined at follow-up. Warmth showed no immediate change but declined slightly over time. A longitudinal structural equation model indicated that reflective engagement was positively associated with competence, warmth, and attitudes immediately after exposure. Reflective engagement was also positively associated with follow-up competence and warmth, whereas its association with follow-up attitudes was mediated by post-exposure attitudes. The findings suggest that inclusion-focused advertising may be associated with selective and short-lived shifts in perceived stereotypes and personal attitudes toward athletes with physical disabilities. The study extends disability representation research from broadcast to brand-authored sport communication and highlights the limits of one-off campaigns.
The explosive growth of online sport betting has created a novel consumption context that challenges the direct application of established consumer behavior frameworks. This study applies perceived risk theory to online sport betting by examining the relationship among consumer confusion, perceived risk, and behavioral intentions across two distinct consumer groups: active sport bettors (n = 250) and non-betting sport fans (n = 249). Data were collected via an online panel of U.S. residents from states with legalized sport wagering in November of 2023. Structural equation modeling and MANOVA results revealed perceived risk theory's core risk-deterrence assumption held for non-bettors: consumer confusion increased perceived risk, which strongly deterred behavioral intentions. However, among experienced sport bettors, while confusion increased perceived risk, perceived risk had no significant association with intentions. Betting frequency also moderated this association, although the modest effect should be interpreted cautiously. These findings indicate heterogeneity in the association between perceived risk and behavioral intentions across and within the study's betting segments. Practically, risk-based responsible gambling communications may not align equally well with the intention formation of active sport bettors and non-betting sport fans.
