Sport club members’ willingness to pay, volunteer and behave climate-friendly to support climate policies – a study in the context of the Swiss Alpine Club

Abstract

To use the potential of non-profit sport organisations to drive climate action, policies targeting sport club members are necessary. However, successful implementation depends on members’ willingness to support. This study examined whether there are different types of sport club members in terms of their willingness to support clubs’ climate policies through financial contributions, voluntary work and climate-friendly behaviour. An online survey of 1,881 Swiss Alpine Club members found that 65.5% of respondents were willing to pay an average of 23.72 CHF annually, 65.9% were willing to volunteer an average of 3.07 half-days per year and 52.2% exhibited a willingness to show climate-friendly behaviour to support clubs’ climate policies. Cluster analysis identified four distinct types of members regarding their willingness: those particularly willing to volunteer, those particularly willing to pay, those particularly willing to behave in a climate-friendly fashion and those who were below-average supporters of climate policies. The clusters differed regarding club identification and subjective club norms but not regarding current voluntary work or subjective social status. The findings highlight the need to allow members to contribute in various ways (e.g. offering optional climate fees, volunteer opportunities and behavioural incentives) to foster widespread climate policy implementation in organised sport.