Motivational Factors of Volunteers at Brazilian Sports Events

A Reflection for Sports Managers

Abstract

Volunteering at sports events is a practice that benefits both human resources and the functioning of organizing entities, adding value to the event and the lives of the participants. The nature of sports attracts numerous volunteers, motivated by various reasons that vary according to the characteristics of the event or organization. Volunteer motivations can range from Expression of Values; Patriotism and Community; Interpersonal Contacts; Career Orientation; Personal Growth; Extrinsic Rewards; and Love for the Sport. Each motivation may differ from volunteer to volunteer, but they can all complement each other and form the foundation of volunteering. Given the diversity and scale of sports events, it is necessary to offer a positive experience to athletes/participants, as volunteers are part of the organization of these events. The main objective of this research was to provide a description of volunteer motivation in sports events within the Brazilian context. In addition to contributing to the understanding by the promoting organization of the perspective that volunteers are essential for sports events, it also aims to offer possible reflections and strategies for attracting these human resources. The methodology used is a qualitative descriptive approach to conduct a content analysis characterizing the motivations of volunteers and presenting reflections to managers on how to better utilize these human resources. The results revealed an adapted and validated questionnaire for the Brazilian context, which can be used in future studies. Additionally, the motivation of volunteers in sports events in Brazil is connected to the aforementioned factors, except for Extrinsic Rewards, as our sample of 255 volunteers did not consider this factor important for volunteering at sports events. The sample consisted of men (55.3%) and women (44.7%), with ages ranging from 18 to 73 years, averaging 34.85 years. Many had previously volunteered at more than one sports event, including both mega-events and non-mega-events. We identified the influence of motivations, value perception, and future behavior of volunteers in sports events in Brazil. The results revealed some differences in motivations to potentially aid the development of sports management. Volunteer motivations significantly influenced symbolic and utilitarian values, as well as impacting their future behavior. This study represents an important step in exploring volunteer motivations at sports events, relating them to different factors, values such as utilitarian and symbolic, and future behavior. This work aims to contribute to the improvement of volunteering in Brazil and presents important implications in both scientific and managerial spheres, offering reflections for sports event managers.