Green Miles: The Influence of Green Brand Awareness in Shaping Brand Advocacy Among Marathon Participants

Marathon events have evolved beyond athleticism, offering opportunities to address significantsocial issues and promote awareness. Since they promote social causes, it is important to understandparticipants’ willingness to advocate for sustainability initiatives during marathon events. Thus,this study examines whether participants’ green brand awareness influences their brand advocacytowards sports brands. Furthermore, the mediating effect of environmental commitment and themoderating effect of social influence are investigated. Data were collected from 516 participants.Structural equation modeling and PROCESS-macro were used for analysis. The results suggest thatenvironmental commitment mediates the relationship between green brand awareness and brandadvocacy. Social influence negatively moderated the relationship between environmental commitmentand brand advocacy. Drawing on self-determination theory, this study validates its applicationto sports and sustainability domain. Lastly, practical implications include value-driven initiatives atsports events and initiative-led marketing communications to enhance awareness and commitmenttowards the environment.