Why does business support the Arts? Philanthropy, marketing or legitimation?

This thesis examines the motivation by UK firms for one aspect for corporate philanthropy – support for the arts. The literature has shown that there is an increase in strategic philanthropy – business giving which is designed to meet the objectives of business and society, yet there is no clarity on what the underlying motives are for business giving. This research develops a framework around the dimensions of relative business-society attention and relative stakeholder attention to identify patterns of motivation.

The dominant economic motivations of marketing and legitimation were identified through a content analysis of sixty texts which describe business support for the arts. These motivations were further understood through thirty-nine interviews with business managers and managers in the arts and arts-based consultancies; although a small number of firms was shown to act primarily from an intention to benefit society in some way. In all cases, business support for the arts includes a significant economic component, whether the primary motivation is pro-business or pro-society. The analysis of these interviews shows that business supports the arts across the three areas of business benefits – especially branding and customer relations, employee support and community relations yet the importance of these areas varies according to the underlying principle motivation of marketing or legitimation. Further, the research shows that firms with higher business exposure undertake corporate support for the arts as an exercise in legitimation.

This thesis contributes to the corporate philanthropy literature by providing a model to understand motivation for corporate giving and by showing how these motivations can be understood in a continuum of corporate philanthropy in the case of business support for the arts in the UK. This continuum shows basic motivation mapped against degree of business exposure, stakeholder focus and type of art form supported.