The Relationship between Internal Marketing and Employee Organizational Withdrawal Behaviors: Empirical Evidence from Sports Organizations

Internal marketing and organizational withdrawal are among the issues that have attracted the attention of researchers recently. These issues have been handled in research in various sectors due to their potential to affect the motivation and performance of employees. This study aimed to explore the relationship between internal marketing and organizational withdrawal in the context of sports organizations. The data was obtained from employees of public organizations providing sports and physical activity services in the west of Turkey. One hundred thirty-one employees in these organizations participated in the study voluntarily. To collect data two separate scales were used in the study. The IM-11 scale developed by Yildiz and Kara (2017) was used to measure internal marketing, and the scales developed by Hanisch and Hulin (1990; 1991) were used to measure work withdrawal and job withdrawal. The effect of internal marketing on organizational withdrawal (work withdrawal and job withdrawal) was hypothesized in the study. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine the effects of internal marketing on work withdrawal and job withdrawal. The results showed that internal marketing had significant and negative effects on work withdrawal and job withdrawal. These results indicated that internal marketing was an effective strategy that could prevent organizational withdrawal behaviors of employees.