Sponsorship, power dependence, and the institutionalisation of risk: A sociological study of high-altitude climbing in South Korea

Abstract

This study investigated how corporate sponsorship structures influence risk-taking behaviour among professional mountaineers in high-altitude climbing. Utilising Emerson's power-dependence theory and Beck's risk society theory, we examined how sponsorship has transformed mountaineering from an individual adventure into a structurally mandated risk acceptance. Using grounded theory to analyse in-depth interviews involving eight South Korean mountaineers with 25–35 years of experience, we found that (1) Mountaineers are strongly economically dependent on sponsorship, which covers 70 to 80% of expedition costs, creating asymmetric power relations that limit autonomous decision-making. (2) Sponsors’ demands for summit photographs, media exposure, and distinctive achievements (‘first’, ‘fastest’) become internalised as moral obligations rather than contractual requirements, thereby overwhelming rational risk assessment in life-threatening contexts. (3) The imperative for continuous sponsorship fosters cyclical escalation whereby each achievement demands greater risk in subsequent climbs. Thus, sponsorship transcends financial exchange, acting as an institutional apparatus that legitimises and normalises risk via media discourse and performance metrics. The findings extend power-dependence theory to extreme sports and empirically affirm Beck's concept of risk institutionalisation. The research elucidates how commercialisation transforms risk-taking from a personal choice into a structural compulsion, with implications for developing responsible sponsorship practices and safety policies in extreme sports.