Associate Professor
Research Areas: Alcohol and Sport (Consumption and Sponsorship), Gender in Sport Media (Advertising), Qualitative Methods
Bio
Dr. Gee spent 15 years at universities in New Zealand prior to joining the Department of Kinesiology in December 2017. Her current research addresses the intersection of three converging concerns of socio-cultural and political-economic significance for policymakers, sport managers and investors, and the public: alcohol sponsorship of sport; the consumption of alcohol in sport-related drinking cultures; and, the role of sports clubs and events as sites of social connections in cultural and civic life. Using qualitative methods, Dr. Gee conducts critical socio-contextual research that has been paramount in illuminating the complex and sophisticated link between alcohol and the entertainment package and experience of sports mega-events.
She has also done research related to gender issues in sport, in particular the representation of masculinity in sport-related media and the role of cultural intermediaries (advertising producers) in creating particular sport-related ads that use themes of masculinity.
Dr. Gee has been a Principal Investigator for research projects funded by external funding agencies in New Zealand, including: the Health Promotion Agency, Royal Society, and Palmerston North City Council, and she has been an Associate Investigator for an interdisciplinary project funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Health. In 2016, she was awarded an Early Career Research Medal for the College of Health at Massey University.
She has recently co-authored a book with Prof. Steve Jackson, entitled: Sport, Promotional Culture and the Crisis of Masculinity, and her research has been published in several international journals and disseminated at international conferences. Dr. Gee also serves as an expert adjunct reviewer for a number of international journals and she is a current Editorial Board member for Sociology of Sport Journal and Communication & Sport.
Key Scholarly Activities
Book:
Gee, S. (Ed.). (2020). Sport, Alcohol and Social Inquiry: A global cocktail. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited.
Gee, S., & Jackson, S.J. (2017). Sport, promotional culture, and the contemporary crisis of masculinity. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Journal Articles:
Gee, S., Batty, R., & Millar, P. (2021). Alcohol sponsorship and New Zealand regional rugby unions: Crisis point or business as usual? International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, 4(2), 155-175.
Batty, R.J., & Gee, S. (2019). Fast food, fizz, and funding: Balancing the scales of regional sport organization sponsorship. Sport Management Review, 22(1), 167-179.
Thompson, A.-J., Martin, A.J., Gee, S., & Geurin, A.N. (2018). Building brand and fan relationships through social media. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 8(3), 235-256.
Gee, S., Thompson, A., & Batty, R. (2018). Rules of engagement: Sport sponsorship, anti-ambush marketing legislation, and alcohol images during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Journal of Global Sport Management, 3(3), 266-283.
Sam, M.P., Andrew, J., & Gee, S. (2018). The modernisation of umpire development: Netball New Zealand's reforms and impacts. European Sport Management Quarterly, 18(3), 263-286.
Thompson, A., Martin, A.J., Gee, S., & Geurin, A. (2017). Managing social media marketing to develop event brand relationships: Perceived benefits, strategies and challenges. International Journal of Sport Management, 18(4), 488-515.
Gee, S., Sam, M.P., Jackson, S.J. (2017). Content analyses of alcohol-related images during television broadcasts of major sports events in New Zealand. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 18 (3), 230-245.
Thompson, A., Martin, A.J., Gee, S., & Geurin, A. (2017). Fans’ perceptions of professional tennis events’ social media presence: Interaction, insight, and brand anthropomorphism. Communication & Sport, 5(5), 579-603.
Gee, S., Jackson, S.J., & Sam, M. (2016). Carnivalesque culture and alcohol promotion and consumption at an annual international sports event in New Zealand. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 51(3), 265-283.
Gee, S. (2015). “Sexual ornament” or “spiritual trainer”? Envisioning and marketing to a female audience through the NHL’s “Inside the Warrior” advertising campaign. Communication & Sport, 3(2), 142-167.
Geurin, A.N., & Gee, S. (2014). Alcohol, sponsorship, and new media activation: An investigation of Molson Canadian and the 2014 Olympic Games. International Journal of Sport Management & Marketing, 15(5/6), 322-339.
Gee, S. (2014). Bending the codes of masculinity: David Beckham and flexible masculinity in the new millennium. Sport in Society, 17(7), 917-936.
Gee, S. (2014). Sport and alcohol consumption as a neoteric moral panic in New Zealand: Context, voices and control. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure & Events, 6(2), 153-171.
Thompson, A., Martin, A.J., Gee, S., & Eagleman, A. (2014). Examining the development of a social media strategy for a national sport organization: A case study of Tennis New Zealand. Journal of Applied Sport Management, 6(2), 42-69.
Gee, S. (2013). The culture of alcohol sponsorship during the 2011 Rugby World Cup: An (auto)ethnographic and (con)textual analysis. Sport in Society, 16(7), 912-930.
Gee, S., & Jackson, S.J. (2012). Leisure corporations, beer brand culture, and the crisis of masculinity: The Speight’s “Southern Man” advertising campaign. Leisure Studies, 31(1), 83-102.
Gee, S., & Jackson, S.J. (2010). The Southern Man city as cultural place and Speight’s space: Locating the masculinity-sport-beer “holy trinity” in New Zealand. Sport in Society, 13(10), 1516-1531.
Crossman, J., Vincent, J., & Gee, S. (2010). Is Dorothy treated fairly by the press in the land of OZ? Three Australian newspapers’ gendered coverage of the 2005 Australian Open Tennis Championships. International Journal of Sport Management & Marketing, 8(3/4), 223-243.
Gee, S. (2009). Mediating sport, myth, and masculinity: The NHL’s “Inside the Warrior” advertising campaign. Sociology of Sport Journal, 26(4), 578-598.