Developing a scale for measuring the personality of sport teams

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to develop a reliable measure of sport team personality that incorporates the relevant dimensions/traits consumers attribute to their sport teams.

Design/methodology/approach

Initially, content analysis of sport teams' web sites and magazines were used to identify the items of the scale. Following this a survey research method was used to gather data from consumers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on a sample of 301 consumers.

Findings

The analyses of the data resulted in a sport team personality scale consisting of five dimensions: competitiveness, prestige, morality, authenticity, and credibility

Practical implications

Sport brand managers can use the scale for benchmarking purposes and for examining how their sport teams/brands are perceived by sport consumers in terms of the five dimensions identified in this research.

Originality/value

The study expands the concept of brand personality to sport services and provides insights into the main dimensions of sport brands' personality. This is the first study that develops a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the personality of sport teams.

Citation

Tsiotsou, R. (2012), "Developing a scale for measuring the personality of sport teams", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 238-252. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876041211237541