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Erik Winell, Jonas Nilsson and Erik Lundberg
This study aims to examine and compare the influence of the disposition to engage in engagement behaviors on physical and virtual engagement platforms, as well as the influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine and compare the influence of the disposition to engage in engagement behaviors on physical and virtual engagement platforms, as well as the influence of these engagement behaviors on brand loyalty, value-in-use and word-of-mouth.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using a survey distributed to a random sample of 10,000 fans of five teams in the Swedish top-division of elite football. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to derive a distinction between prevalent platforms, scales were validated through a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was used to test the research model.
Findings
Customer disposition to engage with the sports team had a significant influence on customer engagement behaviors on both physical and virtual engagement platforms. However, engagement behaviors on virtual platforms were found to be more important than engagement behaviors on physical platforms for fostering brand loyalty and value-in-use.
Practical implications
The results highlight the importance of engagement behaviors with a brand on virtual engagement platforms. Thus, brand managers should prioritize their presence on social media to generate the positive outcomes of customer engagement behaviors.
Originality/value
By examining the effects of customer engagement behaviors on both physical and virtual engagement platforms, this study provides new insights to the emerging customer engagement literature.
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Edgar Romero-Jara, Francesc Solanellas, Samuel López-Carril, Dimitrios Kolyperas and Christos Anagnostopoulos
In a dynamic, continuously evolving sports landscape, social media have become an indispensable tool for sports organizations to cultivate meaningful connections with fans. The…
Abstract
Purpose
In a dynamic, continuously evolving sports landscape, social media have become an indispensable tool for sports organizations to cultivate meaningful connections with fans. The rapid pace of technological advancements has elevated these digital platforms from a supplementary role to a pivotal position within strategic management frameworks. The existing literature explores how football clubs can utilize social media, but analyzing social media strategies within the context of football leagues is lacking. The absence of comparative studies benchmarking clubs across different geographical regions while simultaneously analyzing multiple social media platforms is especially noteworthy. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of social media engagement is undertaken within esteemed football leagues spanning Europe, South America and North America.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on relationship marketing and employing content analysis as a methodological tool, the study examined 10,772 posts from the official accounts of eight football leagues on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Findings
Across the leagues, the findings reveal that content quality drives engagement more than frequency. In addition, several format combinations were identified that facilitate engagement and Instagram emerged as the top social media platform for generating fan engagement.
Originality/value
This is one of the first empirical studies focusing on optimizing the use of social media to amplify fan engagement across various geographies and social media accounts and formats simultaneously.
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Bruno Melo Moura and André Luiz Maranhão de Souza-Leão
The National Football League (NFL), the most lucrative sports league in the world, has its second largest foreign audience in Brazil. Its Brazilian broadcasts stimulate the…
Abstract
Purpose
The National Football League (NFL), the most lucrative sports league in the world, has its second largest foreign audience in Brazil. Its Brazilian broadcasts stimulate the audience to extrapolate television reception and interact through a social media platform, seeking to integrate a collective consumption. Thus, attachments are established between consumers and league. Based on this, this study aims to analyze how the interaction in social media of the Brazilian NFL audience, during the transmissions of its games, results in consumption attachments.
Design/methodology/approach
The method undertaken was Netnography, commonly used to investigate cultural practices occurring in online environments. The research corpus consisted of messages posted on Twitterhashtags created by the ESPN Brazil channels to reverberate its broadcasts of the league between 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 seasons.
Findings
The findings of this study indicate that Brazilian audience interaction in social media establishes consumer attachment with the NFL by means of the brand elements and aspects of social life, mediated by the league.
Research limitations/implications
The research observed only the part of the Brazilian audience of the NFL that engages in the broadcasts of the games through social media.
Practical implications
The research of this study demonstrates how brands can use social media to enable social interactions that create or improve consumer attachments with them.
Originality/value
The study presents how a media brand imbricated in the American culture has been the target of attachment by Brazilian fans through social media interactions.
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Timothy Kellison and Beth A. Cianfrone
In this study, the authors examine consumer attitudes toward a professional soccer club’s proenvironmental initiatives and evaluate whether key themes are consistent with those…
Abstract
Purpose
In this study, the authors examine consumer attitudes toward a professional soccer club’s proenvironmental initiatives and evaluate whether key themes are consistent with those found in previous research of fans in different sporting contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyzed empirical material provided by 147 highly identified supporters of a Major League Soccer team. Using template analysis, the authors compared codes, categories and themes with those previously identified in a reference group of National Football League (NFL) fans.
Findings
Twenty-three preliminary codes, nine categories and four themes were established by the researchers. Three themes – Considering Environmental Action, Business Insights and Impacting the Fan Experience – were all consistent with the NFL reference group. A fourth theme, Public Visibility, focused on the possibility that the club’s proenvironmental initiatives could provide a competitive advantage over rival cities and positively influence local programming and behaviors.
Originality/value
The results of this study support the notion that fan characteristics may differ across various demographic and structural contexts and fans’ recognition that a club could leverage its community standing to promote proenvironmental action.
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Maria Gaia Soana, Andrea Lippi and Simone Rossi
This paper investigates the stock market reaction to three different events related to the UEFA Champions League – the announcements of draws, odds and match results. The aim of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the stock market reaction to three different events related to the UEFA Champions League – the announcements of draws, odds and match results. The aim of the paper is to test whether these events are informative for stock market operators, i.e. whether they produce abnormal returns.
Design/methodology/approach
Applying the event study methodology, the authors investigate the stock market reaction before (at two events: the draw date and on the release of betting odds) and after the matches of 11 listed soccer teams in the period 2003–2019. The authors also conduct OLS regression analyses in order to disentangle the impact of firm specific variables and match characteristics on cumulative abnormal returns.
Findings
This paper finds that match outcomes affect the stock market performance of listed teams, while the announcements of draws and odds do not. More specifically, the market does not consider match outcomes involving wins and ties as informative events, while it penalizes losing teams. Moreover, investor reactions to events related to the UCL competition depend more on match characteristics than on company specific variables.
Originality/value
The study enriches the ongoing debate about the impact of soccer team results on stock market performance in several ways: using the widest time span ever adopted in this area; focusing on UCL, which is the most important soccer competition played by private clubs; disentangling for the first time the effects of draws, odds release and sporting outcome on stock returns of listed soccer clubs.
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