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1 – 10 of 978Nicolas Chanavat and Guillaume Bodet
The purpose of this paper is to provide better understanding of potential foreign customers or satellite fans' perceptions of professional‐football brands, as this constitutes a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide better understanding of potential foreign customers or satellite fans' perceptions of professional‐football brands, as this constitutes a necessary step toward setting up an internationalisation strategy to create a global professional‐sport brand.
Design/methodology/approach
Twelve semi‐directed individual interviews with French satellite fans about how they perceive the English Big Four brands of Arsenal Football Club (FC), Chelsea FC, Liverpool FC and Manchester United are conducted.
Findings
The paper found the common and specific features of each club's brand equity and the typical fans' perceptions of the clubs, which constitute major dimensions upon which the clubs are differentiated in the customers' minds. It also identified such key antecedents to building strong professional‐sport brand equity in the French market as the fit between the image, the values or both of the foreign club and the local club a fan supports.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation is the size of the sample, even if the saturation‐semantic criterion is applied.
Practical implications
This paper emphasises the need for professional‐sport clubs not to underestimate the need for strategic‐marketing steps different from those used at home before implementing foreign marketing operations and constitutes a first step toward future research into the analysis of the perceptions of potential foreign customers or satellite fans in broader contexts.
Originality/value
Although many studies have dealt with the perception of local professional‐sport brands, this paper represents one of the first empirical studies of the perceptions of professional‐football brands in a foreign market.
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Sebastian Uhrich, Reinhard Grohs and Joerg Koenigstorfer
Social factors, such as fellow spectators in a stadium or other fans sharing their experiences on online platforms, play a dominant role in spectator sport consumption. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Social factors, such as fellow spectators in a stadium or other fans sharing their experiences on online platforms, play a dominant role in spectator sport consumption. This conceptual article sets out to achieve three objectives: classify customer-to-customer (C2C) interactions in the sport fan context, develop a framework that links the classification of interactions to relevant outcomes and identify areas for related future research.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors integrate conceptual and empirical contributions on C2C interactions in the service, marketing and sport management literature.
Findings
The article proposes classifying C2C interactions into synchronous multi- and uni-directional interactions as well as asynchronous multi- and uni-directional interactions. The C2C interaction framework (C2CIF) proposes that such C2C interactions have hedonic, social, symbolic and utilitarian value outcomes. It further suggests that physiological, psychological and social processes underlie the co-creation or co-destruction of value and identifies contingencies at both the fan and the brand level.
Originality/value
Based on the C2CIF, we identify relevant topics for future research, in particular relating to technology-supported and virtual interactions among fans, fan-to-fan interactions across different countries and cultural backgrounds and fan-to-fan interactions as a way to reduce societal concerns.
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Daniel Maderer, Dirk Holtbruegge and Rachel Woodland
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of brand associations on brand loyalty of fans toward professional football clubs in developed and emerging football markets…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of brand associations on brand loyalty of fans toward professional football clubs in developed and emerging football markets (EFM). In particular, the following research questions are answered: how important are different determinants of brand associations for fans from developed football markets (DFM) and EFM? Are there any major differences in the importance of different brand associations and their influence on brand loyalty between fans from DFM and EFM?
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the customer-based brand equity framework the impact of brand associations on brand loyalty is tested with a sample of 3,587 fans from DFM – Germany, England, Spain, Italy, and France (2,032) – as well as fans from EFM – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the USA (1,555).
Findings
Structural equation modeling is applied and shows a negative impact of brand attributes on attitudinal loyalty, whereas brand benefits positively impact attitudinal loyalty. Furthermore, significant differences between fans from developed and EFM are revealed. Implications for the management of football teams and for research on brand management are derived.
Originality/value
This study extends the work of Gladden and Funk (2001) by expanding the model used to assess brand loyalty and analyzes it empirically in different football markets. When looking to foster attitudinal loyalty, marketers should concentrate on benefit associations instead of attribute associations. Most importantly, marketers should be aware that when focusing on developing brand loyalty amongst EFM fans, they should not simply apply the same strategies that proved to be effective in DFM and vice versa.
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Erik Winell, John Armbrecht, Erik Lundberg and Jonas Nilsson
The purpose of this paper is to develop a holistic understanding of extant studies addressing the impact of commercialization on fans of elite sports.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a holistic understanding of extant studies addressing the impact of commercialization on fans of elite sports.
Design/methodology/approach
In doing this, the authors performed a structured review of 42 academic articles published between 1992 and 2020 that all focus on how fans respond and are affected by the commercialization of elite sports.
Findings
The structured review shows that the impacts of commercialization on fans relate to four different themes. These are (1) fan identity, (2) fan attitudes, (3) fan emotions and (4) fan behaviours. However, the analysis also shows that research within each category is largely scattered, and more research within each category is needed.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the complex and dynamic nature of commercialization. It presents a research agenda for future research and emphasizes a need to integrate the interests of several stakeholders when managing the impacts of elite sport commercialization.
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Petri Lintumäki and Oliver Koll
Supporting distant teams is a frequent phenomenon. Through the lens of the social identity theory, this research aims to examine differences between local and distant fans…
Abstract
Purpose
Supporting distant teams is a frequent phenomenon. Through the lens of the social identity theory, this research aims to examine differences between local and distant fans regarding drivers of team identification.
Design/methodology/approach
A multigroup structural equation model was employed. The data were collected through an online survey with 1,285 sports fans.
Findings
Team distinctiveness constitutes an important aspect fueling identification for all fans, whereas congruence between own and team personality is important for local and displaced fans only. Team prestige does not impact identification for either group.
Practical implications
To build up a base of highly identified supporters, clubs should emphasize those aspects of team brands that fans consider distinctive. When targeting local fans, clubs should also focus on communicating the brand's unique personality aspects.
Originality/value
This is the first study that assesses the potential differences behind fans' social identification with local and distant teams.
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Petros Parganas, Christos Anagnostopoulos and Simon Chadwick
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of social media in brand associations, particularly in regard to soccer fan clubs.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of social media in brand associations, particularly in regard to soccer fan clubs.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a professional English Premier League soccer team to investigate the effects that social media interaction had on brand associations of the team’s fan clubs in two national contexts – England and Greece.
Findings
In total, 207 online questionnaires from six fan clubs were collected and analyzed using descriptive and inferential (t-tests and χ2 tests) statistics.
Originality/value
The results revealed similarities on Facebook in terms of positive receptions of brand attributes and resonance of perceived brand benefits, while significant differences were observed on Twitter, particularly in terms of brand benefits.
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Guillaume Bodet, Hui (Eric) Geng, Nicolas Chanavat and Chengcheng Wang
The overall aim of this study is to improve our understanding of the strength of attraction factors of professional football club brands with foreign fans, and of the influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
The overall aim of this study is to improve our understanding of the strength of attraction factors of professional football club brands with foreign fans, and of the influence of demographics and individual characteristics on the influence of these factors in the context of sport spectatorship services.
Design/methodology/approach
This research was based on a quantitative study surveying 1,160 Chinese fans of English Premier League clubs and its results were produced through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. They identify the relative importance of 21 organisation– (e.g. star players, charismatic managers, team kits, partnerships and alliances, etc.), market and environment– (e.g. peer influence, TV coverage, etc.), and experience– (e.g. personal bonds, past attendance, etc.) induced service brand attraction points that were categorised into six main factors: star players, on-the-field performance, brand identity, marketing and merchandising, localism and experience.
Findings
Organisation-induced factors are the most important club brand attraction factors for Chinese fans. ANOVA analysis showed that demographic (i.e. gender, age, and education) and individual (i.e. brand identification and loyalty levels) characteristics influence the importance of attraction factors for fans. For instance, fans who had previously supported a different club brand rated the marketing and merchandising dimensions lower, localism higher, on-the-field performance lower and brand identity lower than those who had always supported the same club.
Originality/value
These results emphasise the importance of segmentation when considering consumer attraction to professional sport brands. They also provide specific practical knowledge that is useful when expanding into new foreign markets.
Robert E. Hinson, Ellis Osabutey, John Paul Kosiba and Frederick O. Asiedu
The purpose of this study is to analyse how professional football clubs have attained success with internationalisation and branding strategies in foreign markets.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyse how professional football clubs have attained success with internationalisation and branding strategies in foreign markets.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an inductive approach, 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted to analyse the perceptions of Ghanaian fans of four English Premier League teams.
Findings
The findings of this study highlight that the strength of professional football brand equity is jointly determined by the level of brand awareness, brand loyalty and perceived quality. However, increasing competition in international markets require professional football clubs to clearly define their marketing strategies to improve how fans perceive them.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the few studies to use country-of-origin paradigm and signalling theory to explain football brand equity building, thereby extending the earlier work of Chanavat and Bodet (2009). Its empirical focus on Africa is also unique and provides evidence to suggest that global marketers have the opportunity to capitalise on market expansion opportunities in developing economies.
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With the available technological tools, fans are able to access sport products regardless of geographic proximity. Through technology, fans can follow sports teams from other…
Abstract
Purpose
With the available technological tools, fans are able to access sport products regardless of geographic proximity. Through technology, fans can follow sports teams from other countries. In contrast to previous research focused on the local fan, in this paper we report on a study of a group of distant fans – Chinese National Basketball Association (NBA) fans – as the focal object. The study was guided by three questions: RQ1: what motives drive a distant fan’s involvement with their favorite NBA team? RQ2: are there differences in the motives associated with the different stages of psychological connection among distant fans? RQ3: are there differences in the amount of media consumption at the different stages of psychological connection? The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was distributed to consumers of a Chinese sports message board to assess the motives of distant fans (n=281) following teams in the NBA, and strength of psychological connection to the NBA based on the psychological continuum model (PCM).
Findings
There were significant differences in the motives for following a distant NBA team among the respondents at different stages of psychological connection. Significant differences were also found among Chinese NBA fans at the respective stages regarding media consumption.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the advancement of knowledge regarding sport fandom. It is one of the first studies to include an assessment of the sport consumption motives of distant fans, more specifically, motives influencing Chinese fans’ consumption of the NBA. Utilizing the PCM allows for the segmentation of a specific fan population and to ascertain whether there are differences in the motives and behaviors associated with different stages of an individual’s psychological connection with a team.
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