{"title":"Applying the Customer-Centric Model to the Investigation of Brand Communities of Professional Sports Teams","authors":"Anat Toder Alon, A. Shuv-Ami","doi":"10.32731/smq.303.0921.05","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This study employs the customer-centric model of brand communities (including fan-fan, fan-management, fan-team, and fan-product relationships) to examine sports fans through the two lenses of team identification and fan loyalty and explore the effect of these constructs on fans’ behavior. The study used an online panel-based survey to collect data from 742 football fans. Also, the study utilized exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and nomological network analysis to establish the validity and reliability of a new scale of fan-centric relationships of team sports clubs (TSCs). Utilizing structural equation modelling, it was demonstrated that all four levels of fan relationships significantly predicted both team identification and fan loyalty. Furthermore, both team identification and fan loyalty significantly predicted intention to attend games. Identifying and classifying the different levels of fan-centric relationships may provide TSCs with the potential to strengthen fans’ identification with and loyalty to the team and, consequently, increase consumption.","PeriodicalId":47293,"journal":{"name":"Sport Marketing Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Sport Marketing Quarterly","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.32731/smq.303.0921.05","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
This study employs the customer-centric model of brand communities (including fan-fan, fan-management, fan-team, and fan-product relationships) to examine sports fans through the two lenses of team identification and fan loyalty and explore the effect of these constructs on fans’ behavior. The study used an online panel-based survey to collect data from 742 football fans. Also, the study utilized exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and nomological network analysis to establish the validity and reliability of a new scale of fan-centric relationships of team sports clubs (TSCs). Utilizing structural equation modelling, it was demonstrated that all four levels of fan relationships significantly predicted both team identification and fan loyalty. Furthermore, both team identification and fan loyalty significantly predicted intention to attend games. Identifying and classifying the different levels of fan-centric relationships may provide TSCs with the potential to strengthen fans’ identification with and loyalty to the team and, consequently, increase consumption.
期刊介绍:
Sport Marketing Quarterly (SMQ) is published quarterly (March, June, September, December) and serves as an outlet for the dissemination of sport marketing information for both practicing professionals and academicians. These two important constituencies now have an opportunity to develop a relationship that is intended to be mutually beneficial. For practitioners, the SMQ provides a vehicle to share marketing successes with peers. For academicians, the SMQ provides a forum for sharing research.