Development of the Brand Authenticity Scale for Professional Sport Teams

PURPOSE This study aimed to identify the underlying dimensions of brand (professional sport team) authenticity and to develop a valid, reliable scale to measure these dimensions.METHODS A pool of 67 potential items was drawn through a literature review, content analysis, qualitative research (n=43), and an expert evaluation. The identified items were subjected to exploratory factor analysis (n=248) and confirmatory factor analysis (n=285). In addition, multiple regressions were conducted to examine the criterion validity of the scale.RESULTS The results showed that the brand authenticity scale for professional sport teams consists of 42 items representing 8 dimensions: continuity, originality, quality commitment, heritage, symbolism, credibility, stakeholder-related integrity, and consumer-related integrity. The study has proven evidences of internal consistency and convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity of the scale.CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that the scale developed in this study offers a vital foundation to understand the structure of brand authenticity in the context of sport fans and its impact on sport consumer behavior.