ABSTRACT

Research Question: The current research examined the effect of an athlete promoting his philanthropic efforts to his Instagram followers. Specifically, we assessed how adopting this strategy impacted his followers’ perceptions of, and level of fandom towards, his personal brand.

Research Methods: We used a longitudinal research design including a pre-intervention survey, an intervention, and a post-intervention survey separated by a six-month interval. We analysed free-thought brand associations, perceptions of athlete philanthropy, and levels of fandom reported by an athlete's Instagram followers from two independent samples (N_T1 = 165; N_T2 = 172) and a longitudinal sample (N = 32).

Results and Findings: Results indicated that the athlete's promotion of his philanthropic activities positively impacted his brand image. This change was characterized by a shift from the prominence of sport-specific brand attributes to perceptions of overall character. In addition, followers reported increased perceptions of the athlete's engagement in philanthropy, and stronger levels of overall fandom towards the athlete.

Research Implications: Findings demonstrated the promotion of philanthropic activities impacted the brand associations consumers linked to the athlete's personal brand, and strengthened the overall connection between the athlete and his followers. Findings extend athlete branding knowledge and provide practical implications to inform how athletes and agents may implement social media brand management.

摘要

研究问题：目前的研究检验了运动员向 Instagram 粉丝宣传其慈善事业的效果。具体来说，我们评估了采用这种策略如何影响他的追随者对他的个人品牌的看法和狂热程度。

研究方法：我们采用纵向研究设计，包括干预前调查、干预和干预后调查，间隔为六个月。我们从两个独立样本 ( N _T1  = 165; N _T2  = 172) 和纵向样本 ( N  = 32) 中分析了自由思想品牌关联、对运动员慈善事业的看法以及运动员 Instagram 追随者报告的粉丝水平。

结果和调查结果：结果表明，运动员对其慈善活动的宣传对其品牌形象产生了积极影响。这种变化的特点是从运动特定品牌属性的突出转变为对整体性格的认知。此外，追随者报告说，对运动员参与慈善事业的看法有所增加，对运动员的整体粉丝水平也更高。

研究启示：调查结果表明，慈善活动的推广影响了消费者与运动员个人品牌相关的品牌联想，并加强了运动员与其追随者之间的整体联系。调查结果扩展了运动员品牌知识，并为运动员和代理人如何实施社交媒体品牌管理提供了实际意义。