Purpose

Despite its growth, there has been a lack of investigation on how sport rebranding influences fans and their behaviors. This study sought to examine how a critical aspect of rebranding – logo redesign – influences fans' attitudes toward a sport brand and intent to purchase merchandise bearing the rebranded logo. More specifically, we aim to investigate the influence of varying degrees of logo change and fan identification in relation to brand attitude and purchase intention.

Design/methodology/approach

An experimental design, 4 (degrees of logo change) × 2 (fan identification: low, high), was utilized with the sample of 277 participants. The current logo of the Ultimate Fighting Championship was redesigned into three fictitious rebranded logos as stimuli based on different rebranding types.

Findings

The results suggest that color change and revolutionary change generate the most negative attitudes from both high- and low-identified fans, and fan identification is not a significant factor influencing fan attitudes. Regarding purchase intention, low-identified fans are not significantly influenced by logo changes whereas highly identified fans showed similar response to their attitudes.

Originality/value

The findings advance the current body of knowledge on sport rebranding and fan behavior by demonstrating the effects of varying degrees of logo redesign and fan identification levels on brand attitude and purchase intention. Moreover, the current research has important implications for sport marketers on developing effective rebranding and logo redesign strategies.

中文翻译：

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体育品牌重塑：不同程度的体育标志重新设计对品牌态度和购买意愿的影响

目的

尽管它有所增长，但缺乏对体育品牌重塑如何影响球迷及其行为的调查。本研究旨在检验品牌重塑的一个关键方面——标志重新设计——如何影响球迷对运动品牌的态度以及购买带有品牌重塑标志的商品的意愿。更具体地说，我们旨在调查不同程度的标志变化和粉丝识别对品牌态度和购买意愿的影响。

设计/方法/方法

对 277 名参与者的样本使用了 4（徽标变化程度）×2（粉丝识别度：低、高）的实验设计。终极格斗锦标赛的当前标志被重新设计为三个虚构的重新命名标志，作为基于不同品牌重塑类型的刺激。

发现

结果表明，颜色变化和革命性变化在高认同度和低认同度的粉丝中产生的负面态度最多，粉丝认同度不是影响粉丝态度的显着因素。在购买意愿方面，低识别度的粉丝并没有受到标志变化的显着影响，而高度识别度的粉丝对他们的态度表现出相似的反应。

原创性/价值

研究结果通过展示不同程度的标志重新设计和球迷识别水平对品牌态度和购买意愿的影响，推进了当前关于体育品牌重塑和球迷行为的知识体系。此外，目前的研究对体育营销人员制定有效的品牌重塑和标志重新设计策略具有重要意义。