Purpose Extending existing research in a football context, this study explores how image and service quality influence spectator tribe satisfaction and loyalty and variations in behaviors depending on age, gender and emotional involvement. Design/methodology/approach Spectators aged 18 years and older who attended Barcelona Football Club home La Liga matches were sampled. Partial least squares structural

Purpose Sport is an important economic activity, and understanding the role of teams and managers is necessary, yet managers – specifically their brand personas – have been the subject of limited research. The purpose of this research is to explore the brand persona of a football manager, using Arsène Wenger as a case. Design/methodology/approach Due to the exploratory nature of the study, qualitative

Purpose The current study aims to provide a systematic approach to detecting and identifying social desirability bias (SDB) in survey data using controversial sponsorship as a research context. Design/methodology/approach We used an experimental approach to manipulate sponsorship situations (e.g. Beer sponsor vs Sports drink sponsor) that could potentially motivate respondents to under-report their

Purpose The global outbreak of the COVID-19 forced most sport leagues to cancel games in March–April 2020, leaving no sport games to watch for sport fans. The present study examined how sport consumers appraise stress and engage in coping behaviors resulted from sport lockout due to the global pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This study examined the relationship between sport fans’ psychological

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

Purpose The current study was designed to (1) identify core and peripheral market demand for a recurring hallmark sporting event, testing their impact on event identification and behavioral intentions; and to (2) explore the effect of core and peripheral market demand on event identification between first-time and repeat spectators. Design/methodology/approach Research participants (N = 540) were spectators

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of social media strategies of sport organizations when an unexpected absence of relevant content occurs. The study explored the typologies of Instagram posts of NHL teams and measured engagement of social media content that was not planned in advance. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methods approach was utilized through a content

Purpose The segmentation of customers into homogeneous groups is well researched, reflecting its importance to marketers. Specific to professional sports, published research on customer segmentation first occurred in the early 2000s, but no studies exist based on internal data from season ticket holders, an attractive and loyal customer group which is the most important customer for professional sports

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the perceived enjoyment that is derived from spectators observing other spectators’ dysfunctional behavior during a game. Design/methodology/approach Using four forms (i.e. fighting, verbal assault, disrupting play and throwing missiles) of spectators dysfunctional behavior (SDB), two experiments (N = 252 for Study 1 and N = 92 for Study 2) were conducted

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the intention of using fitness app made available by the fitness centre to its members and their relationship with overall customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The present study uses the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) as the base model. All the hypothesised relationships were tested through partial least

Purpose The main aim of this study was to analyze and establish the state of the question about entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship in sport, identify the role of innovation in both of them, as well as to determine the latest study trends and detect possible research niches. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review of the Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO, ERIC, SPORTDiscus and Dialnet databases

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the category function of the sport fandom questionnaire (SFQ), determine the optimal categorization of the SFQ and calibrate the measurement qualities of the newly modified rating scale option using Rasch analysis. Design/methodology/approach This paper relies on the Rasch analysis to validate the SFQ. A series of studies are performed based on analysis

Purpose The organization of several small-scale events throughout the year is called event portfolio and may contribute to the development of the city strategy in the touristic, social and economic fields. The organization of a set of sporting events represents an important innovation in the development of city marketing. This paper analyzing the scarce literature on event portfolio provides the main

Purpose Based on the limited-capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP), this study aims to examine the effects of different camera types on the viewing experiences of sports consumers and their intention to follow social media channels, depending on their level of sports involvement. Design/methodology/approach The design for this experiment utilized 2 (highly involved vs less

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of background music on consumer's psychological and physiological responses when watching sports advertisements. We investigated how consumers' exposure to background music affects emotional arousal, attention, brand attitude and purchase intentions; and further tested consumers' information processing by using the same measures. Effects of

Purpose Scholars have examined the relationship between sports and urban development and proposed to use sport programs and events as a catalyst to revitalize communities, upgrade urban infrastructure, promote city image, shift economic structure, nurture an active lifestyle, and enhance societal harmony and solidarity. Yet, previous studies were usually focused on mega sport events and were typically

Purpose The aim of this paper is to present a research approach that can contribute to a sustainable development of urban spaces for sports and physical activity, comprising theoretical reflections and directions for applied research. Design/methodology/approach This research builds on an urban real-world lab in a city district. It is based on principles of transdisciplinary research and intense processes

Purpose The current study aims to explain the influence of technological interactivity and media sociability on sport consumer value co-creation behavior via collective efficacy and collective intelligence. Design/methodology/approach Subjects were individuals who have a mobile smart device and experience of accessing sport-related community websites (n = 513). A face-to-face self-administered survey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find evidence of the benefits and constraints of collaborative consumption experiences by investigating the perceptions of hosts and visitors that attended professional regular season basketball and baseball games in the USA. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through four focus groups with 37 total participants and were analyzed through qualitative

Purpose The purpose of the study was to compare young adult responses to rational and emotional sports product advertisements. The moderating roles of product type and gender were also examined. Design/methodology/approach The study utilized a 2 (advertising appeal: emotional vs rational) ×2 (gender: male vs female)×2 (sport product type: utilitarian vs hedonic) research design. Data were collected

Purpose The purpose of this research is to develop and validate a scale to measure the perceived orientation of sport organizations toward their fans, and subsequently, to test its relationship with six outcomes based on data from the fanbases of three distinct sport teams. Design/methodology/approach Using interviews and focus groups, important elements of fans' perceptions of their relationship with

Purpose Combining sport event tourism and experience economy has led to an experience-based explanation of sport tourists' behavior and the creation of experiencescapes. This study aims to analyze the interdependence of perceived experiences and revisit intention across three events. Design/methodology/approach Using a survey, data (n = 986) were collected from spectators at the ice hockey world championships

Purpose Due to the increased growth of Internet users, the examination of compelling online shopping behavior has emerged as a vital topic in developing positive consumer behaviors. However, there is a dearth of studies into how consumers of sport merchandise in the online setting spend their time and what types of factors contribute toward their positive shopping experience. To fill this gap, the

Purpose This study was conducted to examine the effect of co-branding, a brand partnership tactic involving two or more brands, on consumer behavior within the sport industry. As such, the primary aim was to examine differences regarding consumers' perceptions of self-image congruence and perceived product quality when considering solo-branding and co-branding conditions. Further, under the co-branding

Purpose The growing proportion of older fans and their potential economic value have increased the need for an improved understanding of age differences in fan behaviour. Building on socioemotional selectivity theory, the current study examines the impact of age differences on fan hatred as well as on the extent to which fans actually engage in aggressive activities and fans' perceptions of the levels

Purpose To understand the football industry in its entirety, a supply chain management (SCM) approach is necessary. This includes the study of suppliers, consumers and their collaborations. The purpose of this study was to present a business management model based on supply chain management. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 12 academic and executive football

Purpose Given the public availability of secondary data on investments in events such as the Olympics, FIFA World Cup and professional sports, event studies that measure stock market response to these investments have grown. Previous findings are mixed, however, with some studies suggesting that the announcement of sponsorship contracts is a positive event and others finding detrimental effects of

Purpose Although both sports and cities have transformed over the last century, research on the intersection of sports and urban development remains scarce. This special issue was designed to advance a research agenda in relation to sports and urban development. The sports and urban development special issue of International Journal of Sport Marketing and Sponsorship brings together a collection of

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how skateboarding as a community, sport and cultural phenomenon can become integrated into and drive the development, branding and marketing of a city (Malmö). Design/methodology/approach This paper is produced through a communicative co-constructed process of one scholar and one practitioner within the skateboarding field. Through the narrative told

Purpose The Rio 2016 Olympic Games required a significant investment in the public transport systems, connecting four city's areas and providing different types of impacts and legacies for their hosts. The purpose of this paper is to examine resident perceptions of the public transportation issues in the Rio host city before and after the Games. Key factors underpinning transportation issue outcomes

Purpose In 2017, the National Basketball Association (NBA) became the first major professional North American sport league to adopt jersey sponsorship. While professional leagues across the globe have allowed this practice for decades, the NBA's decision marked what may be the start of a new trend in North American sport sponsorship. With this in mind, the current study sought to assess the impact

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the stadiums in Turkey within the scope of sustainability and evaluate their impact on sustainable urban development. Design/methodology/approach In the study, at first, the “Sustainable Stadium Assessment Tool”, where the final score ranges from 0 to 100 and the evaluation is made as bronze, silver, gold and platinum according to the score ranges, is

Purpose As the superiority of sports celebrities' endorsements has been questioned, the purpose of this study is to identify various types of endorsers' direct and indirect effects on consumers' purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach Empirical data were collected from 240 useful responses to an online experiment, and research hypotheses were tested using (moderated) serial mediation analyses

Purpose Building on existing sport licensing research from the North American market, the primary goal of this study was to explore meanings embedded in sport licensed products in the Greek sport market. The secondary goal was to examine the extent to which product meanings can predict favorable sport consumer behaviors. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from football and basketball fans

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to explore a new sport attendance behavior spectrum framework where sport consumer behavior is not derived from just a dichotomy of a motivator positively impacting attendance or a constraint negatively impacting attendance. Rather, when accounting for the context of the setting (e.g. sport, playing level, locality, patron type, etc.), some areas belong on a spectrum

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reframe analyses of stadium and arena subsidization policies from perspectives centered upon economic and financial issues toward a perspective focused on broader issues of urban governance and the public purposes of sports facilities. Such assessments would provide a better understanding of whether such use of public resources represents good public policy.

Purpose This study examines the effects of congruence and reliability on cause-brand alliance (CBA) program attitudes—exploring how CBA program attitudes and sport entity attitudes affect attitudes toward a sport-related and sport-unrelated brand in a single CBA. Design/methodology/approach About 240 survey participants answered questions before and after being exposed to information about the NFL

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to provide a discussion on using sport events for community development through the lenses of community development theories and perceived event impacts. Design/methodology/approach The nature of the paper was not based on a specific methodology or design, rather on a review of relevant studies that aim to support strategies of how to develop a community through

Purpose This study aimed to examine the effects of two sponsorship purpose articulations (commercially oriented vs noncommercially oriented) on attitude toward the sponsor via sponsor–property fit and the moderating effect of the overlapped mission between the sponsor and the property. Design/methodology/approach A 2 (purpose articulation type: commercially oriented vs noncommercially oriented) × 2

Purpose Olympic Stadiums are expensive and large constructions. The media often report on cost overruns based on the extravagant appearance of an Olympic Stadium and the lack of its postgames utilization. The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual stadium legacy framework consisting of four dimensions and twelve functions that an Olympic Stadium can potentially have. Design/methodology/approach

Purpose Severe hazards associated with climate change are threatening human settlements, thereby requiring global cities to implement comprehensive climate adaptation strategies. For sports organizations, adaptive measures may include designing and constructing new stadiums. In this study, the authors explore climate change as a vehicle for urban transformation, particularly as it relates to the replacement

Purpose The objective is to examine the influence of articulation on the effectiveness of sports sponsorship. Design/methodology/approach This research uses an experimental design with the following factors: articulation (articulated vs unarticulated), congruence (congruent and incongruent) and sporting discipline (tennis, F1 and sailing). Findings Even though the academic literature argues that articulation

Purpose Transformative marketing provides a way to encourage positive behaviors. This approach can be applied to community intervention organizations, such as the Special Olympics. Such organizations bring services to provide activity, healthy eating, proper healthcare and caretaker education. This study examines one campaign of the 2018 Special Olympics USA Summer Games focusing on health and wellness

Purpose In advanced societies, lifestyles are increasingly sedentary, and it is important to identify strategies to help people acquire healthy habits, such as exercise. The present study proposes the use of gamification as a strategy for encouraging users to exercise regularly, based on the possibilities offered by “smart” devices such as smartbands. Design/methodology/approach The work analyzes how

Purpose This paper tests and validates a conceptual model linking the attachment points, team identification, attitude towards the team sponsors and the behavioural intentions in the context of Indian Premier League (IPL), while testing for the moderating effects of age and gender. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 1,053 participants through both online and offline survey and then

Purpose The purpose of this research was to test the influence of consumer knowledge management on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty through service quality and psychological involvement. Design/methodology/approach The participants (N = 396) were recruited through a convenience sampling technique from non-profit sport clubs in Iran. Data were analyzed with the Structural Equation Modeling using Mplus

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine the influence of perceived sponsorship leverage on perceived product quality and the image transfer model, under moderation by fan involvement. Design/methodology/approach A self-report online survey was carried out after the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Responses were received from 422 individuals in 21 countries. The leverage scale was validated using

Purpose The article presents an empirical analysis that evaluates the effects of a systemic corruption scandal on the demand in the short and the long run. In 2006, the Calciopoli scandal uncovered the match rigging in the Italian soccer first division. The exemplary sportive sanction of relegating the primary culprit to the second division imposed further negative externalities on the other clubs

Purpose Sporting goods retailing is a significant sector within the sport industry with the total revenue of this sector reaching $52.2 billion in 2018. Beset with formidable competition, sporting goods stores are compelled to augment their merchandise with service and improve retail quality. The purpose of this study is to investigate retail quality of sporting goods stores (RQSGS). Design/methodology/approach

Purpose Offline retail stores have been working on improving their in-store customer experience; they have begun to realise the physical advantage they have over online channels. Especially sports products have a number of unique features, such as high emotional involvement or a sense of community; additionally, sports customers put emphasis on multisensory brand experience at the point of sale. This

Purpose This study aims to examine the influence of a sports-related accident and its severity on sponsorship effects, including brand recognition, attitude toward the sponsoring brand and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach The fear appeal theory and sensation-seeking are applied as a theoretical framework. The research is carried out via an experiment using auto racing video footage and

Purpose This study aims at understanding how professional sports events compete with each other to attract spectators, sponsors and media coverage, by referring to the resource-based view (RBV) theory, which interprets firms as a bundle of idiosyncratic resources and capabilities. Specifically, the authors aim to identify the value-creating resources that support event success in the long run. Des

Purpose Using two theoretical lenses – social identity theory and generation cohort theory – the present study analyzes the influence of sport motivations (i.e., patriotism, drama and excitement of the game, nostalgic associations, interest in star players and social influence) on the intentions to watch the International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty-20 (T20) World Cup of three different generation

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the complexity of how spectators' multiple identities influence their behavioral intention. Specifically, the authors examined the effects of spectators' place identification, team identification and an interaction effect on attendance intention using social identity complexity framework. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from spectators

Purpose The concept of sport team identification has been widely used as a theoretical framework in explaining sport fan behavior. However, limited attention has been devoted to the consequences of distant (i.e., foreign) team identification. The purpose of the current research was to examine the way in which fans (local and distant) can increase their levels of collective and personal self-esteem

Purpose The central objective is to determine the main components of a brand that become a “beloved” brand in the minds of consumers applied to football teams. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a quantitative causal study using partial least squares (PLS) with a sample of 824 participants using an online questionnaire. Findings Brand love is a construct composed of five dimensions:

Naming rights sponsorships of sport facilities are among the most highly visible marketing agreements in the world. However, factors that may lead one sponsorship to persist for decades, while others end after just a few years, have yet to be investigated. Thus, this study examines the decision-making of brand marketers by investigating the predictors of a sponsoring brand's decision to either continue

While advertising and sponsorship are conceptually different, many studies have used the same measures for both constructs. The assumption is that respondents perceive both domains similarly. The purpose of this study was to test the invariance of the belief measures between the advertising and sponsorship measurement models across different consumer segments and to provide empirical justification

The purpose of this study was to examine the millennial fans decision-making process in connection with various sport consumption behaviors (i.e. game attendance, TV viewing, participation in online activities, and participation in social media activities) using a modified model of goal-directed behavior (i.e. Sport Fan MGB).,We collected data using Amazon Mechanical Turk (N = 222) to test the hypothesized

Purpose The purpose of this research is to extend current knowledge regarding rivalry communication among sport consumers to better understand how rivals behave with one another when they communicate. Design/methodology/approach This national survey of US sport consumers used a novel approach to explore whether and with whom rivals discuss National Football League (NFL) game outcomes. The survey captured