Abstract

The intense competition in the sports sector has caused changes in the sports marketing perception of team management. Club managements aim to develop brand relationships, strengthen fan loyalty and manage fan behaviors to establish an emotional bond between club brands and fans for gaining competitive advantage. In this context, the current study aimed to assess the relationships between brand relationships, fan loyalty, and fan behavior in football teams. The survey sample is 503 (293 male, 210 female) respondents. Data were collected from Besiktas Gymnastics Club, Fenerbahce Sports Club, and Galatasaray Sports Club team supporters by face-to-face survey method. The structural equation model was used in the research hypothesis testing. The findings identified no statistically significant effect of the attributes and benefits, defined as team brand associations facets, on fan behaviors. Brand associations had a significant influence on the attitudinal and behavioral loyalty of supporters. Besides, behavioral loyalty was an important determinant of fan behaviors. The results indicated that approximately 68% of the variance of attitudinal loyalty could be explained by the attributes and benefits of brand associations’ facets (R2=.677). Furthermore, facets of the brand associations accounted for approximately 66% of behavioral loyalty variance (R2=.659). Both brand associations (attributes and benefits) and fan loyalty (attitudinal and behavior loyalty) facets explained approximately 32% of the variance in fan behavior (R2=.317). Consequently, it is important to create strong and competitive brand associations in football teams, independent of sporting achievement, create positive fan behaviors, and support these behaviors. The research results could be useful for sports managers/marketers and theorists to explain and interpret fan behaviors.

Keywords: brand associations, loyalty, behavior, fan behavior, football clubs.

JEL Classification: M12, F50, J10.

Cite as: Eskiler, E., Altunisik, R., & Sarikaya, N. (2021). The relationship between brand associations and fan behaviours for football teams. Marketing and Management of Innovations, 3, 32-42. https://doi.org/10.21272/mmi.2021.3-03

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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