Sports management, marketing
Vajiheh javani; Qasim Abdulhafedh Mahmood; Fateme abdavi
Abstract
Social media has transformed the communication structures of Iraqi football in recent years and has led to the emergence of new patterns of interaction among stakeholders in this field. The present research, employing a qualitative approach and using Netnography, examines the role of social networks ...
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Social media has transformed the communication structures of Iraqi football in recent years and has led to the emergence of new patterns of interaction among stakeholders in this field. The present research, employing a qualitative approach and using Netnography, examines the role of social networks in redefining relationships among clubs, players, fans, media, and sports institutions. The research population consisted of active Iraqi users on football fan pages and groups, selected through purposive sampling. Data was collected through direct observation of digital interactions and semi-structured interviews, and then analyzed using thematic analysis. The results demonstrate that the online space has not only replaced official communication channels but has also become a dynamic platform for direct participation and the reproduction of communicative power. In this context, the role of fans and informal content producers has become more prominent than before, and the credibility of sources is defined not on the basis of institutional status but rather according to information quality, track record, and the level of user engagement. At the same time, social media sometimes contributes to strengthening cohesion and collective solidarity, while in other circumstances it leads to the emergence of tensions and conflicts. Based on these findings, it is recommended that Iraqi clubs and sports institutions revise their communication strategies in line with these developments and move toward two-way interaction, transparency, and broader cooperation with the fan community.
Sports management, marketing
Hosna Nikzad; Shahryar kharazian; Hossein Peymanizad; Ali Yaghoobian
Abstract
The present study was conducted to identify the key components and develop a theory of action regarding the impact of sports influencers’ endorsement advertising methods on the behavior of consumers of sports products and services on social media. In terms of approach, this study was qualitative; ...
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The present study was conducted to identify the key components and develop a theory of action regarding the impact of sports influencers’ endorsement advertising methods on the behavior of consumers of sports products and services on social media. In terms of approach, this study was qualitative; in terms of purpose, it was applied-developmental; and it was grounded in an interpretive-constructivist paradigm. The research strategy was grounded theory based on Glaser’s classic approach, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 19 experts and key informants, including faculty members, marketing and advertising specialists, sports influencers, sports journalists, and content production experts. Sampling was conducted theoretically, and data were analyzed using the constant comparative method through open, selective, and theoretical coding. The trustworthiness of the findings was ensured through the criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. The findings revealed 60 final concepts, 10 subcomponents, and 4 main categories, including sports influencer characteristics as the message source, advertising content and presentation style, interaction and social network, and consumer behavioral outcomes. In addition, the core category of the study was conceptualized as “trust-based persuasion in the context of social interaction.” This finding indicates that the effectiveness of sports influencers’ advertising methods is multilayered and processual, extending beyond the simple introduction of a product and operating through a chain of source trust, message quality and congruence, social interaction, and enduring behavioral outcomes for consumers.
Sports management, marketing
Zahra Vakili Ghahani; Mahvash Noorbakhsh; Abbas Khodayari; Parivash Noorbakhsh
Abstract
Objective: Social media influencers play a key role in shaping the behavior of sports tourists and influencing their travel decisions by producing persuasive content. The aim of this study was to construct an interpretive structural modeling of influence of social media influencers on sports tourist ...
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Objective: Social media influencers play a key role in shaping the behavior of sports tourists and influencing their travel decisions by producing persuasive content. The aim of this study was to construct an interpretive structural modeling of influence of social media influencers on sports tourist behavior.Method: This research was applied in terms of purpose and mixed (qualitative-quantitative) in terms of methodology. In the qualitative part, content analysis was used, and in the quantitative part, interpretive structural modeling was used. The participants in the qualitative part included sports tourists and followers of social media influencers in the field of sports, who were selected using a purposive sampling method and a snowball strategy. Based on theoretical saturation, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted. In the quantitative section, participants included faculty members, managers of tourism companies, members of sports tourism committees, and startup activists, of whom 10 were purposefully selected. Semi-structured interviews were used in the qualitative section and a 12×12 square matrix in the quantitative section to collect data. The assessment of validity and reliability in the qualitative section was carried out with strategies such as believability, transferability, confirmability, and process audit study, and in the quantitative section, face validity and Cohen's kappa index were used.Findings: Qualitative findings led to the extraction of 57 sub-themes within 12 main themes (audience behavioral expectations, travel-related job behavioral expectations, conveying a favorable destination image to the audience, arousal, audience behavioral tendencies, audience relationship, pervasive cyberspace, audience decision-making assistance, information quality, content quality, influencer influence, and influencer characteristics). Quantitative findings showed that the hierarchical model consists of five levels; “audience behavioral tendencies” is at the highest level, and “pervasive cyberspace” and “influencer characteristics” are at the lowest level. Other factors played a mediating role.Results: The results of the MiqMaq analysis showed that all factors are in an integrated and correlated structure and none can act independently. The findings of this study indicate that the impact of social media influencers on sports tourist behavior can be explained within the framework of a multilevel model, in which interactions between independent, mediating, and dependent factors play a key role.
Sports management, marketing
Vajiheh Javani; Naser Dokhtbagher; Saeid Pashazadeh; Yaghub Badri Azarin
Abstract
Today, social media marketing has created a growing and remarkable trend in the marketing activities of football clubs, and a significant part of the exchange of sports goods and services has been transferred to electronic platforms. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify the functions ...
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Today, social media marketing has created a growing and remarkable trend in the marketing activities of football clubs, and a significant part of the exchange of sports goods and services has been transferred to electronic platforms. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify the functions of social media marketing strategies of Iranian Premier League football clubs. The research was applied in terms of purpose, and data collection and analysis were carried out using the fuzzy Delphi technique in three stages. The statistical population of the study consisted of 20 experts in the fields of sport management and sport marketing, who were selected purposively. In the fuzzy Delphi process, components and indicators were first identified, and then their importance was evaluated across several stages, leading to expert consensus. The findings of the research indicated that transactional marketing strategy, relationship marketing strategy, database marketing strategy, knowledge-based marketing strategy, and customer-oriented marketing strategy can have valuable functions in the effectiveness of social media marketing activities of Iranian Premier League football clubs. These functions are realized through creating customer loyalty and satisfaction, providing the groundwork for brand recognition and brand awareness in order to enhance brand identity, increasing market share and perceptions of product quality and relative price, developing new products, increasing sales, and reducing marketing costs. The results of the study also confirmed this issue. The achievements of this study can provide appropriate solutions for the development of social media marketing activities in the football industry.
Sports management, marketing
ali karimi; Hamid Ghasemi; shahab bahrami
Abstract
Abstract
Considering the importance of advertising through social media, which is one of the most basic elements of sports marketing, in order to influence the desire of customers of sports products, and sports marketers and manufacturers use it in the virtual space to introduce their products and services. ...
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Abstract
Considering the importance of advertising through social media, which is one of the most basic elements of sports marketing, in order to influence the desire of customers of sports products, and sports marketers and manufacturers use it in the virtual space to introduce their products and services. and due to the lack of studies and research done in relation to the topic in question and the absence of a comprehensive theoretical framework that would explain the topic, and also due to the novelty of the research topic that has received less attention so far Such studies in this field as structural fields seem necessary to reach a strategy and related plans. As a result of this research, it has been compiled with the aim of designing an advertising model through social media in order to influence the desire of customers of sports products.
the method of this research, On the basis of the goal, Strategic, based on strategy, Combination And based on the path of execution, the data theory was based on the foundation. The statistical population in the qualitative section were all sports media management specialists, advertising and sports marketers That's how it works purposive sampling of a landowner, elected and the number 15 A personal interview Semi - structured Done. And in the little bit of the population, the athletes have six Sports field football, futsal, cycling, martial arts, Swimming, bodybuilding ages 15-55, living in It was the city of Kermanshah where 311 people were selected based on simple random sampling. The data collection tool in the qualitative section was a semi-structured interview and in the quantitative section was a researcher-made questionnaire derived from the qualitative data. The face and content validity of the questionnaire was assessed by 10 professors and sports experts, and the reliability of the instrument was obtained by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and reliability coefficient (more than 0.7). In order to analyze the data in the qualitative part, open, axial and selective coding and in the quantitative part, the structural equation model using the partial least squares (PLS) method has been used.
116 basic conceptual propositions with 15 categories, and 70 concepts in the form of 6 dimensions of paradigm model, including causal conditions (social media potential and customer orientation), main phenomenon (advertising through social media), strategy (customer acquisition and retention) , Contextual characteristics (performance improvement and development of advertising effectiveness); Intervention conditions (internal and external constraints) and consequences (development and economic beliefs). Social media facilitates the communication of customers with each other and with the company, and the information of sports products will be available to customers in a faster, more comprehensive and transparent manner, and also they can make their evaluation more quickly by checking the information and finally decide to buy or not to buy. Also, customer retention is the financial necessity of any organization that provides its services in cyberspace, because a customer can go to other organizations that provide goods and services with just one click, so customer retention is very important. Based on this, it can be said that one of the factors that lead to the development of advertising through social media is paying attention to the use of the customer's point of view, better communication with the customer, creating two-way communication and the ability to communicate effectively and efficiently with customers which needs more attention.
In this research, an attempt was made to design and develop an advertisement development model through social media using the foundational data theory method. Based on this, the final model of the research, consisting of 7 main categories (potential of social media, customer orientation, internal and external limitations, development of advertising through social media, improvement of performance and development of advertising effectiveness, customer attraction and retention, development and social beliefs economic), was identified in the form of 15 concepts. In this model, the development of advertising through social media was chosen as the main category, or the central phenomenon, which is a dependent variable influenced by various conditions, such as the effectiveness of social media, accessibility and customer orientation, individual factors, environmental factors. , culturalization, limitations of use and limitation of use. The results are consistent with Kim and Ko (2012) and Goody et al. (2016). Based on this, it can be said that, considering the speed of social media's influence on people and the possibility of changing their opinion regarding the customer's willingness to buy or not to buy a brand, these media become an information center for marketing, seeking to understand consumer buying behavior and Gaining an understanding of why customers hold certain brands is becoming. In explaining the results of the research, it can be said that, today, social media is a strategic and important tool for the development of brands. In this environment, there is extensive communication, and interaction with members and consumers at a small cost, to introduce and advertise goods and products. Social media offers companies, especially sports manufacturing companies, and customer’s new ways to communicate with each other. So that marketing activities in social media have created relationships with loyal customers, and have an effect on people's personal understanding of the company's products. Which can have a positive effect to improve the role of the product brand, the company through social media pages, with more attractive advertising on the views and opinions of customers of its products. The importance of advertising development through social media as a central category as well as the category of improving the performance and effectiveness of advertising and attracting and retaining customers as an important and practical factor were other important features of this model.
Neda Ziaei ghochan atigh; Ali Benesbordi; Parvin Shooshi nasab
Abstract
The advent of social media in the last decade has changed the speed and scope of communication and interaction between individuals and organizations around the world and has also affected the way we behave and communicate with others. Comparing to the offline environment, the online environment offers ...
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The advent of social media in the last decade has changed the speed and scope of communication and interaction between individuals and organizations around the world and has also affected the way we behave and communicate with others. Comparing to the offline environment, the online environment offers more opportunities for interactive and personal marketing. Nowadays, brands use social media extensively to attract customers and have expanded in social networks, Which is one of the used strategies to increase the fans and using their club customers for getting more customers. Linking brand communities to social media leads us to the concept of brand communities created on social media, which is a subset of the broader concept of "virtual communities" or online brand communities. Brand communities also provide brand information to members of the community and help the organization to build a strong brand; At the same time, brand communities help to share information, to continue brand history and culture, and help consumers to promote loyalty. Social media plays a key role in making relationships between existing and potential customers and promoting their loyalty. The issue of loyalty is important, because it can be said that the most important property of many companies are their loyal customers. Various factors and variables play a role in creating loyalty. The results of previous research have shown that to what extent social media has a role in attracting customers and raising their demands, and as a result, increasing level of loyalty. This can also be true for Iranian sports clubs, but it needs a scientific study. In this study, the components of opinion seeking (user characteristics) and entertainment value (content features) of club's social media, participation and customer interaction in the club's social media and online brand social identity with loyalty were examined. The brand literature and research background have not paid enough attention to the relationship between these components and customer loyalty and there is still no coherent framework for it. Given this content and the importance of promoting loyalty, the researcher in this study examined the role of social media on online brand community identification and loyalty of sports club customers. The research method is descriptive and correlation kind, which was performed in the field form and is in the category of applied research. The instrument used in this research was the Yoshida et al. (2018) questionnaire, which includes this sections: demographic questions and specialized questions, including opinion seeking (user features) with 3 items, entertainment value (content features) With 3 items, online brand social identification with 3 items, social media interaction with 7 items and customer loyalty with 3 items. The statistical population of the study included the customers of fitness and aerobics clubs in Mashhad, which had active social media such as Instagram, Telegram and the website, and presented special activities to attract and interaction their customers on these pages. G-Power software was used to determine the sample size. Based on the software output, the statistical sample size should be 197 people. The research questionnaire was designed online and posted on the clubs' social media, and finally 190 complete questionnaires were received, which was acceptable considering the 95% return rate. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings showed the Cronbach's alpha value and the combined reliability were higher than 0.7 and the factor loading of all items was greater than 0.4, indicating the reliability of the measurement model. The AVE value for all components was greater than 0.5, indicating the convergent validity of the measurement model. Fornell-Larker test also showed that divergent validity of the research model is appropriate that. In the structural model, T values were greater than 1.96, which indicates the significance of the path coefficients, and R2 also greater than 0.36, which confirms the quality of the structural model. Also, the value of GOF was 0.61, which indicates a strong fit of the model. Based on the test results of the research model there was a significant relationship between opinion seeking(user characteristics) of club's social media and participation in social media, there was a significant relationship between opinion seeking and Online brand community identification, there was a significant relationship between opinion seeking and customer loyalty. There was a significant relationship between entertainment value (content features) of club's social media and participation in social media, there was a significant relationship between entertainment value and Online brand community identification, there was a significant relationship between entertainment value and customer loyalty. There was a significant relationship between participation in social media and Online brand community identification. There was a significant relationship between participation in social media and customer loyalty. Finally there was a significant relationship between Online brand community identification and customer loyalty of fitness and aerobics clubs in Mashhad. Therefore, the ability to opinion seeking and entertainment value of club's social media is effective in customer online brand social identification and loyalty. Also as the level of interaction and participation among customers increases, long-term relationships will be formed between them, the online brand social identification will be strengthened, and ultimately the level of customer loyalty will increase. It is necessary for managers to be more careful in using these media and networks because it is a good platform to retain customers and attract new customers. In this regard, it is recommended to club managers: use the Instagram social network because it is used more by customers and on the other hand provides the conditions for communication and two-way interaction, and also attractive visual content can be sent through it. Produce and publish quality content related to the conditions of the club and prevent from providing unrelated content, which will reduce the attractiveness of the page. One of the best and fastest ways to increase customer engagement and participation in social networks is to hold a competition, so by creating various competitions and challenges with the presence of famous people, you can increase the number of visits and interactions in the social network and attractiveness of your page.
Ali Moattar; Sedigheh Eslami; Hamid Ghasemi
Abstract
In recent years, with the intensification of competition in the field of sports, serious attention has been paid to sports marketing. Sports clubs serve customers with the aim of returning customers. Studies have shown that the desire to return a customer is related to their level of satisfaction. On ...
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In recent years, with the intensification of competition in the field of sports, serious attention has been paid to sports marketing. Sports clubs serve customers with the aim of returning customers. Studies have shown that the desire to return a customer is related to their level of satisfaction. On the other hand, the level of custemers satisfaction is determined by the quality of the services provided. In fact, nowadays, quality is defined by the custemer’s demand, and the customer’s perceptions and expections are considered the main determinants of quality. The purpose of this study was to determine the moderating role of social media in relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and customers' behavioral intention in swimming clubs.This research is applied, descriptive and correlational. The statistical population of this research was the customers of swimming clubs in Tehran. Sample size was determined by Cochran formula. Cluster and random sampling was performed to select 384 persons. The service quality questionaire (Liu, 2008), (Liu investigated the validity and reliability of the questionnaire with exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Also, Mahmoudi et al. (2014) using the KMO index and Bartlett's test obtained the validity of the questionnaire at 0.872 and 0.001, respectively, and obtained the reliability of the questionnaire at 0.91 using Cronbach's alpha coefficient.), customer satisfaction questionaire (Chen, 2005), (This questionnaire is standard and Chen considered it valid and reliable. Also, Fasnaqari et al. (2016) evaluated its reliability with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.87.), customers' behavioral intention questionaire (Parasuman, 1991), (This questionnaire is standard and has been used in many researches and its validity and reliability have been confirmed. Kurdlo et al. (2015) reported the reliability of the questionnaire with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.92.) And researcher-made social media role questionnaire were used for data collection. The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed again by the supervisor and a number of experts in the field of research. The reliability of the questionnaires was evaluated again by factor loadings, Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability, and mean extracted variance. In this research, the data obtained from the research questionnaire was used to evaluate the research measurement model, including the factor loading and t-statistic value for the questionnaire questions, Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability and mean variance extracted from SmartPLS software. Also, in order to evaluate the structural model of the research, including the causal and moderating relationships between the research variables, the structural equations method was used using SmartPLS software, as well as the correlation test with SPSS software. The results of Spearman correlation test showed that the quality of service has a significant direct relationship with customer satisfaction and customers' behavioral intention. Customer satisfaction also had a significant direct relationship with customers' behavioral intention. The results of the structural equation method showed that social media moderates the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. Social media also moderates the relationship between customer satisfaction and customers' behavioral intention. It seems that the quality of swimming club services, including health and welfare facilities, safety, responsible behavior of employees, as well as responsiveness, commitment and empathy of employees regarding swimming club services, improves customer satisfaction. On the other hand, the quality of swimming club services can affect customer loyalty.The quality of service with all its dimensions, which includes facilities, appropriate services and appropriate behavior of employees, is effective on the loyalty of customers and their decision to attend again; For example, it is important for customers to see that swimming instructors act responsibly towards proper swimming training and that their training is accompanied by the empathy of customers. This case is especially effective in relation to customers' decisions regarding the desire to attend swimming lessons with their children. On the other hand, whenever customers are satisfied with the swimming club, its facilities, services, and the behavior of the staff, they have a better perception of the club and this issue is effective in deciding to attend again. In fact, customers should be sure that the equipment is sufficient to continue their presence in the club. This confidence is formed by comparing different clubs and also the mental prerequisites of people regarding the necessary equipment. It is also necessary for people to feel comfortable in the club; This feeling of comfort is related to the design of the structure and components of the club, the process of training and swimming in the club, the training process, the feeling of comfort with the staff and trainers, and these parameters are effective in the decision of customers to attend the club again. On the other hand, social networks have helped to understand what customers expect from services, and customers of organizations that use social networks have a better understanding of the services provided. There is a significant difference between the perceived value in the two positions of buyer and seller; Social media facilitates the communication and interaction between the buyer and the seller, and in this way, better understanding of the quality of service expected by the customers from the buyer's position and vice versa. As a result, the seller can provide his services with the quality expected by the customers and in this way increase the satisfaction of the customers. In fact, by helping the effective communication and interaction of the users and the seller, the social media helps to bring closer their perception of the quality and quantity of the service and as a result to improve the quality of the service and in this way it moderates the effect of the quality of the service on the satisfaction of the customers. Also, by improving the image of the club as one of the components of satisfaction, social networks can adjust the relationship between customer satisfaction and the desire of customers to attend swimming clubs. Tuse social media cause more, better and faster interaction between the club and customers. It is suggested that the clubs conduct surevys and receive users’ opinions related to the services, so that clubs can provide the services desired services to the customers.
hossein kordlu; hossein ali mohammadi; Mehrdad Moharram Zadeh; Nasrin Azizian Kohan
Abstract
The present study was an applied and correlational study that was conducted in the field. To collect the data of the present study, two researcher-made social media marketing questionnaires with 15 questions including 5 components and customer satisfaction with 3 questions were used. For this purpose, ...
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The present study was an applied and correlational study that was conducted in the field. To collect the data of the present study, two researcher-made social media marketing questionnaires with 15 questions including 5 components and customer satisfaction with 3 questions were used. For this purpose, using random sampling method, 393 questionnaires were collected online and physically among the customers of Hamedan sports and recreation complexes to collect data. In this study, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics including Pearson correlation and multiple regression at the alpha level of 0.05 were used. SPSS software was used to analyze the data. The findings of the present study indicate that all components of social media marketing were significant predictors of customer satisfaction. Among the components of social media marketing, the entertainment component explained the highest (0.26) and the social interaction (0.16) the lowest predictor for customer satisfaction. According to the findings of this study, it is necessary to place more emphasis on the components that attract customers when using social media as a marketing platform. Meanwhile, by using the social media marketing model, customers can be attracted more attention to be satisfied with the marketing done.
Fereshte Firouzian; Hassan Bahrololoum; Houriyhe Dehghanpouri
Abstract
This research is applied based on purpose and correlation in nature and has been done by survey method. The statistical population of the study was the customers of sports stores in Semnan province. The statistical sample size was 251 people and was available. Data collection tools were social media ...
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This research is applied based on purpose and correlation in nature and has been done by survey method. The statistical population of the study was the customers of sports stores in Semnan province. The statistical sample size was 251 people and was available. Data collection tools were social media marketing questionnaires Mehrabi & et al, (2014), customer equity Hamidizade & et al, (2015) and repurchase intention Dorwasola, (2004) and Rajetgera, (2011). The face and content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts. The reliability of the questionnaires was estimated to be 0.89, 0.84 and 0.84 using Cronbach's alpha test, respectively. The results showed that social media marketing activities have a positive and significant effect on customer equity and repurchase intention; Customer equity has a positive and significant effect on purchase intention and social media marketing activities indirectly have a positive and significant effect on repurchase intention through customer equity. Therefore, it can be said that social networks provide an opportunity to promote the store and the products of the stores.
