The Effect of Corporate Sponsor Image on Purchase Intention of Persepolis Fans With The Mediating Role of Brand Love And Sport Involvement

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD in Sports Management, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

2 استادیارگروه مدیریت ورزشی، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، واحد تهران شمال، تهران، ایران

3 PhD student in Sports Management, Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The Persepolis team has achieved many successes in the past years, both domestically and at the Asian level, which has made this team very attractive for financial sponsors. In addition, the Persepolis team has millions of fans inside the country, which provides a large market for sponsors to encourage the fans of this team to buy their products through financial support of the Persepolis team. In the meantime, the sponsor's image as a variable that is related to the supporter's behavior and the love of the brand and the fans' involvement in sports as variables that are related to the fans have a special effect on the intention to buy sponsoring products, but so far, researchers have not seriously have not been investigated. According to previous findings, brand love and fans' involvement are variables that can have a significant impact on purchase intention, but the way these variables influence the image of the sponsor and the intention to purchase sponsored products in the country is unclear, so the researcher is trying to determine the effect of the image. To examine the sponsor, brand love and fan involvement on the intention to purchase sponsor products in Persepolis fans through the following conceptual model. The current research is of a survey type in terms of applied purpose and in terms of descriptive method. Descriptive in the sense that it presents a picture of the current situation and survey in the sense that the collection of the desired data is done through sampling from the community and in a field research, and in terms of the relationship between the variables, it is of the correlation type. And in terms of time, it is temporary. The statistical population in this research was the fans of the Persepolis football team, who were the buyers of the sponsoring products of this team, i.e. Irancell. Due to the unknown size of the statistical population, the optimal sample size of Muller (1999) was used to determine the statistical sample size. were selected as samples. Research tools include standard brand love questionnaires with 5 questions by Karjalotu et al. (2016), company image with 5 questions by Ko et al. (2000), sports involvement with 6 questions by Ko et al. (2000) and purchase intention with 2 questions by Ko et al. Was. It should be noted that the questionnaires were designed electronically and distributed on virtual networks (Telegram and Instagram) related to Persepolis fans; So that the fans sent their opinions in the form of designed items (on a five-point Likert scale) to the researchers online. In this research, structural equation model and path analysis were used for data analysis using SPSS 23 and Smart PLS 3.2.8 software. The analysis of the research findings was done using the structural equation modeling of the variance-based approach. The use of this approach in testing the hypotheses and theoretical model of the research helps the researcher to deal with the main variables involved in the theoretical model as latent variables and to include the measurement errors in the estimation of the parameters related to the model test and in The results of the estimates are more accurate and reliable. PLS modeling takes place in two stages. In the first stage, the measurement model (external model) is examined through validity and reliability analyzes and confirmatory factor analysis, and in the second stage, the structural model (internal model) is evaluated by estimating the path between the variables. According to the obtained results, the value of factor loadings of obvious variables (0.900-0.582) was greater than the cut-off point of 0.3 and their t-statistic value was also greater than the cut-off point of 1.96 (P<0.05), which means that The variance of the indicators with their related structure is acceptable and shows the appropriateness of this criterion. The reported results show that the sponsor's image directly affects purchase intention (β=0.374, t=5.434), brand love (β=0.599, t=12.792) and sports involvement. (β=0.387, t=4.045) has a positive and significant effect. Also, sports involvement (β=0.307, t=54.735) and brand love (β=0.257, t=3.465) directly have a positive and significant effect on purchase intention. The reported results show that the sponsor's image indirectly and through sports involvement (β=0.119, t=3.788) and brand love (β=0.154, t=3.215) Purchase intention has a positive and significant effect, and sports involvement and love for the brand strengthen the effect of the sponsor's image on purchase intention. This article examines the effect of sponsor image on purchase intention of Persepolis fans with the mediating role of brand love and sports conflict. According to the research results, the sponsor's image has a positive and significant effect on the intention to purchase sponsored products, which is consistent with the results of Gharibi et al. (2019, 52), Alrais et al. 2016, 238) and Tissotto and Alexandris (2009, 358) are consistent. Measuring the return on sponsorship investments is a challenging task for most marketers. There are many reasons that companies decide to provide financial support, the most important of which is to increase brand awareness and create, promote or change their brand image. Consumers with higher involvement actively search for different products and alternatives. They search for different sources of information and spend conscious efforts to collect information, information processing is done more deeply and also the evaluation after purchase of these consumers is more deliberate and informed. Therefore, these people carefully examine the desired product and similar products to buy their desired products. Considering the positive image of the sponsor in the mind of the fan with high sports involvement, this causes him to pay special attention to the sponsor of his favorite team when he decides to buy products, because he is well-versed with its information. The product is familiar and has a positive image of the sponsor and its products due to the support of his beloved team, so this desire is created in him to buy the sponsor's products, so the sports conflict of the fans can influence the sponsor's image on the intention to buy the products. Increase sponsorship.

Keywords


Albert, N., Merunka, D., & Valette-Florence, P. (2008). When consumers love their brands: Exploring the concept and its dimensions. Journal of Business Research, 61(10), 1062–1075.
Alexandris, K., Tsaousi, E., & James, J. (2007). Predicting sponsorship outcomes from attitudinal constructs: The case of a professional basketball event. Sport Marketing Quarterly,16 (3), 130–139.
Alrayees, N., & Saleh, M. A. H. (2019). Relationships between Attitude, Corporate Image, and Purchase Intention in Sponsorship Events. International Journal of Marketing and Communication Studies, 4(2), 1-10.
Aydin, S., & Özer, G. (2005). The analysis of antecedents of customer loyalty in the Turkish mobile telecommunication market. European Journal of Marketing, 39(7/8), 910–925.
Bachleda, C., Fakhar, A., & Elouazzani, Z. (2016). Quantifying the effect of sponsor awareness and image on the sports involvement–purchase intention relationship. Sport Management Review, 19(3), 293-305.
Batra, R., Ahuvia, A., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2012). Brand love. Journal of Marketing, 76(2), 1–16.
Carroll, B. A., & Ahuvia, A. C. (2006). Some antecedents and outcomes of brand love. Marketing Letters, 17(2), 79–89.
Cornwell, T. B. (2014). “Sponsorship in marketing: Effective communication through sports, arts and events”. London: Routledge.
Crompton, J. L. (2004). “Conceptualization and alternate operationalization of the measurement of sponsorship effectiveness in sport”. Leisure Studies, 23(3), 267–281.
Davari, A., & Rezazadeh, A. (2018). “Structural Equation Modeling with PLS Software, Second Edition, Tehran”: Jahad Daneshgahi Publishing Organization.
Ehsani, M., Fallahi, A., Kozehian, H., & Khabeiri, M. (2015). Financial support for Iran Football League fans from the point of view of sponsoring companies. Sports Physiology and Management Research, 8(4), 9-22. [In Persian].
Ernst, & Young LLP. (2017). “Sports in India”. Retrieved from www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-sports-newsreel/.../ey-sports newsreel’.Pdf.in
Fetscherin, M. (2014). What type of relationship do we have with loved brands? Journal of Consumer Marketing, 31(6/7), 430–440.
Gharibi, H., Shahrokh, Z., & Hosseini Mehr, M.R. (2019). “The effect of brand image and brand strength on the customer's willingness to buy from online stores (case study: Bamilo store)”. Business Reviews, 17(99), 52-76. [In Persian].
Ghatei H., & Sheikh Alizadeh M. (2018). “The effect of electronic word-of-mouth advertising on the purchase intention of sports customers with an emphasis on the mediating role of consumer's mental involvement”. Research in sports management and movement behavior. 9 (18): 111-126. [In Persian].
Grohs, R., & Reisinger, H. (2005). Image transfer in sports sponsorships: An assessment of moderating effects. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 7(1), 36–42.
Grohs, R., & Reisinger, H. (2014). Sponsorship effects on brand image: The role of exposure and activity involvement. Journal of business Research, 67(5), 1018-1025.
Hair Jr, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2021). “A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling” (PLS-SEM). Sage publications.
Heinberg, M., Ozkaya, H. E., & Taube, M. (2018). Do corporate image and reputation drive brand equity in India and China?-Similarities and differences. Journal of Business Research, 86, 259–268.
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sinkovics, R. R. (2009). “The use of partial least squares path modeling in international marketing”. In New challenges to international marketing. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Huber, F., Meyer, F., & Schmid, D. A. (2015). Brand love in progress–the interdependence of brand love antecedents in consideration of relationship duration. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 24(6), 567–579.
Islam, J. U., & Rahman, Z. (2016). Examining the effects of brand love and brand image on customer engagement: An empirical study of fashion apparel brands. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 7(1), 45–59.
Jin, C. H. (2017). Retrospection and state of sports marketing and sponsorship research in IJSMS from 1999 to 2015. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 18(4), 363–379.
Karjaluoto, H., Munnukka, J., & Kiuru, K. (2016). Brand love and positive word of mouth: The moderating effects of experience and price. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 25(6), 527–537.
Keshtidar, M., Sahebkaran, M.A., Talebpour, M., & Kalashi, M. (2018). Examining the effect of brand identity and personality on brand loyalty of football team fans. International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 18(1–2), 105–115. [In Persian].
Kline, P. (2014). “An easy guide to factor analysis. Routledge”.
Koronios, K., Psiloutsikou, M., Kriemadis, A., Zervoulakos, P., & Leivaditi, E. (2016). Sport sponsorship: The impact of sponsor image on purchase intention of fans. Journal of Promotion Management, 22(2), 238–250.
Kudeshia, C., Sikdar, P., & Mittal, A. (2016). “Spreading love through fan page liking: A perspective on small scale entrepreneurs”. Computers in Human Behavior, 54, 257–270.
LEE, J. H. (2021). Effect of sports psychology on enhancing consumer purchase intention for retailers of sports shops: Literature content analysis. Journal of Distribution Science, 19(4), 5-13.
Lee, J., & Lee, Y. (2018), "Effects of multi-brand company’s CSR activities on purchase intention through a mediating role of corporate image and brand image", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. 22. 3. 387-403.
Mahmoudian, A., Sadeghi Boroujerdi, S., & Mohammadi, S. (2016). “The effect of athlete brand image dimensions on fan loyalty”. Contemporary researches in sports management, 7(13), 53-67. [In Persian].
Martensen, A., Grønholdt, L., Bendtsen, L., & Jensen, M. J. (2007). Application of a model for the effectiveness of event marketing. Journal of advertising research, 47(3), 283-301.
Meng-Lewis, Y., Thwaites, D., & Pillai, K. G. (2014). Effectiveness of Olympic sponsorship by foreign and domestic companies: The influential role of consumer ethnocentrism. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 15(2), 30–46.
Mohammadi, S., & Ghasemi Sayani, M. (2017). “The role of fans' dependence and loyalty to the team in the intention to buy sponsorship products”. Contemporary researches in sports management, 8(15), 1-14. [In Persian].
Mohammadi, S., & Ghasemi, M. (2017). Presenting a model of the consequences of sponsorship in sports: sponsor image, team affiliation, sponsorship awareness and purchase intention. Sport Management and Development, 6(3), 188-204. [In Persian].
Mohammadi, S., & Ghobadi, A. (1401). “The role of emotions on the repeat attendance of spectators in Premier League football matches with the mediation of perceived quality and satisfaction with the event”. Studies in Consumer Behavior, 9(1), 92-112. [In Persian].
Mueller, R. O. (1999). “Basic principles of structural equation modeling: An introduction to LISREL and EQS”. Springer Science & Business Media.
Palazon, M., Delgado-Ballester, E., & Sicilia, M. (2019). “Fostering brand love in Facebook brand pages”. Online Information Review, 43(5), 710–727
Pope, N. K., & Voges, K. E. (2000). “The Impact of Sport Sponsorship Activities, Corporate Image, and Prior Use on Consumer Purchase Intention”. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 9,(2).
Shank, M. D., & Lyberger, M. R. (2014). “Sports marketing: A strategic perspective”. New York, NY: Routledge.
Stevens, S., & Rosenberger, P. J. (2012). The influence of involvement, following sport and fan identification on fan loyalty: An Australian perspective. International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, 13(3), 221-235.
Tenenhaus, M., Amato, S., & Esposito Vinzi, V. (2004). “A global goodness-of-fit index for PLS structural equation modelling”. In Proceedings of the XLII SIS scientific meeting, 1. 739-742.
Tran, M. A., Nguyen, B., Melewar, T. C., & Bodoh, J. (2015). Exploring the corporate image formation process. Qualitative market research. An International Journal, 18(1), 86–114.
Trivedi, J. (2020). Effect of corporate image of the sponsor on brand love and purchase intentions: The moderating role of sports involvement. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 30(2), 188-209.
Tsiotsou, R., & Alexandris, K. (2009). Delineating the outcomes of sponsorship: sponsor image, word of mouth, and purchase intentions. International Journal of retail & distribution Management, 37(4), 358-369.
Ukman, L. (2015). “IEG‘s guide to sponsorship. Chicago”, IL: IEG, LLC.
Verma, P. (2021). The effect of brand engagement and brand love upon overall brand equity and purchase intention: A moderated–mediated model. Journal of Promotion Management, 27(1), 103-132.
Wetzels, M., Odekerken-Schröder, G., & Van Oppen, C. (2009). “Using PLS path modeling for assessing hierarchical construct models: Guidelines and empirical illustration”. MIS quarterly, 177-195.
Zakerian, A., Jalali Farahani, M., & Tekoli, H. (2016). “Investigating the effect of Internet advertising factors on the purchase intention of sports consumers”. Scientific-Research Quarterly of Applied Researches in Sports Management, 2(6), 11-19. [In Persian].