Sport Fans and Their Behavior in Fan Communities


Author

Conceptualization

Inquiry

Antecedents

Consequences

Sport setting

Oliver (1999)

Yes

Conceptual

Yes

Yes

Yes

(A blend of personal identity with the cultural milieu surrounding the focal brand)
 
(Product superiority, self-isolation, and village envelopment)

(Co-creation based on the symbiotic relationship between a brand and the consumers)

(Sport fans with high levels of group identification such as Green Bay Packers fans who wear “cheeseheads” in order to support the team)

Muñiz and O’Guinn (2001)

Yes

Qualitative

No

No

No

(Shared consciousness, rituals, traditions, and moral responsibility)
   
(Ford Bronco, Macintosh, and Saab brand communities in the U.S.)

McAlexander et al. (2002)

Yes

Mixed methods

Yes

No

No

(BC integration model: owner-to-product, −brand, −company, and -owner relationships)
 
(Pre- and post- event comparisons were conducted)
 
(Jeep and Harley-Davidson brand communities in the U.S.)

Algesheimer et al. (2005)

Yes

Quantitative

Yes

Yes

No

(Community identification)
 
(Brand relationship quality)

(Community engagement and normative community pressure)

(Car clubs in Germany)

Bagozzi and Dholakia (2006)

Yes

Quantitative

Yes

Yes

No

(Social identification with BC: cognitive, affective, and evaluative)
 
(Attitude, positive and negative emotions, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control)

(Desire to participate in the BC, social intention, group behavior, brand identification, brand behavior)

(Harley-Davidson’s Harley Owners Groups (HOGs) in the U.S.)

Woisetschläger et al. (2008)

Yes

Quantitative

No

Yes

Yes

(Community identification)
  
(Consumer participation)

(A virtual brand community, “virtual football stadium,” provided by a naming rights sponsor of the biggest football stadium in Germany)

Carlson et al. (2008)

Yes

Quantitative

Yes

Yes

No
 
(Psychological sense of brand community)
 
(Brand identification and group identification)

(Brand commitment)

(Online brand discussion groups supported by Yahoo.com (Study 1) and U.S.-based theme park (Study 2) in the U.S.)

Füller et al. (2008)

Yes

Quantitative

Yes

Yes

No
 
(Community identification)
 
(Brand passion, extraversion, and openness)

(Brand trust)

(Volkswagen Golf GTI meeting in Austria)

Jang et al. (2008)

Yes

Quantitative

Yes

Yes

No
 
(Community commitment)
 
(Information quality, system quality, interaction, and reward)

(Brand loyalty)

(Online brand communities organized by firms such as mobile phones, automobiles, and electronics)

Schau et al. (2009)

Yes

Qualitative

No

Yes

No
 
(Badging: defined as a sense of membership and identity that arises from BC practices)
  
(Community engagement, brand use, social networking, and impression management)

(Nine brand communities: Internet device, personal digital assistant, car, GPS device, beverage, camera, musical group, cosmeceutical, and television program)

Grant et al. (2011)

Yes

Qualitative

Yes

No

Yes
 
(The concept of “we”: Consciousness of kind)
 
(Group experience, history and heritage, ritual/traditions and physical facility)
 
(Newly established professional sports teams in New Zealand)

Katz and Heere (2013)

Yes

Qualitative

Yes

Yes

Yes
 
(Group identity with the overall brand community)
 
(Social interactions between highly committed leaders and other followers at brandfests)

(Social network)

(Tailgating groups of a new college sport team)





7.2.3 Antecedents and Consequences in Brand Community Research


In the study of marketing, researchers have been increasingly interested in the antecedents and consequences of brand community identification (see Table 7.1). In terms of antecedents, researchers to date have reported that brand community identification is significantly impacted by consumer attitudes toward the focal brand (e.g., brand relationship quality, brand identification, and brand passion) (Algesheimer et al. 2005; Carlson et al. 2008; Füller et al. 2008), consumer characteristics (e.g., extraversion, openness, materialism, and social insecurity) (Füller et al. 2008; Rindfleisch et al. 2008), and consumers’ identification with the peer group (Carlson et al. 2008). In the sport management literature, empirical research shows that an individual’s identification with a fan community is significantly impacted by sport fans’ group experiences (Grant et al. 2011), rituals and traditions (Grant et al. 2011), physical facility (Grant et al. 2011), and the social interactions between highly committed leaders and other followers at brandfests (Katz and Heere 2013). Brandfests have been described as brand-centered, corporate-sponsored event where a significant number of brand users and potential users celebrate and engage in brand consumption and social interactions with other consumers (McAlexander et al. 2002).

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Oct 16, 2016 | Posted by in SPORT MEDICINE | Comments Off on Sport Fans and Their Behavior in Fan Communities

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