engleski

Exploring the impact of consumer identification with users of the sports club social network

Rapid growth of sport industry leads to intensive research in the fields of sport marketing management. Sport is important part of the social structure and significantly influences modern society. As it is strongly correlated with profit related activities, such as ticket sales, licensing or media coverage it is obvious that sport industry and sport itself will spur research interest also in the future. Sport team brands recognized importance of digital platforms and social media networks in process of attracting new consumers and developing relation with existing consumers. Although digital media is ubiquitous, insufficient research of the concept of consumer engagement on the social networks of sports clubs is evident. Aim of this paper, is to explore consumer identification with members of a sports club social network and its relationship with developing and building loyalty of the sport club. Analysing and critically evaluating existing instruments for measuring the concept of consumer engagement in the sports industry and synthesizing existing theoretical knowledge in the mentioned areas, the basis for the empirical analysis of the concept is founded. Furthermore, research results indicate that consumer identification with members of the sports club is positively associated with loyalty to the sport club. This can serve to marketing managers in the social networks of sports clubs, increasing the practical value of this research.

consumer engagement ; consumers’ identification ; social media ; sports club ; loyalty ; virtual community

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