Communicating via photographs: A gendered analysis of Olympic athletes’ visual self-presentation on Instagram

The purpose of this study was to examine Olympic athletes’ self-presentation on Instagram, a social media outlet on which users post photographs as their primary communication mechanism, in order to develop an understanding of the ways in which athletes use this medium as a communication and marketing tool to build their personal brand. Additionally, this research sought to understand whether differences existed between the utilisation of Instagram by male and female athletes. Drawing on Goffman's (1959) theory of self-presentation, this study examined eight purposively selected Olympic athletes’ Instagram photos. Findings revealed similarities to previous research on athletes’ use of written social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, as the majority of photos posted by athletes were personal in nature, thus reflecting backstage performance strategies according to self-presentation theory. The results indicated that female athletes were more likely to share photos of themselves and photos taken in private settings, but male athletes who posted a wider variety of photos encouraged greater engagement from their followers. Personal brand management implications for athletes and sport organisations are examined in greater detail in the discussion.     

Sport and social media research: A review

The emergence of social media has profoundly impacted the delivery and consumption of sport. In the current review we analysed the existing body of knowledge of social media in the field of sport management from a service-dominant logic perspective, with an emphasis on relationship marketing. We reviewed 70 journal articles published in English-language sport management journals, which investigated new media technologies facilitating interactivity and co-creation that allow for the development and sharing of user-generated content among and between brands and individuals (i.e., social media). Three categories of social media research were identified: strategic, operational, and user-focussed. The findings of the review demonstrate that social media research in sport management aligns with service-dominant logic and illustrates the role of social media in cultivating relationships among and between brands and individuals. Interaction and engagement play a crucial role in cultivating these relationships. Discussion of each category, opportunities for future research as well as suggestions for theoretical approaches, research design and context are advanced.     

Exploring sport brand development strategies to strengthen consumer involvement with the product – The case of the Australian A-League

The branding of sport leagues represents an emergent area of scholarship. The current research capitalised on an opportunity to explore the strategies sport leagues can implement to develop their brand and consequently better satisfy their consumers. The Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) was used to guide the examination of sport brand development strategies recommended by consumers of a sport league. Mixed method data were collected from football consumers in Australia (N = 230). Seven themes were uncovered through qualitative content analysis representing three brand development strategies – market penetration, market development and product development. The study contributes to sport management literature by (1) identifying strategies that can be used to position sport brands; (2) indicating how these strategies may be used to influence consumers’ brand associations; (3) demonstrating the close brand relationship between leagues and their clubs and (4) enhancing market research sampling knowledge. The study also provides sport managers with strategic brand management directions.     

体育品牌原产地困惑对品牌特性和品牌偏好的影响

根据消费者对品牌原产地存有的困惑,通过实证法研究了品牌原产地困惑对于消费者体育品牌特性和品牌偏好的影响,并利用SPSS软件对数据进行了对比分析。研究表明在中国环境下,当境外体育用品品牌被误认为是本土品牌时,消费者会形成更差的品牌特性认知以及更不偏好;当中国本土体育用品品牌被误认为是境外品牌时,则发现消费者对不同类型的本土体育品牌在品牌特性认知以及品牌偏好上的比较出现截然不同的结果。     

Introducing branded communities in sport for building strong brand relations in social media

Brand communities have become an important aspect for brand management in social media. However, many brands have failed to establish a successful online brand community. In this study, we introduce branded communities as an alternative concept to brand communities. In contrast to brand communities, a branded community does not revolve around a specific (sport) brand, but around any interest or need. However, a specific brand makes use of the community for marketing purposes by sponsoring or operating the community. We emphasize the suitability of sport as an interest around which branded communities can be built as well as links of branded communities to sport sponsorship. We empirically studied the factors which influence the success of this phenomenon and the effects of operating or sponsoring such a community for a brand by using an online survey (N = 501) of members of a branded online community relating to football. The results demonstrate the relevance of topic interest (i.e., identification and involvement with football) and the quality of the community as determinants of interest in and loyalty towards a branded community. The brand owner benefits from an increase in brand loyalty for those community members who are aware of the brand as the operator of the community, whereby awareness of this sponsorship does not decrease loyalty towards the community. Our research contributes to previous knowledge by proving that branded communities are both an effective means for companies to deploy sponsorship and branding strategies in social media and provide a promising opportunity for sport managers to generate value.     

Young people and their engagement with health-related social media: new perspectives

Young people are increasingly turning to social media for health-related information in areas such as physical activity, diet/nutrition and body image. Yet, there are few robust empirical accounts of the content and form of the health-related material young people access and attend to, or the health-related content they create and share. Furthermore, there is little guidance from research or policy on young people's engagement with health-related social media. This leaves many relevant adults ill-equipped to protect young people from the negative influences of social media and to optimize the potential of social media as a medium for health promotion. This article presents new evidence on young people's engagement with social media and the influences they report on their health-related behaviors. The research was undertaken with 1296 young people (age 13–18) using a participatory mixed methods design. Initially, a public pedagogy [Giroux, 2004. Public pedagogy and the politics of neo-liberalism: Making the political more pedagogical. Policy Futures in Education, 2, 494–503] theoretical framework was used to guide data analysis but this was found to be limiting. An adapted framework was developed, therefore, drawing on Miller et al. [2016. How the world changed social media. London: UCL Press] and Lomborg [2011. Social media as communicative genres. Journal of Media and Communication Research, 51, 55–71] to account for the unique ways in which pedagogy operates in a social media context. Young people accessed and used a range of health-related information on body transformations, diet/nutritional supplements or recipes and workouts/exercises, albeit in different ways. Moreover, young people identified five forms of content that influenced their understandings and behaviours: (i) automatically sourced content; (ii) suggested or recommended content; (iii) peer content; (iv) likes; (v) reputable content. The findings also suggest that relevant adults can reduce risk and realize more of the positive impacts of social media for young people by focusing on content, and the ways in which content is shaped in the interplay between interactive functionalities of social media (e.g. likes and followers) and young people's social uses of social media (e.g. friends, information).     

Dress for fit: An exploration of female activewear consumption

While the female activewear market is growing rapidly, research on activewear consumption and female consumers is lagging. Existing researchers have failed to produce an in-depth understanding of female consumers’ perceptions of activewear, thereby providing limited insights for the activewear industry. Drawing upon brand association theory and the functional, expressive, and aesthetic model, the authors identify important attributes of activewear brands and how attributes lead to benefits pursued by female activewear consumers. Focus groups were conducted with 72 female activewear consumers in Australia. Findings reveal three product-related attributes (functional design, colour, and size and fit) and two non-product-related attributes (price and model imagery) influence the fulfillment of four benefits (mood enhancement, exercise facilitation, healthy and active lifestyle, and physical fit body image). This research contributes theoretical and empirical knowledge about activewear consumption and the vertical structure of brand associations. Findings of this research can help activewear brands deliver benefits to female consumers through improved product designs and marketing strategies.     

#SheBelieves: the use of Instagram to frame the US Women’s Soccer Team during #FIFAWWC

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine of the representation of women athletes during the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. More specifically, we examined how individuals used various event-related hashtags (ie #SheBelieves and #FIFAWWC) on Instagram during the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup to frame identity, and challenge or reinforce gender stereotypes from the bottom-up. A content analysis of athlete photos containing #FIFAWWC (n = 706) and athlete photos containing #SheBelieves (n = 629) revealed that users primarily portrayed women athletes as athletically competent. Specifically, nearly 90% of Instagram posts containing either #FIFAWWC or #SheBelieves portrayed athletes in either athletic action or preparing for athletic action. These findings demonstrate that social media provide an opportunity to challenge gender stereotypes in women’s sports and thereby illustrate that social media users are willing to create their own frames around women athletes.     

校园足球联赛品牌的构建

长期以来,校园足球联赛品牌形象的打造上始终难有起色,本文通过文献资料法和访谈法对校园足球联赛品牌的构建进行理论研究,为校园足球联赛品牌建设提供理论依据和参考模型,最终得出结论:校园足球联赛品牌构建的核心是联赛品牌文化、联赛品牌标识和优质联赛产品。校园足球联赛品牌构建离不开电视媒体、平面媒体、网络媒体、移动数字媒体、明星营销等媒体的公关与宣传以及对校园足球联赛品牌的保障。建议:各级政府应大力推进普及校园足球,解决家长和校长动力机制,改善足球教学训练环境,让更多的学校参与校园足球联赛是打造校园足球联赛组织者的当务之急;打造有效的联赛组织体系对联赛品牌进行运作和管理,形成系统的长期性的联赛体制。     

消费者视角下构建我国体育用品国际品牌的思考

消费者视角的品牌创建与营运是营销管理的研究热点。运用文献资料法、比较研究法等研究方法从消费者的视角分析了构建我国体育用品国际品牌的主要挑战,包括消费者认知文化冲突、影响消费者心智的国际营销资源匮乏、形成消费者品牌功效和形象感知的国际标准化进程缓慢等方面,深入剖析了其成因后,提出了构建我国体育用品国际品牌的相应对策:提炼品牌核心价值以实现差异化定位,规划品牌核心与延伸识别系统;优化品牌构架,理性地延伸品牌;积累丰富的基于顾客的品牌资产。     

Beyond Tippekampen: the origins and maintenance of Scandinavian support for the Liverpool FC

Professional sport is a highly marketable product, whereby favourite teams often become ‘overseas sweethearts’ for millions of satellite supporters and their imagined community of like-minded fans. Scandinavia has historically proven to be a fertile market for English football and is home to some of the largest supporter groups for English clubs, in particular the Liverpool FC. This article examines the origins of Scandinavian identification with the Merseyside club and how satellite supporters in the region maintain a connection with the famous brand. Scandinavian supporters highlighted the importance of the media, especially the popularity of state-run television programmes such as Tippekampen, the team’s playing style and the presence of star players in their initial support for Liverpool FC and explained how they had turned to a virtual ‘third place’ to regularly connect and engage with fellow fans and the brand in cyberspace. In a global marketplace, satellite supporters are critical for the future of many brands and this article offers a valuable case study for those who seek to exploit these markets, monetize these consumers and build equity for their team brands.     

How can Country-of-Origin image be leveraged to create global sporting goods brands?

While much marketing research has focused on brand creation and management, less is known about the creation of sport brands. This paper complements the stakeholder model of branding and brand creation, which highlights the role of a firm's stakeholders in the analysis of brands, by including country-specific factors based on location and Country-of-Origin (CoO). Using a sample of innovative New Zealand-based firms, our qualitative study uses a comparative case method in two subsector settings to investigate how they have built outdoor sport brands based on that country's particular country-specific factors. We show how firms are able to leverage New Zealand's strong sport product category-country associations to create brand value. Our findings confirm that CoO image together with sport product category-country associations enables the creation of brands in sport product categories. Our paper contributes to theory and practice by extending understanding of brand creation by demonstrating the importance of location and product category. Further research directions are suggested.     

Communicating CSR-linked sponsorship: Examining the influence of three different types of message sources

As the demonstration of corporate goodwill through mega event sponsorship becomes increasingly challenging, sponsors often link their sponsorship to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. However, finding adequate ways to communicate CSR-linked sponsorship is challenging. This research examines the relative effectiveness of three message sources from which CSR-linked sponsorship information can be communicated to consumers: the sponsor, the sponsored property, and the news media. Drawing on the Persuasion Knowledge Model, this study proposes differences between these message sources regarding their level of persuasion knowledge activation, which affects consumers’ CSR perceptions of and attitude toward the sponsoring brand. The results of an experimental study show that CSR-linked sponsorship information from both the sponsor and the sponsored property result in higher persuasion knowledge activation than when this information comes from the news media. The results also reveal that the two serial mediators, persuasion knowledge activation and CSR perception, transfer these effects of message source to consumers’ attitudes toward the sponsor.     

足球俱乐部品牌及其周期管理

采用文献资料法,从足球俱乐部品牌生命周期的角度探讨足球俱乐部的管理策略。主要结论:足球俱乐部品牌实际上是给俱乐部带来增值的一种无形资产。衡量足球俱乐部品牌成功的标准主要是有两大方面:内在价值和外在价值。内在价值主要以排名与获胜场次、盈利来衡量;外在价值主要以上座率和公共形象来衡量。要想从足球俱乐部品牌生命周期的角度管理俱乐部品牌,处理好培育、复兴、重构和继承这几个节点是管理策略的关键所在。     

Acceptance,motivations, and usage of social media as a marketing communications tool amongst employees of sport national governing bodies

National governing bodies (NGB) of sport are not-for-profit organisations that typically receive less mainstream media coverage and have much smaller marketing budgets than mainstream professional sports. Therefore, they must seek alternative methods from mainstream media and traditional marketing in order to increase brand awareness and reach fans and stakeholders. While all sport organisations stand poised to benefit from social media, NGBs seem to be a segment of the sport industry uniquely positioned to capitalise on social media's benefits. Because there is currently no known literature on NGBs’ use of social media, this study examined the role that social media plays within NGBs in the United States including employees’ acceptance of social media, motivations to use social media, and the organisation's current usage of social media. An online survey was distributed to NGB employees in the spring of 2012, and results revealed that contrary to studies on other sport organisations, NGB employees reported high levels of acceptance and motivation to use social media regardless of demographic factors. Additionally, NGBs seemed to use social media as a communications tool to a greater degree than as a marketing tool. Implications for international and niche sport organisations are presented in the conclusion.     

从跨国品牌看我国体育用品品牌现状及发展策略研究

在借鉴了世界知名体育用品品牌耐克和阿迪达斯的品牌发展,分析了我国体育用品品牌现状之后,提出如下建议:(1)分析品牌生存环境,明确品牌定位;(2)组建大型企业集团,优化管理模式,培养品牌的核心竞争;(3)树立现代营销理念,建立健全营销体系;(4)开发体育人口资源;(5)经营中国品牌的独特价值。     

广州市体育用品品牌的发展战略

分析广州市体育用品企业品牌经营过程中存在问题,提出对广州市体育用品品牌发展战略的思考:体育用品企业的发展要弘扬企业家精神;打造企业品牌文化;明确品牌定位,提高品牌战略意识;加大创新力度,提高企业的核心竞争力,同时加大政府政策支持力度,充分发挥行业协会作用;促进形成产业集群,实现企业集团化发展。     

世界一流学术期刊建设背景下体育学术期刊品牌建设的探索与实践——以《武汉体育学院学报》为例

品牌建设是我国学术期刊实现高质量可持续发展,跻身世界一流学术期刊群的必由之路。基于《武汉体育学院学报》品牌创建的探索和实践认为,品牌定位作为学术期刊品牌建设的基础,要从内容定位、受众定位、发展定位着手确立特色;品牌内容作为学术期刊品牌建设的核心,可从策划选题、开展学术活动、凝聚作者队伍着手整合学术资源;品牌管理作为学术期刊品牌建设的保障,需从建立内容质量保障体系、提升学术传播力、扩大社会影响力入手营造良好学术生态环境。体育学术期刊品牌创建应当精准定位,突出品牌特色;整合学术资源,推进品牌内容创新;创新管理手段,提升品牌影响力。     

体育赛事的品牌构建——以NBA全球推广策略为例

本文采用文献资料法,以NBA全球推广策略为例,探讨体育赛事的品牌构建,提出体育赛事应把满足赛事观众的娱乐需求放在中心位置,努力实现从竞技体育向娱乐体育的定位转化;品牌主体应具有职业化的法律地位,面向消费者、赞助商和相关传媒三方,通过赛场和非赛场两条渠道,以体育赛事的公关建构为内在框架,以螺旋式发展为成长模式,精心实施明星策略、事件策略和传媒策略等营销整合,直接面对市场竞争,全面推进品牌构建。     

Exploring sport brand double jeopardy: The link between team market share and attitudinal loyalty

Marketers are charged with the responsibility of attracting consumers and encouraging loyalty for their brands. Double jeopardy, a marketing law observed across numerous product and service settings, contends that loyalty is largely influenced by a brand's market share. There have been suggestions that sport may be one of the few areas immune to such effects, providing researchers with an opportunity to test how sport brand loyalty may be impacted by market share. The current research capitalises on this opportunity by assessing the effects of market share on attitudinal loyalty reported by a sample of 794 Australian sport fans. ANOVA tests revealed that fans of high market share brands displayed higher levels of attitudinal loyalty towards their favourite teams in comparison to small market share team fans. Further tests revealed that differences existed in terms of the brand association perceptions held by high and small market share team fans, and how these contributed to predicting attitudinal loyalty. Consequently, sport marketers should be cognisant of double jeopardy effects when evaluating sport brands and formulating marketing strategies, though future research is needed to determine the full applicability of double jeopardy within the sport context.