Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The investigation of the dynamics of brand strength can help managers to build a marketing strategy with the focus on increasing customer loyalty and retaining customers in periods of decline. We investigate brand dynamics, specifically evolution of customer loyalty, using data on football clubs in nine European football leagues. The first stage of our analysis is focused on estimation of an attendance-based measure of customer loyalty. In the second step, annual football club customer loyalty is modeled. The results evidence that winning the league title is the key driver of customer loyalty. However, the effect is relatively low for top leagues and high for developing leagues. On average, the boost to customer loyalty caused by winning the league championship depreciates in 4 years, but the results vary substantially across the leagues. For English and German leagues, the customer loyalty does not depreciate and even grows.

Keywords

brand depreciation brand determinants attendance football sports team heritage

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aaker

D. A.

(1991). Managing brand equity. Free Press.

Aaker

D. A.

Keller

K. L.

(1990). Consumer evaluations of brand extensions. Journal of Marketing, 54(1), 27–41. https://doi.org/10.2307/1252171

Baker

B. J.

Kunkel

Doyle

J. P.

Bredikhina

Biscaia

(2022). Remapping the sport brandscape: A structured review and future direction for sport brand research. Journal of Sport Management, 36(3), 251–264. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2021-0231

Bauer

H. H.

Sauer

N. E.

Exler

(2005). The loyalty of German soccer fans: Does a team’s brand image matter? International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 7(1), 8–16. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-07-01-2005-B004

Bauer

H. H.

Stokburger-Sauer

N. E.

Exler

(2008). Brand image and fan loyalty in professional team sport: A refined model and empirical assessment. Journal of Sport Management, 22(2), 205–226. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.22.2.205

Belo

Lin

Vitorino

M. A.

(2014). Brand capital and firm value. Review of Economic Dynamics, 17(1), 150–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.red.2013.05.001

Berri

D. J.

Schmidt

M. B.

(2006). On the road with the national basketball association’s superstar externality. Journal of Sports Economics, 7(4), 347–358. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002505275094

Biscaia

Correia

Rosado

A. F.

Ross

S. D.

Maroco

(2013). Sport sponsorship: The relationship between team loyalty, sponsorship awareness, attitude toward the sponsor, and purchase intentions. Journal of Sport Management, 27(4), 288–302. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.27.4.288

Biscaia

Ross

Yoshida

Correia

Rosado

Marôco

(2016). Investigating the role of fan club membership on perceptions of team brand equity in football. Sport Management Review, 19(2), 157–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2015.02.001

10.

Coates

Naidenova

Parshakov

(2017). Determinants of Russian football club brands. International Journal of Sport Finance, 12(4), 321–341. https://doi.org/10.1177/155862351701200402

11.

Couvelaere

Richelieu

(2005). Brand strategy in professional sports: The case of French soccer teams. European Sport Management Quarterly, 5(1), 23–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184740500089524

12.

Datta

Ailawadi

K. L.

van Heerde

H. J.

(2017). How well does consumer-based brand equity align with sales-based brand equity and marketing-mix response? Journal of Marketing, 81(3), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0340

13.

Doraszelski

Markovich

(2008). Advertising dynamics and competitive advantage. The RAND Journal of Economics, 38(3), 557–592. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0741-6261.2007.00101.x

14.

Doyle

J. P.

Filo

McDonald

Funk

D. C.

(2013). Exploring sport brand double jeopardy: The link between team market share and attitudinal loyalty. Sport Management Review, 16(3), 285–297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2012.11.001

15.

Gladden

J. M.

Funk

D. C.

(2001). Understanding brand loyalty in professional sport: Examining the link between brand associations and brand loyalty. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 3(1), 54–81. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-03-01-2001-B006

16.

Hoegele

Schmidt

S. L.

Torgler

(2014). Superstars and disloyal football fans: Factors influencing attraction to competition. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 4(4), 298–316. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-12-2013-0047

17.

Inoue

Funk

D. C.

McDonald

(2017). Predicting behavioral loyalty through corporate social responsibility: The mediating role of involvement and commitment. Journal of Business Research, 75, 46–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.02.005

18.

Kapferer

J.-N.

(2011). The new strategic brand management: Advanced insights and strategic thinking (5th ed.). Kogan Page Ltd.

19.

Keller

K. L.

(1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.2307/1252054

20.

Keller

K. L.

(2008). Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managing brand equity. Pearson/Prentice Hall.

21.

Keller

K. L.

Brexendorf

T. O.

(2018). Measuring brand equity. In Esch

F.-R.

(Ed.), Handbuch Markenführung (pp. 1–32). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-13361-0_72-1

22.

Kunkel

Doyle

J. P.

Funk

D. C.

McDonald

(2016). The development and change of brand associations and their influence on team loyalty over time. Journal of Sport Management, 30(2), 117–134. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2015-0129

23.

Kunkel

Funk

D. C.

Lock

(2017). The effect of league brand on the relationship between the team brand and behavioral intentions: A formative approach examining brand associations and brand relationships. Journal of Sport Management, 31(4), 317–332. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2016-0166

24.

Lee

H. J.

Seo

W. J.

Green

(2012). A new approach to stadium experience: The dynamics of the sensoryscape, social interaction, and sense of home. Journal of Sport Management, 26(6), 490–505. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.26.6.490

25.

Lott

J. R.

(1988). Brand names, ignorance, and quality guaranteeing premiums. Applied Economics, 20(2), 165–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036848800000002

26.

Macdonald

R. D.

(2017, May). Future directions in research on demand for sport. In XII Gijon Conference on Sports Economics. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3081352

27.

Nerlove

Arrow

K. J.

(1962). Optimal advertising policy under dynamic conditions. Economica, 29(144), 14. https://doi.org/10.2307/2551549

28.

Pawlowski

Anders

(2012). Stadium attendance in German professional football—the (un)importance of uncertainty of outcome reconsidered. Applied Economics Letters, 19(16), 1553–1556. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2011.639725

29.

Prince

S. A.

Adamo

K. B.

Hamel

M. E.

Hardt

Gorber

S. C.

Tremblay

(2008). A comparison of direct versus self-report measures for assessing physical activity in adults: A systematic review. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 5(1), 56. https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-5-56

30.

Quester

Farrelly

(1998). Brand association and memory decay effects of sponsorship: The case of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 7(6), 539–556.

31.

Richelieu

Lessard

(2014). Long gone the glory days: Is branding of any help? The case of formerly successful European football teams. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 4(4), 284–297. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-11-2013-0043

32.

Richelieu

Pawlowski

Breuer

(2011). Football brand management: Minor league versus Champions League. Journal of Sponsorship, 4(2), 178–189.

33.

Richelieu

Pons

(2006). Toronto Maple Leafs vs Football Club Barcelona: How two legendary sports teams built their brand equity. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 7(3), 79–98. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-07-03-2006-B009

34.

Roberts

M. J.

Samuelson

(1988). An empirical analysis of dynamic, nonprice competition in an oligopolistic industry. The RAND Journal of Economics, 19(2), 200. https://doi.org/10.2307/2555700

35.

Rose

G. M.

Merchant

Orth

U. R.

(2021). Sports teams heritage: Measurement and application in sponsorship. Journal of Business Research, 124, 759–769. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.03.040

36.

Ross

S. D.

(2006). A conceptual framework for understanding spectator-based brand equity. Journal of Sport Management, 20(1), 22–38. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.20.1.22

37.

Ross

S. D.

James

J. D.

Vargas

(2006). Development of a scale to measure team brand associations in professional sport. Journal of Sport Management, 20(2), 260–279. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.20.2.260

38.

Ross

S. D.

Russell

K. C.

Bang

(2008). An empirical assessment of spectator-based brand equity. Journal of Sport Management, 22(3), 322–337. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.22.3.322

39.

Rottenberg

(1956). The baseball players’ labor market. Journal of Political Economy, 64(3), 242–258. https://doi.org/10.1086/257790

40.

Shank

M. D.

(1999). Sports marketing: A strategic perspective. Prentice Hall. https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/46664718

41.

Shapiro

S. L.

DeSchriver

T. D.

Rascher

D. A.

(2017). The Beckham effect: Examining the longitudinal impact of a star performer on league marketing, novelty, and scarcity. European Sport Management Quarterly, 17(5), 610–634. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2017.1329331

42.

Wetzel

H. A.

Hattula

Hammerschmidt

van Heerde

H. J.

(2018). Building and leveraging sports brands: Evidence from 50 years of German professional soccer. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 46(4), 591–611. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-018-0580-y

43.

Wilson

D. P.

Ying

Y.-H.

(2003). Nationality preferences for labour in the international football industry. Applied Economics, 35(14), 1551–1559. https://doi.org/10.1080/000368403200010048

Brand Accumulation and Depreciation: Evidence from European Football Leagues

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References