Journal of Sport Management, 2013, 27, 177-192 © 2013 Human Kinetics, Inc.
Official Journal of NASSM www.JSM-Journal.com ARTICLE
Brand Architecture, Drivers of Consumer Involvement, and Brand Loyalty With Professional Sport Leagues and Teams Thilo Kunkel Griffith University
Daniel Funk Temple University and Griffith University
Brad Hill Griffith University Understanding brand relationships as perceived by consumers is important for the successful management and marketing of connected brands. Brand architecture and consumer behavior literature was integrated in this study to examine brand relationships between professional sport leagues and teams from a consumers’ perspective. Online questionnaire data were gathered from football consumers (N = 752) to test the influence of leagues and teams on consumer loyalty. Consumers were segmented into three theoretically identified sport brand architecture groups: league dominant, team dominant, and codominant. Findings of CFA, MANOVA, paired-sample t tests, frequency analysis, chi-square and linear regression analysis revealed that leagues and teams were in a codominant relationship with one another. Results revealed the brand architecture of leagues and teams as perceived by consumers, provide a reliable and valid tool to segment sport spectators, and showcase the influence of external factors on consumer loyalty with a team. Suggestions for league and team management and marketing are presented to better leverage their brand relationship and increase consumer loyalty with both brands. The management of sport brands is complex and “involves decision-making at a number of levels, in a number of markets” (Mason, 1999, p. 404). Sport leagues need to manage their brand in a way that not only develops and protects it but also provides franchise teams within their league opportunities to build their own brand. With this approach, decisions are made to ensure long-term viability of the league and its affiliated teams. These decisions include the introduction of rules and regulations to ensure competitiveness (e.g., Mason, 1997), market expansions (Shilbury & Hooper, 1999), and centralized management and marketing (Stewart, Nicholson, & Dickson, 2005). Collectively, the aim of these decisions is to build a strong league and team brands from a consumer’s perspective. Consumers are the “supreme authority” (Taylor, 1992, p. 118) of leagues and teams. Other stakeholders, such as television and corporate sponsorships, are attracted to sport because of the big fan bases that underpin the sport industry (Mason, 1999). Income from game attendance and merchandise purchases is mainly Kunkel and Hill are with the Dept. of Tourism, Leisure, Hotel and Sport Management, Business School, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia. Funk is with School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.
generated by teams themselves, whereas income from sponsors and media deals is partly generated by teams (e.g., team sponsorship) and partly generated by the league (e.g., league sponsorship and collective media deals). Generally, the league then distributes parts of this sponsorship and media income to the teams. Therefore, a strong league brand should have a positive influence on sponsorship and media rights sales income. Similarly, high brand value of teams positively influences the league’s brand value. In addition to the importance of having a high number of consumers, research has demonstrated the importance of the strength of connection consumers hold toward sport brands (the term ‘sport brand’ refers to sport brands in general, such as a league brand, a team brand, or an event brand, and should not be mistaken for the brand of a certain sport, such as football brand). The strength of connection is typically developed through consumer involvement and loyalty with brands. Highly involved and loyal consumers are more likely to watch the sport brand live or via media (Armstrong, 2002a), buy more merchandise (Wann & Branscombe, 1993) and evaluate sponsors of sport brands more positively (Filo, Funk & O’Brien, 2010). Thus, these consumers are more valuable for sport teams and leagues than less loyal consumers. Hence, getting consumers more involved with and increasing their loyalty toward the sport brands can lead to increased income for leagues 177
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