Enhancing sport brand preference in football: A psycho-branding model

Abstract

Objectives:Given the great significance of psychological concepts in explaining consumers’ behavior in sport settings, the aim of thisstudy was to providea sport psycho-branding modelincluding self-definitional needs, brand equity, and brand preference.Methods:A field study was conducted at 521 FC Persepolis football fans in Iran to fulfil the research objectives. Data was collected by distributing a valid and reliable questionnaire at weekday home competition of FC Persepolis team. The research sample was selected through convenience sampling from the fans who attended the games of FC Persepolis from January to February 2022. Results:A Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling revealed that:(a) self-definitional need principles were significantly related to the brand equity of FC Persepolis team, and (b) the brand equity was a significant predictor of fans’ brand preference. The findings highlight the significance of the fans’ psychological needs in improving the brand positioning of football teams.Conclusions:The proposed sport psycho-branding modelincludes self-definitional principles to facilitate the development of brand equity and the brand preference through an integratedmodel in football setting. This may be the first attempt to study these constructs through an integrated model in the branding process of a football team.