Examining the Relationship between Brand Emotion and Brand Extension among Supporters of Professional Football Clubs

Main author: Abosag, Ibrahim
Other authors: Roper, Stuart
Hind, Daniel
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-21660
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description Purpose: There is debate and controversy about the use of branding in sport. Often, fans show loyalty to their club that many brands could only dream of, and a key argument of previous research is that supporters do not like to think of their club in commercial terms, as a brand (Chadwick and Beech, 2007; Chadwick and Holt, 2006). However, we argue that in today’s environment fans have a pragmatic attitude towards the necessity of branding and its importance in the future success of their clubs. Thus a model conceptualising the relationship between supporters’ emotional attachment, supporters’ brand perception/strength and their support for brand extension was developed and tested. Methodology: In-depth interviews with, players, clubs’ officials and supporters, leading to the design of a survey instrument completed by 852 supporters of two professional Norwegian football clubs. Findings: The model confirms that fans that have a strong emotional attachment to their club have a stronger perception of the club as a brand and support brand extension. Research limitations: This is a one country study. Practical implications: Club management needs to be careful when extending its brand. Brand extension must be designed to reflect the heritage and tradition of the club. Also, club management needs to show in brand extension an element of competitiveness which improves brand image, strengthens supporters’ belief in their club and attracts new supporters. Originality/value: We provide new evidence which contradicts existing theory. The study challenged the widely accepted argument that supporters of football clubs are likely to disapprove of and reject the thought of their favourite football club as a brand.
format Journal Article
author Abosag, Ibrahim
author_facet Abosag, Ibrahim
Roper, Stuart
Hind, Daniel
authorStr Abosag, Ibrahim
author_letter Abosag, Ibrahim
author2 Roper, Stuart
Hind, Daniel
author2Str Roper, Stuart
Hind, Daniel
title Examining the Relationship between Brand Emotion and Brand Extension among Supporters of Professional Football Clubs
publisher Emerald
publishDate 2012
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/21660/