Sport consumers are the consumers of the sport in the form of two categories, the sports fanatics and the club loyalists. The termed sports fanatics refers to those people who are having a deep interest for the sport and tend to be most loyal towards their team and the associated facilities. On the contrary the club/team loyalists do not take the sports fanaticism to an extremely high level but they tend to be loyal and truthful to the particular club or team. The majority of the money spent by the sports fanatics is on the merchandise of the sports and other supported peripherals (Vala, Durdová, Litschmannová & Valová, 2018).
Characteristics of the sports consumer as fans
Sports consumers may vary with regards to the interest, motivations and purpose to attend the game. The person turns out to be a fan on the basis of some characteristics and attributes. The word fan has been used as they are typically involved in the game and they follow the sport very closely (Shoham, Dalakas & Lahav, 2015). The behaviour might be changed due to the different features in team sports products which they consider to be of highest interest. There are certain other variables which will define the characteristics of the sport consumers as fans and which are discussed below.
Further there are fans that are segregated in three categories which are as follows.
Temporary fan
The temporary fan is considered those people whose interest in the game is constrained. After the interest gets fulfilled the fan is no longer to behave in the same manner and rather he/she return to the normal behaviour (Cordina, Gannon, & Croall, 2017). The time perspective is the major perspective in case of the temporary fans. It involves the tendency for an individual. Being the fan of an individual is not the major criteria in case of the temporary fans.
Devoted fan
The devoted fan on the other hand is contrary to the temporary fan and his interest towards the sport or the personality does not switch to another once the purpose has been solved. Even if there is a short term event that has attracted their interest the person remains loyal. Commitment, in marketing context, is used as the degree to which an individual views his/her relationship with consumption objects from a long-term perspective and is willing to stay with the relationship even when things are difficult (Tzoumaka, Tsiotsou & Siomkos, 2016). The more the object forms the identity of the consumer, the greater effort the consumer spends on the maintenance of the object. The devote fan uses being a fan as an important part of the self-identification.
Fanatical fan
The early theories currently adopted in the sports clearly provide the prominent insights of the fans. For example the concept of the methods by which the fans are made aware about the concept of fanaticism. Fans are the unique consumers and the valuable customers of a brand and the attractive marketers due to a lot of possible reasons (Billings, Qiao, Conlin & Nie, 2017). For example some fanatics have the attractive marketers and the interest is of high attention. The fanatical fan is similar to the devoted fan as it similar in terms of the term.
The fanatical fan uses the word fan as the critical part of the self-identification. The engagement of the fanatical fan is very important in terms of the greater knowledge. Devoted fans may go the game as an audience and enjoy the same and on the other hand the fanatical fan will go to the game to paint their body and exhibit the behaviour in the different manner (Silva & Casas, 2017).
Involved fans
Involvement has been defined as the position in which the person feels motivated and the interested to do the recreational activities. Situational involvement is intense emotional attachment of the fans that is being carried out in order to present the emotions through the product or the temporary circumstances (Brown & Billings, 2013).
Emotional attachment has been used to create a variance between the fan and the general consumers. The sports consumers as fans become the psychological connections to specific teams that are persistent and continuously resistant to change. A strong physical commitment is what reflects the sports consumer as fans. The attachment is so high that the consumers are attached to not only the visual performances but also to the merchandise kit and the products and services related to it (Kelley & Tian, 2014).
The products involve the goodies, bag and t-shirts and badges. Across the world and within the domain the sports are flourished professionally which enables the fans to enjoy the sport despite the slow economic growth rate. Emotional attachment is also important from the point of view of the sport fans so that they can feel linked with the concept of the sport and they also feel motivated to pursue the same sport.
Loyal consumers
Consistent and the constant consumption of the sports exhibit the several loyalty behaviours which are classified as purchase or patronage or insisting in forming the relationship between brands and the products. According to the sport’s most of the people who are labelled as fans are pointed as the fans only on the basis of the repeated consumption patterns (Redden & Steiner, 2010). The emotional bond with the fanatic objective and his description and his description of the fan always equated with the consumer loyalty behaviour.
Such a loyal behaviour is a blend of the brand, with an attitude or the behaviour with the indexes that measure the degree to which the consumer favours and purchase a brand repeatedly. A fan is generally viewed as an obsessed individual who is having deep interest in the certain, celebrity, show and the brand.
Informal membership
The relationship between the fans and the object tends to be always active and proactive. Active participation and the realistic process is the major base that differentiates the normal consumers. Among the television fans there are some media fans that create the fandom and creates something more than the consumption of the objects of the sports and also provide the thoughts and ideas on the basis of the objects (Boyle & Magnusson, 2017). The habits of these types of consumers remain stable. The motive of the fans behind forming the informal relationship is that they want to get involved with the production instead of just repurchasing or possessing the object.
Consequently, the fan’s intense competition is observed by amalgamating the cultural and sporting value of the sport and the consuming parity of the customer (Samra & Wos, 2018). In the context of the marketing the consumer who has the greater affiliation with the organization is considered as the informal relationship. The membership motivated the consumers to assist the organisation by expanding time and gifting the money to support mission and vision of the organisation. The informal membership is also important to build the alignment between the sport and to mingle the thoughts and the ideas to make a perfect blend of the talent and fascination.
rustworthiness
The construction of the loyalty has been evolved from the consumer behaviour and the importance of accepting the game and the personalities. Due to the change in the behaviour of the attitude and the composite concepts the players get motivated and the major focus shifts on to the purchase parity of the consumers (Heere & James, 2017). Therefore, loyalty plays a vital role in determining the how the attitude of a person can turn them from the normal people to the core fans of the game.
The trust builds the confidence among the sports fans and they feel secured. The motive of the fans behind forming the informal relationship is that they want to get involved with the production instead of just repurchasing or possessing the object. Therefore the trust is very core an important factor in determining the personality of the sports fans.
Foundation for revenues
In the sporting market in association with the fans the money flows to different directions at a time. The series starts with the fans and reaches to the TV providers, from fans to ticketing and the group of the merchandisers as can be seen from the image below. The ecosystem of the sport draws the attention of the fans and the stadium (Wann & Dolan, 2013). Highly loyal fans will often schedule their activities according to the games and their timing of the publishing. The casual watches the game for the sake of watching whereas the fans and the sport consumers watch them as the sense of the emotion and the feeling.
Identify and discuss the implications of the sports marketing
Sports are considered as an important aspect in the lives of each individual. This basically helps the individuals to interact with the players so that they can get a sense of competition among themselves (Underwood, Bond & Baer, 2015). Sports marketing are a sub division of marketing which attracts the promotion of the events and the awareness of the sports and the promotion of the products and the services. The major goal is to provide the sport consumers with the strategies to get involved with the brands and promote the merchandise of the same.
These strategies basically focuses on the four variables P’s Product, price, Promotion, Place. The concept of the sports marketing also involves the additional P’s such as Planning, Packaging, Positioning and Perception. The motive of the fans behind forming the informal relationship is that they want to get involved with the production instead of just repurchasing or possessing the object.
The major implication of the sports marketing is to generate the revenue and promote the sports and make aware a mass of people about the sport. Stakeholders are involved in the leagues and also with the teams and fans as well as the cities and countries hosting the sports (Eastman & Land, 2016). The benefits are also availed by the media and the businesses that promote the merchandises and variables through sports and receive benefits in general in the monetary as well as the non-monetary benefits. In the form of taxes and stakeholder’s gains the country also receives the revenue and gains exposure for future years.
According to the major brands the competition starts only when they apply the strategies to promote. The brands are linked up with the marathons across the world which showcases the strengthening the marketing policy to target the large number of the audiences. The brands like Adidas, Nike are segregating the market into World Marathon Majors. They are not title but technical sponsors and these marathons acts as a king in case of the promotion (Wann, Peterson, Cothran & Dykes, 2013).
One of the most traditional and the conventional way of marketing the sport is through the sponsorship of the event. The sponsorship of FIFA includes the company supplying the balls which are utilised in the world cup and having its logo on the side boards. Ohio and the Nike entered into the contract at the college level that provides the school an amount of $16.7 million in cash and the required products through the year 2033-34 (Rufer & Davies, 2017). The next best implication of the sports marketing is the seasonal sale of the tickets which is the foundation of any sport and the earnings are about one third of the sales.
The sale of the merchandise is one of the basic ways of the sports marketing which not only helps in generating the revenues but also helps in promoting the brand value all over the world (Kesler, 2018). For example The New York Yankees is the most popular brand in the world. In the year 2007 one of the newspapers such as “Sports Business Daily” recorded the remarkable market share of the Yankees at 25.3%. The Boston Red Sox was the second best with an 8.3% share. In the form of taxes and stakeholder’s gains the country also receives the revenue and gains exposure for future years. The motive of the fans behind forming the informal relationship is that they want to get involved with the production instead of just repurchasing or possessing the object.
Personal Response
As a consumer of the badminton sport in my view is the sport in the era of the high competition. The badminton leagues organised by the different brands not only offer the chance to play and showcase the talent but also provides the opportunity to buy the products and the services. At times as the consumer of the sport it feels that the products and services are not enough and proper training shall be provided. There are many clubs and events which provide the chance to play either in team or individually. This also helps to enhance the interaction with the other players and infuse the quality of the team work. In my view the consumer of the sport gets the advantage over the casual people having little interest in the sport.
Not only the knowledge of the sport increases but also it gives an ideology of the physical fitness and health. There are many campaigns which are introduced to promote the healthy lifestyle however, if the sport is of the choice of a particular individual the follow up become easy and the casual activity. Badminton as a sport gives an entire workout to the body. The core muscles get stretched and the arm and the back muscles receive a push. The body cab avail the psychological benefits such as reduces stress and anxiety levels. The endorphins get increased as the exercises starts and brain gets to feel the healthy neurotransmitters and also possess the sleep variables.
The fast pace of the game develops the speed and improves the reflexes. As a consumer of the badminton sport an individual can win the scholarships in the particular leagues and the events. The rewards can be in the form of the cash or in kind such as the set of the new badminton rackets, the sports kit, and the chance to play against different people from different culture, the t-shirts and the badges. Under the games like Olympics and the Asian games the individual gets a worldwide recognition.
In my view if a person is playing for the country this gives him an edge over the normal consumers. At times the consumer of the sport is not only one who supports the game with emotions rather the contribution can be in the form of playing the game and having an actual feel on the court. The brand Yonex is famous in overall world for providing the shuttles and the other accessories relating to the badminton sport. Therefore, in my personal view the above discussed possibilities are depicted and there is a huge difference between the normal sport fans and the casual fans.
References
Billings, A. C., Qiao, F., Conlin, L., & Nie, T. (2017). Permanently desiring the temporary? Snapchat, social media, and the shifting motivations of sports fans. Communication & Sport, 5(1), 10-26.
Boyle, B. A., & Magnusson, P. (2017). Social identity and brand equity formation: A comparative study of collegiate sports fans. Journal of Sport Management, 21(4), 497-520.
Brown, N. A., & Billings, A. C. (2013). Sports fans as crisis communicators on social media websites. Public Relations Review, 39(1), 74-81.
Cordina, R., Gannon, M. J., & Croall, R. (2017).
Eastman, S. T., & Land, A. M. (2016). The best of both worlds: Sports fans find good seats at the bar. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 21(2), 156-178.
Heere, B., & James, J. D. (2017). Sports teams and their communities: Examining the influence of external group identities on team identity. Journal of Sport Management, 21(3), 319-337.
Jensen, J. A. (2014). Sports fans, identity, and socialization: exploring the fandemonium, Journal of the Global Sport Management 3(1), pp79-98
Kelley, S. W., & Tian, K. (2014). Fanatical consumption: An investigation of the behavior of sports fans through textual data. Sports marketing and the psychology of marketing communication, 27-65.
Kesler, D. (2018). The Well-Being of Sport Fans: Predicting Personal Life Satisfaction and Social Life Satisfaction.
Redden, J., & Steiner, C. J. (2010). Fanatical consumers: towards a framework for research. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17(4), 322-337.
Rufer, L., & Davies, M. (2017). The Adoption and Preferences Among Sport Fans for In-Stadium Sport Team Apps.
Samra, B., & Wos, A. (2018). Consumer in Sports: Fan typology analysis.
Shoham, A., Dalakas, V., & Lahav, L. (2015). Consumer misbehavior: Aggressive behavior by sports fans. Services Marketing Quarterly, 36(1), 22-36.
Silva, E., & Casas, A. (2017). Sport fans as consumers: an approach to sport marketing.
Tzoumaka, E., Tsiotsou, R. H., & Siomkos, G. (2016). Delineating the role of endorser’s perceived qualities and consumer characteristics on celebrity endorsement effectiveness. Journal of Marketing Communications, 22(3), 307-326.
Underwood, R., Bond, E., & Baer, R. (2015). Building service brands via social identity: Lessons from the sports marketplace. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 9(1), 1-13.
Vala, R., Durdová, I., Litschmannová, M., & Valová, M. (2018). The Level of Motor Abilities of Applicants for the Study of Sports Management. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 18(2), 896-901.
Wann, D. L., & Dolan, T. J. (2013). Attributions of highly identified sports spectators. The Journal of Social Psychology, 134(6), 783-792.
Wann, D. L., Peterson, R. R., Cothran, C., & Dykes, M. (2013). Sport fan aggression and anonymity: The importance of team identification. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 27(6), 597-602.
Wann, D. L., Waddill, P. J., Bono, D., Scheuchner, H., & Ruga, K. (2017). Sport Spectator Verbal Aggression: The Impact of Team Identification and Fan Dysfunction on Fans’ Abuse of Opponents and Officials. Journal of Sport Behavior, 40(4).
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download