Hail to thee, my sports team brand: investigating the drivers of eFANgelism among fans of selected sports teams in the English Premier League (EPL)

Abstract

Sports fans participate in supporting sports teams by demonstrating various attitudinal behaviors such as loyalty, purchase intention, and stadium attendance. However, although the literature indicates that sports fans who are fanatics can demonstrate advanced attitudinal behavior such as eFANgelism, very little has been done on the drivers of this advanced attitudinal behavior. This study utilized social identity theory to create a conceptual model which looked at how fan identification and fan community identification can be used to promote eFANgelism via perceived brand sacredness among sports fans in Tanzania. The purpose of the study was to provide insights into factors that can improve positive brand promotion among sports fans in Tanzania. Partial least square-structural equation modeling was used to analyze data collected from 322 sports fans of selected sports teams in the English Premier League. The findings indicate that fan identification and fan community identification are important drivers of eFANgelism via perceived brand sacredness. The study recommends that sports team managers should view sports fans as valuable assets that can help create and maintain a competitive advantage for their teams. In addition, sports managers can consider sports fans as an engine toward building the corporate reputation of sports organizations.