Brand Management Strategy for Korean Professional Football Teams : A Model for Understanding the Relationships between Team Brand Identity, Fans’ Identification with Football Teams, and Team Brand Loyalty A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Ja Joon Koo School of Engineering and Design Brunel University March 2009 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank many individuals without whom the completion of this dissertation would not have been possible. In particular, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor Dr. Ray Holland who has supported my research with valuable advice and assistance. I also wish to extend express thankfulness for my college Gwang Jin Na. His valuable comments were much appreciated to conduct LISREL. In addition, my special thanks go to all respondents who completed my survey. Finally, but definitely not least, I would like to give my special appreciation to my family. To my parent, thank you for their endless love and support. I thank my brother, Ja Eun for his patience and encouragement throughout this process. Especially, my lovely wife, Mee Sun and son, Bon Ho born during my project have encouraged me to complete this dissertation not to give up. I am eternally grateful to all of you. i ABSTRACT This research recommends a new approach to brand strategy for Korean professional football teams, focusing on the relationships between team brand identity as the basic element of sports team branding, team brand loyalty as the most desirable goal, and identification between fans and teams as the mediator between identity and loyalty. Nowadays, professional football teams are no longer merely sporting organisations, but organisational brands with multi-million pound revenues. It is vital for football teams to build a relevant brand strategy based on the relationship with their fans. Existing research on sports branding suggests that fans who are deeply identified with a specific team tend to possess extremely high loyalty, holding a particular team as central to their identity. Therefore, managing the relationships between team brand identity, fan-team identification, and team brand loyalty can be the most powerful brand strategy for football teams, particularly for Korean football teams that do not retain strong fan bases and yet desire to gain consumers who identify with them. Through two empirical studies and case study analysis this research investigated a construct of team brand identity in the professional football context. Consumers‟ associations with football teams were examined and 13 elements of a team brand identity scale were developed. It was revealed that team brand identity is composed of four identity dimensions which are experience, visual, non-product, and product. Case studies, with a further literature review of team brand identity, clarified and confirmed the first study findings. The final empirical study tested and confirmed the correlated and serial relationships, and provided the basis for the new theoretical model on which to build the brand strategy. ii CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ⅰ ABSTRACT ⅱ CONTENTS ⅲ LIST OF FIGURES ⅶ LIST OF TABLES ⅷ ACRONYMS ⅸ CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Aim, Objectives and Research Questions 9 1.1.1 Aim 10 1.1.2 Objectives 10 1.1.3 Research Questions 11 1.2 Structure of the Thesis 12 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES 16 2.1 Brand identity 16 2.1.1 Brands 16 2.1.2 Brand identity 17 2.1.3 Brand identity of sports teams 20 2.2 Brand Associations 21 2.2.1 Brand associations 21 2.2.2 Brand associations of sports teams 24 2.3. Identification 27 2.3.1 Fan-Team Identification 27 2.3.2 Social Identity Theory 31 2.3.3 Organisational Identification 33 iii 2.3.3.1 The link between team identity and the self-definitional needs (identity similarity, distinctiveness, and prestige) 35 2.3.3.2 The link between identity similarity and identity attractiveness 35 2.3.3.3 The link between identity distinctiveness and identity attractiveness 37 2.3.3.4 The link between identity prestige and identity attractiveness 38 2.3.3.5 The link between identity attractiveness and F-T identification 40 2.4 Brand Loyalty 42 2.4.1 The link between F-T identification and attitudinal loyalty 45 2.4.2 The link between attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty 46 2.5 The Summary of Literature Review and Hypotheses 48 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY 53 3.1 Research Procedure 53 3.1.1 Literature Review 53 3.1.2 The Empirical and Case Studies 54 3.2 Research Methods 57 3.2.1 Survey Research 57 3.2.2 Case study 60 3.3 Sample 62 3.3.1 Sample selection 62 3.3.2 Involvement and Knowledge 63 3.3.3 Sample size 65 3.4. Data Collection 66 3.4.1 Free association test 66 3.4.2 Scales 67 3.5. Data Analysis 68 3.5.1 Statistics Techniques 68 3.5.2 Statistical Programme 68 CHAPTER 4. EMPIRICAL STUDY 1 70 4.1 Study 1: Items Generation 71 iv 4.1.1 Subject 71 4.1.2 Procedure (Team association items generation) 72 4.1.3 Item refinement (Known-Group Validation) 72 4.2 Study 2: Finding dimensions of team identity 73 4.2.1 Subjects 73 4.2.2 Procedure 74 4.2.3 Results of factor analysis (Dimensions of team identity) 74 4.2.4 Reliability Testing 76 4.3 The Summary of Empirical Study 1 78 CHAPTER 5. CASE STUDY 80 5.1 Literature Review 80 5.1.1 Stadium 80 5.1.2 Sponsor 82 5.1.3 Web site 84 5.1.4 Group Experience 86 5.1.5 Logo 89 5.1.6 Colour 91 5.1.7 Uniform 92 5.1.8 Regional province 94 5.1.9 History 96 5.1.10 Owner 99 5.1.11 Head coach 100 5.1.12 Success 102 5.1.13 Star player 104 5.2. Case Study 106 5.2.1 Old Trafford (Stadium) 106 5.2.2 FC Barcelona with Unicef (Sponsor) 109 5.2.3 MyFootballClub (Web site) 111 5.2.4 Urawa Red Diamonds (Group Experience) 113 5.2.5 FC Barcelona (Logo) 116 v 5.2.6 Red Devils and Be the Reds (Colour) 118 5.2.7 FC Arsenal (Uniform) 121 5.2.8 A.F.C. Wimbledon (Regional Province) 125 5.2.9 Old Firm (History) 127 5.2.10 FC United of Manchester (Owner) 130 5.2.11 Jose Mourinho (Head Coach) 133 5.2.12 Olympique Lyon (Success) 135 5.2.13 David Beckham (Star Player) 138 5.3 Summary of Case Study 141 CHAPTER 6. EMPIRICAL STUDY 2 145 6.1 Method 148 6.1.1 Subject 148 6.1.2 Procedure 148 6.1.3 Measures 148 6.2 Assessing the Measurement Model 153 6.2.1 Factor Analysis 153 6.2.2 The Reliability Test 156 6.2.3 Discriminant Validity Test 158 6.2.4 The parameter estimates between the latent construct and its observed variables 160 6.3 Testing Hypotheses 162 CHAPTER 7. DISCUSSION 174 7.1 Overview of Dissertation 174 7.2 Summary of Findings 175 7.3 Implications 181 7.3.1 Theoretical Implications 181 7.3.2 Practical Implications 183 7.4 Limitations and Directions for Future Research 185 vi REFERENCES 186 LIST OF APPENDICES 216 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. The Conceptual Model 52 Figure 2. Screen Plot 75 Figure 3. Flow Chart of the Construct of Team Identity Development Procedure 78 Figure 4. Old Trafford Stadium 106 Figure 5. Manchester United Trophy Cabinet 107 Figure 6. A Plaque and a Clock at Old Trafford 108 Figure 7. Partnership between FC Barcelona and Unicef 111 Figure 8. MyFootballClub Homepage 113 Figure 9. Enthusiasm in Saitama stadium 1 114 Figure 10. Enthusiasm in Saitama stadium 2 116 Figure 11. FC Barcelona Logo 117 Figure 12. Red Devils 119 Figure 13. Be The Reds 120 Figure 14. The History of Arsenal Uniform 123 Figure 15. The Logos of AFC Wimbledon and Wimbledon FC 127 Figure 16. Old Firm Fighting 128 Figure 17. Celtic and Rangers Fans 130 Figure 18. The Logo of FC United 131 Figure 19. Protest against Glazer‟s Takeover 132 Figure 20. Jose Mourinho 135 Figure 21. Olympique Lyon champion de France 2007-2008 136 Figure 22. David Beckham 141 Figure 23. The Modified Conceptual Model 147 Figure 24. Summary of Result (Hypothesis 1) 166 Figure 25. Summary of Result (Hypothesis 2) 168 Figure 26. Summary of Result (Hypothesis 3) 170 Figure 27. Summary of Results (Hypotheses 4,5,6,7) 172 vii Figure 28. Summary of Results (Hypotheses 8,9) 173 Figure 29. Summary of Results 180 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Attendances of major professional football leagues 2007-2008 4 Table 2. Attendances of K-league 1983-2006 5 Table 3. Definitions of Brand Identity 19 Table 4. Definitions of Brand Associations 23 Table 5. Definitions of F-T Identification 30 Table 6. Definitions of Brand Loyalty 44 Table 7. Results of Factor Analysis (Team Identity) 76 Table 8. Results of Reliability Test 77 Table 9. Average attendances of FC Lyon 1999-2008 138 Table 10. Beckham‟s Annual Income from Endorsement in 2003 140 Table 11. Summary of Case Study 143 Table 12. Measures of the Conceptual Model 151 Table 13. Results of Factor Analysis (Team Identity) 154 Table 14. Results of Factor Analysis (Fan-Team Identification) 155 Table 15. Results of Factor Analysis (Team Loyalty) 156 Table 16. Results of Reliability Test 157 Table 17. PHI Matrix 159 Table 18. The Parameter Estimates between the Latent and Observed Variables 160 Table 19. Results of the Structural Model 162 Table 20.