Examination of fans' perception of mobile marketing, team identification levels and purchase intentions within the scope of digital marketing

The importance of communication and interaction between people in the digital environment has increased significantly with the proliferation of internet services. The advent of internet services has led to a proliferation of social media accounts, with individuals spending a considerable amount of time in these digital environments. The fact that social media platforms are accessible to all internet users increases the potential for two-way communication and interaction between users who receive services from these platforms. The advent of internet technology has given rise to the emergence of novel and more efficacious social media platforms, which facilitate novel and more efficacious modes of communication and interaction. Consequently, the intensity and scope of communication and interaction between users has increased. This intensified communication environment has also influenced the conduct of marketing activities, given that people now communicate and interact with greater frequency and intensity through internet connections from both their own devices and mobile devices. It is evident that classical marketing activities have evolved into new marketing activities at both the local and global levels in response to the increasing opportunities presented by the digital world. Consequently, organisations are able to communicate with similar organisational structures and stakeholders, as well as other individuals, through social media accounts, which they utilise to carry out activities such as communication, entertainment, shopping, games, and so forth. These activities are conducted locally and globally in a prompt and efficient manner through internet services. In the past, when digital marketing was not yet a dominant force, consumers had limited access to information that could help them make an informed decision about a product or service. However, today, with digital marketing playing a significant role, consumers have a wealth of resources at their disposal. These include websites that aggregate customer feedback and satisfaction surveys created in a digital environment. Additionally, individuals' experiences with products or services in the social media environment can be learned through one. It can be posited that digital marketing and mobile marketing activities within this scope affect the purchasing behaviour of consumers. This is evidenced by the fact that product or service producers can send advertising and information messages through mobile communication channels that people keep with them all the time, allowing information exchange as long as they are connected to the internet. The objective of this study is to ascertain the relationship between the perceptions of fans of the four major teams that have been champions in the Super League towards mobile marketing and their level of identification with their teams and their intention to purchase licensed products of their teams through mobile applications and websites installed on their mobile devices. The study will examine the effect of fans' mobile marketing perceptions and identification levels on these mobile purchasing processes. Furthermore, the study examined the demographic and other characteristics of fans' mobile marketing perceptions and identification levels that affect these mobile purchasing levels. The objective of this research is to examine the purchase intentions of fans of the four major teams that have experienced championship victories in the Super League with respect to the licensed products of their teams within the context of mobile marketing. In this context, the perception and usage levels of The study will also examine the fans' attitudes towards mobile applications, their intentions to purchase licensed products of their teams through the applications they have used within the scope of mobile marketing, and their perceived benefits in terms of price and product, convenience, location, enjoyment, and privacy. The study employed the 'Convergent Parallel Design' model, one of the mixed research methods. In order to collect qualitative data, in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 fans of the four major teams that have experienced championships in the Super League. The findings were analysed using the NVIVO 13.00 package program. In the quantitative data collection phase, a questionnaire was employed as a data collection tool, while a scale was utilised as a data collection method. The initial section of the questionnaire comprises questions pertaining to demographic information. The second part of the questionnaire comprises a scale developed by Karaoğlan (2020), which assesses the perceived utility of mobile shopping. The scale consists of 19 statements and five dimensions, resulting from a reliability analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The dimensions are evaluated at the level of price, product, comfort, place, pleasure and privacy. In the third section of the questionnaire, the Team Identification and Purchase Intention scales for licensed products, as adapted by Çiftyıldız and Sütütemiz (2021), were employed. The quantitative data were analysed using the SPSS 22.0 package program. In order to collect qualitative data, in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 fans of four major teams that have experienced championships in the Super League. The findings were analysed using the NVIVO 13.00 package program. The study revealed that fans hold positive perceptions of mobile marketing and that their identification with their teams has a positive effect on their intention to purchase licensed products of the teams they support through mobile marketing channels and tools. Keywords: Marketing, Digital Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Team Identification and Purchase Intention.