The relationship between sports team evangelism and fans' dependability to buy sports brand products

In this study, it is aimed to examine the relationship between sports team evangelism and the dependence of fans to buy sports brand products. Students studying in the Department of Sports Management at universities in Turkey participated in the research. The research data were obtained from a total of 422 students, 191 female and 231 male participants, through the survey. The questionnaire, which is applied to the research group to collect data, consists of three parts. In the first part, the Personal Information Form was used to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants, in the second section, the 5-point likert type "Sports Team Evangelism (eFANgelism) Scale" and in the last section, the 5-point likert-type "Purchasing Addiction Scale" was used. In the analysis of the data collected from the participants, the Cronbach Alpha coefficient was tested for reliability. Normality testing was performed to test the distribution of the data. In the difference tests, T-test with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and finally simple correlation test were applied to determine the relationship between sports team evangelism and purchasing dependence. As a result of the tests, a significant positive relationship was found between sports team evangelism and purchasing addiction. Since it is statistically significant, it is seen that as the evangelism of the sports team increases, the dependence on purchasing also increases. In the light of the results obtained, suggestions that are thought to contribute to the sports industry and related literature have been introduced. Keywords: Evangelism, Adherents, Fanaticism, Marketing, Buying Addiction.