Brand equity and brand personality relationship in sports: The example of Turkish football fans

In this study, it was aimed to examine the relationship between the brand personality perception of the fan's favorite athlete and head coach and the brand eguity perception. The Turkish version of the Spectator-Based Brand Equity in Professional Soccer scale, validity and reliability analysis were performed to measure brand equity. The Cronbach α value of the 29-item 5-point Likert-type Spectator-Based Brand Eguity Scale in Sports (SBBES) consisting of 11 factors was 0.893. 600 fans from Galatasaray (GS), Fenerbahçe (FB), Beşiktaş (BJK) and Trabsonspor (TS) fan universe, with a support level of 3-5, formed the sample of the study. SBBES and favorite athlete and coach Sports Brand Personality surveys were applied online to Fan Whatsapp groups at the end of 2021/22 Spor Toto Super League (STSL) and the first half of 2022/23 STSL. The data of 100 fans whose first names did not match and who gave the same answer to the surveys 10 times in a row were excluded from the study. The obtained data were analyzed with SPSS (Version 22. Inc Chicago, IL, USA) program. Kolmogorov Smirnov and Shapiro Wilk tests were used for the normal distribution analysis of the data. Normally distributed variables were presented as mean±standard deviation (smallest-largest), non-normally distributed variables were presented as median and quartiles (Q1-Q3). Data obtained from repeated measurements were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Test, and the relationship between categorical variables was analyzed using Spearman's Correlation analysis. Statistical significance level was accepted as p<0.05. According to the findings, the median age of the supporters was 31 (18-57), and the median of the supporter level was 5 (3-5). There was a seasonal difference in the perception of brand equity and the brand personality of the coach of GS, FB and BJK fans (p<0.05). There was no difference between seasons in the perception of the favorite athlete brand personality of the fans of all clubs (p>0.05). A low and medium correlation was found between the brand equity perception of GS, FB, BJK fans after 2021/22 STSL and the brand personality perception of the favorite athlete, and a moderate correlation was found in all clubs at the end of the first half of 2022/23 STSL (p<0.05). After 2021/22 STSL, the difference between the brand equity perception of GS, FB, BJK fans and the brand personality perception of the coach is very low and low; At the end of the first half of 2022/23 STSL, a moderate correlation was found in all clubs (p<0.05). The difference between seasons in the brand equity perception of GS, FB and BJK fans may be a reflection of negative experiences such as league rankings and coaching changes. The failure of new players to achieve the expected performance after the coaching changes in a season, the failure of the coach in the next season to show the expected success may be the reason for the change in the relationship between the brand personality of the coach and brand equity. With the elimination of negativities, the increase in the correlation level between the fans' perception of the brand personality of the coach and the brand equity supports this view. The successful players of GS and FB attract attention in the national and international arena, the loyalty of BJK fans to the athlete, the fact that TS fans play their favorite athletes in both seasons may be the reasons why there is no difference in the personality of the favorite athlete brand between seasons. However, the effect of the brand personality of the favorite athlete on the brand equity perception of the fans and the change in this effect depending on the experiences suggests that the favorite athlete is important in the brand equity. The fact that there is no difference between the seasons in the perception of the fan's favorite athlete brand personality and the fact that the coach is in charge makes us think that the coach is more important for the fans. As a result, positive and negative experiences change the brand equity perception of the fans. Apart from the factors that create brand equity, the brand personality of the favorite athlete and coach can have an effect on the change. The brand managers of the clubs should take the necessary precautions and develop strategies to become a strong brand by considering all the variables that cause a change in the brand equity perception of the fans. It is thought that the architectural features of the stadiums, where especially positive and negative emotions are experienced, should be designed to appeal to all fans. The important limitation of the study is the inability to determine the supporter typology. Determining the factors that affect brand equity in different types of fans through the stadium or social media before and after the match can make the strategies to be developed more effective. For this reason, longitudinal studies with more samples are needed with experts who can analyze the fan types in order to obtain definitive results.