Sports branding as an object of scientific analysis based on the study of publications in the international scientometric database Web of Science Core Collection

Abstract

Sports branding is a systematic process of communication with a mass audience, aimed at creating a special sports culture: understanding the need to maintain a healthy lifestyle; maintaining interest in sports activities; formation of a positive image of the country through large-scale events, etc. Branding technologies are currently actively used not only by sports clubs, individual athletes, public authorities, but also by non-profit physical culture and sports organizations. The study is aimed at systematizing modern scientific ideas about sports branding. Sports branding literature included in the Web of Science Core Collection database for the period 2005 to 2023 was examined. Bibliometric methods of information processing were used in the context of sports branding. VOSviewer software was used for visual analysis in terms of publication, author, country, journals, citations and keywords with construction of bibliometric maps, visualization of cluster density, weight - citations. After screening, a total of 388 publications from the Web of Science database were included. The constructed bibliometric maps made it possible to determine the most popular areas of research to study the problem under study: sports branding as an effective tool for forming the country's image; branding of sports events; social media as a tool for sports branding; the importance of brands in the professional sports industry; athletes personal branding. The use of the VOSviewer program, version 1.6.18, made it possible to provide a comprehensive analysis of the problem, to identify priority research areas in this area: the principles of using sports branding as a mechanism for constructing a territorial brand, as well as technologies for promoting sports brands in social media.