Strategic Manoeuvre: Unveiling the Influence of Predatory Pricing Strategies on Brand Equity in the Sports Industry

Various pricing strategies are employed in different businesses to achieve sales objectives. However, these strategies can only lead to goal attainment if they are chosen and executed correctly. One pricing strategy that has not received attention from researchers in the sports industry is the predatory pricing strategy. Therefore, this research aims to analyse the impact of this strategy on the brand equity of sports brands. In this study, the Daei brand was purposively selected as a representative sports brand. Employing a quasi-experimental research design, a pre-test-post-test approach was adopted, comprising both control and experimental groups, each consisting of 30 customers. Data analysis was conducted via covariance analysis. Findings demonstrated a significant enhancement in the equity of sports brands through the implementation of predatory pricing. However, due to the lack of empirical literature in this area, continued adherence to this pricing strategy to reduce customer dissatisfaction should be done with caution.

The sports industry has a very large potential income and is followed by the enthusiasm of the community to exercise, which is an opportunity for entrepreneurs in the sports equipment industry. The objectives of this study are: First, to explore the effects of brand awareness on brand equity. Second, to explore the effect of brand image on brand equity. Third, explore brand loyalty to brand equity. The data collection method is convenience sampling. The research sample was collected from 160 respondents, who use Nike products in Tangerang Regency. The data analysis technique used in this study is multiple regression analysis through the Statistical Package for the Social Science computer program version 18. The results are: (1) brand awareness has a positive impact on brand equity; (2) brand image has a positive impact on brand equity; (3) Brand loyalty is the main impact on brand equity
 Keywords : Brand Awarness, Brand Image, Brand Loyalty, Brand Equity

Brand equity has been extensively studied. Yet few researches look at the sports industry and even fewer at hockey. Our research addresses this weakness. Adopting the Aaker conceptualisation, it evaluates the evolution of the National Hockey Leagues (NHLs) brand equity in the full-season following the cancelled 2004-2005 season. With questionnaires filled by more than 1500 respondents, it demonstrates the transferability of brand equity evaluation scales from consumer goods to sports and the substitution of product buyers with televised sports viewers. Our study clearly shows a fluctuation in the NHL's brand equity in the year following its lockout and an important correlation between the respondents' interest in watching televised sports and their evaluation of the NHL's brand equity. Our findings emphasise the importance for professional sports to negotiate television networks' coverage. We point to a number of future research avenues on brand equity and sports.

Research Questions To enhance the Premier League’s expansion into external markets amidst growing competition, it is essential to understand how marketing strategies shape its brand equity and subsequently determine satellite fan behaviours. This research specifically examines the associations among the Premier League’s brand communication strategies, brand equity, and three key consumer behaviours, repeat purchase intention, Word-of-Mouth (WOM) intention, and willingness to pay premium price in the Chinese market. Research Methods Data were collected from 550 Chinese Premier League consumers. The proposed relationships among the constructs were examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). Results and Findings Findings of the structural model revealed significant associations between one-way communication and brand awareness, perceived customer orientation, and perceived player quality. Two-way communication was significantly associated with all brand equity dimensions. Regarding consequences, except the associations between perceived customer orientation and WOM intention, and perceived player quality and willingness to pay premium price, all other proposed relationships were supported as significant. Implications This research contributes to the underexplored relationships among brand communication, brand equity, and consumer behaviours in sport industries in China, thereby successfully addressing the research gaps. Practically, this research provides practitioners with a comprehensive picture of building brand equity through effective and multiple communications and enhancing marketing performance through brand equity management.

This study aimed to provide a comprehensive systematic review of the current research on brand equity in sports. To conduct this thorough analysis, the research team examined literature from 1995 to 2023 using the EBSCOhost database. This initial search found 575 scholarly articles related to brand equity and sports. To refine the search, inclusion criteria emphasized aspects of brand equity, utilization of quantitative research methods, and exclusive focus on the sports industry. Subsequently, 77 scholarly articles that met the search criteria remained for further analysis. Building upon Systematic Quantitative Literature Review (SQLR) findings, five themes were identified in the following areas: (1) “Financial Implications,” (2) “Fan Engagement,” (3) “Impact of Sponsorship,” (4) “Rebranding,” (5) “Athlete Endorsement.” Insights from this analysis illuminate brand equity in sports, offering directions for future research on emerging trends and gaps in understanding its interplay with the sports industry.

Background. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is paramount to investigate how to influence professional sport team consumers’ behaviours towards media consumption, which is an indirect consumption of sports products with importance raised by the lockdown. The effect of brand superiority, one of the essential consumer judgments about the brands, on some behavioural intentions of sport team consumers was examined before; however, the role of brand superiority and overall brand equity on media consumption behaviours in pandemic conditions lacked empirical investigation. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between brand superiority, overall brand equity and media consumption behaviours among professional sports teams’ consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 Methods. The participants of this quantitative study were 232 volunteer football (soccer) consumers who support a team in the Turkish Super Football League. The data was collected in 3 weeks using the online convenience sampling method. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used in data analyses, and direct and indirect paths tested by the bootstrapping method.
 Results. The results of the study showed that brand superiority did not have a direct effect on media consumption behaviours of sport team consumers. Besides, overall brand equity had a direct effect on media consumption behaviours and mediated the relationship between brand superiority and media consumption behaviours.
 Conclusions. The evidence in this study indicates sport managers that the cognitive judgement of sport consumers, generally related to the more functional aspect of a sports product alone not an efficient way to directly influence sport team consumers toward media consumption behaviours even in COVID-19 pandemic. Brand equity, however, found to be an effective tool to address for directing sport team consumers’ behaviours toward media consumption in the extraordinary circumstance currently exist.
 Keywords: branding, sports industry, spectator sports, professional sports teams, sports consumers.

The sports industry is currently growing rapidly and becoming one of the major markets in the economy. Dynamic competition drives companies to innovate, especially in technology, to increase economic gains. This phenomenon has triggered the emergence of various sports brands, which requires companies to be creative in marketing and building consumer loyalty. This study focuses on the influence of ethical behavior, brand experience, trust, brand authenticity, and brand equity on customer satisfaction of sneaker users Adidas, Nike, Converse, Puma, and Vans in Indonesia. This study uses a hypothesis testing design with cross-sectional data. Data were collected through online questionnaires to 231 respondents selected using purposive sampling. Data analysis was conducted using SEM (Structural Equation Modeling). This research examines ethical behavior, trust, brand experience, brand authenticity, brand equity, and customer satisfaction. The indicators to measure the variables were adapted from previous research and used a Likert scale. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of ethical behavior, brand experience, trust, brand authenticity, and brand equity on customer satisfaction of sneaker users. To provide contributions to sneaker brand marketers in understanding the factors that influence customer satisfaction so that they can develop more effective marketing strategies.

Aim: The concepts of branding and sport marketing have begun to gain importance along with the current developments in sport industry. The fans have great importance on teams’ branding in the world, especially in our country. As the importance of fans increases on teams’ branding, the number of studies carried out on these subject increases, as well Methodology: These research studies are especially carried out within the framework of the Fan-Based Brand Equity model. This study investigates the impact of the brand equity dimensions (brand awareness, brand associations and perceived quality) on fan loyalty in football teams. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to reveal the relationship between the factors affecting fan loyalty and to evaluate the fit of model. This research was administered to 502 volunteer fans of Atiker Konyaspor Club, one of the leading clubs of Turkey Sport Toto Super League, in the 2018-2019 season of Lefter Kuçukandonyadis in Turkey. Results and Conclusion: As a result, it was observed that while two of the brand equity dimensions, brand associations and perceived quality, had positive effects on fan loyalty, the third dimension, brand awareness, had no effect on the model, concerning fan loyalty. Upgrading sports clubs’ attributes and giving importance to the brand association had statistically significant influence on fan loyalty. Key Words: Brand Equity, Fan Loyalty, Football Clubs, Sports Marketing, Structural Equation Modelling.

One of the most popular forms of marketing strategy to endorse a product or a brand is celebrity endorsement. Masses are big fan of celebrities both films or sports industry. Hence, using celebrities for brand or social welfare activities is a common phenomenon. Consumers do not purchase a product not because of their love and trust on the celebrity only. This study is aimed at finding the relation in building brand equity and the celebrity endorsers. This research infers the relationship between consumer perception formed through celebrity endorsements and its impact brand equity. It is also inferred from the study that celebrity endorsement fit for a product has a positive effect on consumer perception, hence building brand equity.

One of the most popular forms of marketing strategy to endorse a product or a brand is celebrity endorsement. Masses are big fan of celebrities both films or sports industry. Hence, using celebrities for brand or social welfare activities is a common phenomenon. Consumers do not purchase a product not because of their love and trust on the celebrity only. This study is aimed at finding the relation in building brand equity and the celebrity endorsers. This research infers the relationship between consumer perception formed through celebrity endorsements and its impact brand equity. It is also inferred from the study that celebrity endorsement fit for a product has a positive effect on consumer perception, hence building brand equity.

Social marketing, conceptualized by Kotlar and Zaltman (1971) as a means to promote social objectives and causes more effectively, has the potential to be the catalyst for addressing the disparity and creating positive perceptions. Social marketing is a significant means to address communication, conceptualization, and intellectual gaps between groups, which often results in clarifying differences in product and value outcomes; and the need for change and shifts in paradigms associated with practitioner-academician interaction (Hanna, 2001). In 2008, a roundtable of academicians and sport practitioners discussed the interaction of sociological theory and management sciences to identify the trends and issues that will affect the future of the sport industry. The discussion centered on five areas - the relationship between intangible and tangible forms of capital; the intellectual conflict and academic divide created by the divergent views of marketing and sociological theory; the connection between concepts of “brand equity” and “sense of community”; the association between traditional marketing and lifestyle marketing; and the correlation relationships and experiences in customer management. The information collected from this roundtable showed that there is fragmentation within the sport industry between academicians and practitioners, resulting in a large intellectual gap. It was evident that a majority of practitioners understood the concepts of research and consumer behavior in a generic sense, but do not understand how to utilize these concepts effectively within the real world model of their application of promotions, advertising, and sponsorship. In addition, there seemed to be significant differences between practitioners and academicians based on the divergence of beliefs between sociological theorists who look at the big picture and marketers who only look at the application aspect. These findings led to the determination that there is a need for further analysis of theoretical research and application methods related to this interaction between academicians and practitioners. Through the analysis of documented research and current best practices, the goal is to help understand the disparities between academia and practitioners and provide a conduit that would serve as a catalyst to create real change in the sport industry.

PurposeThe paper aims to refine existing customer‐based brand equity models for the team sport industry and examine the importance of brand equity in the professional German soccer league Bundesliga.Design/methodology/approachAfter assessing brand equity on the basis of actual consumer responses, we relate the brand equity measure on an aggregate level to objective means of economic success. Online sampling with a total database of 1,594 usable questionnaires is utilized for analysis. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (including multi‐group analysis) as well as structural equation modeling and regression analysis are applied.FindingsResults highlight the adequacy of a parsimonious brand equity model in team sport (BETS) model and the importance of the brand in team sport for economic success.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitations of this research are sample constraints; test persons are highly involved in and knowledgeable about the product category under research. Future research should address a more diverse population.Practical implicationsTeams and their management have to realize the relevance of their brand in economic success. They have to recognize the significance of the stadium visit and the individual spectators in the stadium.Originality/valueFirst, a parsimonious BETS model is presented. Second, it was found that special attention should be devoted to the brand equity‐component “brand awareness” when researching brand equity. Third, this is one of the few studies that uses actual economic data to show the impact of brand equity based on direct consumer responses on company success.

This paper explores the strategy of a professional soccer team introducing a new brand for selling merchandise. After reviewing literature on brand management, brand equity and brand associations (with a special focus on their application in the sports industry), this paper examines the case of U.S. Lecce launching the Salento 12 brand and discusses characteristics and key success factors of the project. A model of brand equity drivers of consumers' behavioural intentions towards Salento 12 branded products is designed and tested on a sample of 150 customers. Brand loyalty, perceived value and brand associations with the territory are found to positively affect behavioural intentions.

In being named by Sporting News magazine as the most powerful person in sports for the 20th century, former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle is largely given credit as the visionary who developed the economic model for professional sports leagues. It was Rozelle’s idea to sell the league’s television broadcast rights as a collective entity to the highest bidding network, then have all teams share that revenue equally to help ensure competitive balance. In addition to developing an economic model that improved the brand quality of the NFL, Rozelle should be recognized as a pioneer in applying branding principles to the sports industry. This article demonstrates that Rozelle was instrumental in defining the current sports brand as more than games, but including many strategic communication initiatives. In applying Shank’s model for the branding process, Rozelle increased the NFL’s brand awareness and fostered its brand image, thus increasing the league’s brand equity and ultimately fan loyalty. Rozelle’s actions helped transform the NFL and continue to influence the entire sports industry today.

This study is aimed at examining the influence of service quality, brand equity, and pricing on consumer purchasing behavior at Starbucks outlets in Sidoarjo. Service quality stands as a pivotal determinant affecting customer buying choices, as evidenced by prior research highlighting the positive impact of superior service elements such as promptness, cleanliness, order accuracy, and staff affability on customer satisfaction. Hence, within the setting of Starbucks outlets in Sidoarjo, it is anticipated that high service quality will positively affect customer purchasing decisions. In addition to service quality, brand equity plays a critical role in shaping consumer purchase preferences. Starbucks has built a global reputation as a brand synonymous with top-tier product quality and a distinctive coffee shop experience. Previous studies have revealed that customers with favorable brand perceptions tend to exhibit a preference for products associated with such brands. Consequently, a robust brand equity at Starbucks Sidoarjo is anticipated to wield a positive influence on customer purchasing choices. Moreover, pricing has been identified as a significant determinant impacting purchasing decisions. Customers typically evaluate the price of Starbucks products in relation to their perceived quality and anticipated value from the brand. Prices deemed reasonable and commensurate with the overall brand experience are likely to sway customers’ decisions at Starbucks Sidoarjo outlets. As a result, this investigation concludes that service quality, brand equity, and pricing collectively wield substantial influence on purchasing decisions at Starbucks Sidoarjo outlets. Optimal service quality, strong brand equity, and appropriate pricing strategies have the potential to bolster customer satisfaction and shape their decisions to purchase Starbucks products.