The Effect of Social Media on Sports Marketing: Konyaspor Football Club Case

• Main Authors: Esen ŞAHİN, M. Tahir DEMİRSEL, Abdullahi Ahmed ADAM
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Isarder 2020-03-01
• Series: İşletme Araştırmaları Dergisi
• Subjects: social media; social media marketing; sports marketing; consumer behavior
• Online Access: https://www.isarder.org/2020/vol.12_issue.1_article06.pdf

Purpose – The objective of this study is to examine the effect of social media on sports marketing. Design/methodology/approach – The data of this research have been collected through questionnaire method. The research population was formed by the followers of the club's social media pages. In this context, there are about 228.000 people who liked the club’s Facebook account; and also there are about 150.000 people following the Twitter account. The club’s population was determined from the number of followers on the Facebook page. 384 questionnaires was distributed to the fans. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 23.0 was used to analyze the data obtained from the survey. Reliability, Frequency Distribution, Mean Standard Deviation, KMO and Barlett Test, Factor Analysis, Correlation and Regression Analyzes were performed by determining the statistical tests to be used in the data analysis when the data were coded. The Cronbach alpha coefficient was used to determine the reliability of the scales included in the survey form. Findings – According to the findings, there is a positive and significant relationship between getting information from social media channels of Konyaspor Football Club and fans’ consuming behavior tendency. According to the results of the hypothesis tests, there is a positive and significant relationship between “Getting Information, Communication, Sharing with, Perception of Supporter, Spending Time factors and Club Licensed Product Preferences Tendency” factors. Discussion – According to the results of the research, Konyaspor Football Club actively uses social media accounts to communicate more effectively with its supporters. According to the results of focus groups and surveys conducted with the fans, it is possible to get information about the team's existing or new sales products, to get information about matches and tickets, to communicate with the clubs and footballers and to follow the transfer news. They follow the social media accounts of the club in order to reach the information and to reach the comments made about the club. Investigations can then be conducted on the supporters of the different teams in order to better understand the motivation of the followers for social media teams for subsequent research. A more thorough investigation can reveal more lasting and effective results by examining and following the fans’ social media data.