Examining the Fan Interaction Model, Fan Identity and Brand Image of Selected Teams of Iran's Premier Football League

Abstract

Purpose: The general purpose of the current research was to test the fan interaction model, fan identity and brand image of the selected teams of the Iranian Premier League (study: fans of Persepolis, Esteghlal, Tractorsazi and Sepahan).Methodology: The present research was descriptive of the correlation type and based on structural equation modeling with the partial least squares approach, and in terms of its purpose, it is considered a part of applied research. The current research community is the fans of Iran's premier football league. Meanwhile, four teams (Perspolis, Esteghlal, Tractorsazi and Sepahan) were selected as the top four teams of the 2019-20 league respectively. Due to the fact that the size of the statistical population is unlimited, stratified random sampling was used. In this research, the scale of fan interaction with the brand was used from the Desart questionnaire (2017), the brand image of Tim Bauer et al. (2008) and the team identity of Mile and Ashworth (1992). Structural equation modeling with partial least squares approach and Smart Pls version 3 software were used for data analysis.Findings: The results showed that fan interaction has a significant positive effect on the brand image and identity of team fans.Conclusion: Finally, the research model had a strong fit and can be used as an operational model in the Iranian Premier League to attract more football fans.