THE ROLE OF SPORTS TEAM REPUTATION AS THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT AND SPECTATOR LOYALTY IN THE PROFESSIONAL THAI FOOTBALL LEAGUE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/jsst.2022.5Keywords:
sports team reputation, celebrity endorsement, spectator loyalty, professional football leagueAbstract
The pandemic effect of Corona virus 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in decreasing the sports venues of the Thai football clubs. The problem is how the Thai football clubs effectively communicate their activities to increase their venues. The celebrity endorsement is usually used for increasing spectator loyalty. However, there are no studies that have examine the sports team reputation as a mediator between celebrity endorsement and spectator loyalty. The purpose of this study aims to investigate the how sports team reputation as the mediator between celebrity endorsement and spectator loyalty. A survey from a sample of 900 spectators who physically attended home games from six football clubs in the professional Thai football league. The 34-item questionnaire from previously developed scales was used. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) technique was applied to analyze the data by using AMOS 20.0. The results showed that sports team reputation works as a mediator between celebrity endorsement and spectator loyalty. The result of the study is an indicator to team managers/owners that sports team reputation is valuable marketing communication tool in developing the sports venues of the Thai football clubs. The sports team reputation is very important to enhance loyalty to teams.
(Journal of Sports Science and Technology 2022; 22(1):59-69)
(Received: 7 October 2021, Revised: 20 April 2022, Accepted: 9 May 2022)
KEYWORDS: Sports Team Reputation/ Celebrity Endorsement/ Spectator Loyalty/ Professional Football League
*Corresponding author: Dr. Thee TRONGJITPITUK
Department of Sports Science and Sports Development
Faculty of Allied Health Science, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, Thailand E-mail: thee.t@allied.tu.ac.th
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