Gender-inclusive Marketing Strategies in Football: A Study of Female Fan Engagement in Marketing Strategies of Danish Men's Football Clubs: How can Men’s Professional Football Clubs Encourage and Attract Fan Engagement Among Women?

Abstract

This master’s thesis explores the traits and sociocultural influences of behaviour among female football fans and investigates sports marketing strategies for attracting and encouraging fan engagement among women in the context of Danish men’s football clubs. On the theoretical foundation of consumer behaviour theory, an ethnographic research design was first applied to find that fan engagement behaviours of women are limited by cultural assumptions of gender roles and apparent prejudice within supporter environments. This was found to influence fan engagement behaviours through social circles, separation of selves, avoidance of attention, and fan authenticity defence, resulting in enhanced socialisation and fan role-readiness barriers. Next, sports marketing strategies of the football clubs were investigated through a multiple case study design, finding that Danish men’s professional football clubs generally apply a ‘facilitate don’t force’ approach to female fan engagement to maintain the authenticity of experiences. This results in four main strategies: early affiliation, aspirational references, transformational experiences, and user-let change. The study offers important insights on how sociocultural factors influence engagement behaviours of supporter minorities and contributes with an understanding of how inclusion can be incorporated into marketing strategies while also considering the impact of international cultural differences