The influence of Social Media brand pages on Football Fans: An Investigation of the Effect of Different Social Media Tools on Fans in Football

Abstract

The different social media tools provide new ways of communication for fans and clubs within the field of football. Social media tools enable a closer interaction between fans and clubs, which can be beneficial for both parties. Clubs can take advantage of different social media tools to enhance the brand, and the opportunity of obtaining more attached and loyal fans. Social media enables a new way of self-expression for football fans. Simultaneously, the increased global usage of social media plays an essential role in the marketing of businesses within football. Thus, it has forced marketers from football clubs to put emphasis on social media marketing. Overall, the purpose of the thesis intends to investigate the effect of different social media tools on fans in football. The project builds on the notion of Tsai and Men’s (2013) theory regarding the motivations of consumers’ engagement with brand pages on social media. The thesis applies four independent variables of information, entertainment, self-expression and remuneration that eventually lead to the dependent variables of brand attachment and brand loyalty. The purpose of the independent variables is to create motivation for fans to engage on social media brand pages. To show the efficiency of the variables, the analysis applies concrete examples of posts on relevant social media platforms; Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter, by the football clubs F.C. Copenhagen, Club Atlético de Madrid, Arsenal F.C, Manchester City F.C, Sunderland A.F.C, Millwall F.C. and A.C. Milan. Additionally, the project collected answers from 265 respondents, who participated in a survey regarding the impact of social media have on the event of a football match. The respondents were attending a football match in Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, the Emirates Stadium in London, the Den Stadium in London or San Siro Stadium in Milano. In addition, the answers from the survey were supplemented with observations made during the matches. The study revealed that the independent variables can influence fans’ motivation to engage in a way that can increase the engagement on the brand pages. To support this, the results from the survey illustrated that social media has an influence on fans’ attachment and loyalty to the club.