Factors Affecting Brand Equity of Sport Organization (IRI National Olympic Committee)

Corporate brand is among those topics which have received less attention of researchers. In this study, the brand of a sports organization (National Olympic Committee of Iran) was examined. The researcher-made questionnaire (containing 45 items) was filled out by 250 players, coaches, supervisors, presidents of federations and reporters dispatched to the Asian Games who employed the services of National Olympic Committees as a sports organization as well as the staff of this organization. Using exploratory factor analysis, five factors influencing corporate brand including core service, communication management, legal and financial management, position management (positioning) and structural development were identified. The proposed model was tested to explore the relationship of factors. The results of the suggested model showed that the main service directly influenced organization communication, structural development and financial management while it indirectly influenced position management. Also, the communication factor showed an effect on the position (with a high impact factor). The results of this study showed that the main service (main duty and mission of the organization) not only itself but also with an effect on other factors can promote the corporate brand.