Correlation of Brand Orientation, Internal Branding Mechanisms and Internal Communication with Branding Behaviors of the Employees of the Ministry of Sports and Youth

In recent decades, professional sports have emerged as a lucrative industry and provide a variety of business opportunities. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between brand orientation, internal branding mechanisms and in-house communication with brand-building behaviors of employees of the Ministry of Sports and Youth in 2019. 

The present study is descriptive-correlation. The statistical population consisted of all employees of the Ministry of Sports and Youth (890 people). The statistical sample was selected based on Cochranchr('39')s formula of 268 people using the available sampling method. In this study, the demographic questionnaire, "Branding Questionnaire", the "Inter-Functional Communication Questionnaire", the "Employee Branding Behavior Questionnaire" and the "Branding Mechanism Questionnaire" was used. The validity of measuring instruments was confirmed using the methods, face validity of the items effect method, content validity index, content validity ratio, construct validity of confirmatory factor analysis and convergent validity. To measure the reliability, the methods of combined reliability and internal consistency were calculated by calculating the Cronbachchr('39')s alpha coefficient, respectively. 
Data analysis was performed in SPSS. 24 and Smart Plus. 3.2. 

The structural equations model showed that brand orientation with internal branding mechanisms and inter-functional communication in sports organizations at the level of 0.01 is significant. Also, internal branding mechanisms have a significant positive correlation with employee branding behaviors in sports organizations at the level of 0.01. Intra-functional communication has a significant positive correlation with branding behaviors of employees in sports organizations at the level of 0.01.

The branding model and internal branding behaviors among the countrychr('39')s sports staff has a good fit. It is suggested that the managers of the Ministry of Sports and Youth implement training and in-service programs as internal branding mechanisms in this organization.