Construction and validation of the Urban-Sport Branding Questionnaire (Case study: Juybar)

The importance and crucial role of sports in attracting tourists, capital, and also improving the position of the city are very important. However, the potential for sports branding has not materialized in many cities in developing countries. So the main question is what factors are needed to brand cities through sports. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of constructing and validating the urban-sports branding questionnaire.

This study is applied in terms of purpose, descriptive-analytical in terms of methodology, and qualitative-quantitative in terms of the nature of its data. The statistical population of this study consisted of faculty members in the domains of sports management, city marketing, geography, and urban planning, sports managers, faculty members specialized in branding and marketing, urban managers (municipal and provincial), sports coaches, and sports champions, and faculty members who had experience in branding and had traveled to Iran several times. The sampling in this study was purposeful and convenience. In the second stage (interview) after theoretical saturation, 21 people and in the third stage, 18 were selected for the research sample. Finally, the extracted factors were prepared in a questionnaire and submitted to a group of experts.

The results showed that the urban-sport branding questionnaire has 6 dimensions, 16 categories, and 76 indicators.

Considering the importance of urban branding through sport, urban managers and policymakers can identify the cities that have the potential and increase the city's influence, credibility and development by considering these factors.