Role of Managing the Characteristics of the Athlete Brand in Psychological Commitment and Behavioral Loyalty to Athletes (Case Study: Cristiano Ronaldo)

Brand, branding and its management are not new in sports management, but the concept of athlete brand and its management is a topic that has recently attracted the attention of researchers. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive and correlational study was to examine the role of managing the characteristics of the athlete brand in psychological commitment and behavioral  loyalty to the athlete.  All students of the University of Kurdistan who are Crist Ronaldo fans were selected as the statistical population. The measurement tools included athlete brand image questionnaire with 30 questions (Arai et al, 2013), psychological commitment questionnaire with 3 questions (Väätäinen & Dickenson, 2018), and behavioral loyalty questionnaire with 4 questions (Bauer et al, 2008). The content validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by experienced professors and their internal conformity was approved by Cronbach's alpha test. In addition, a structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that the athlete brand characteristics: Athletic expertise (0.81), Relationship effort (0.75), Role model (0.70), Sportsmanship (0.71), Lifestyle (56.5), Physical attractiveness (0.52), Competition style (0.44), Rivalry (0.40), Symbol (0.39) and Body fitness (32) had the most effect on fans' psychological commitment directly, and their behavioral loyalty indirectly. Moreover, psychological commitment with a regression coefficient of 0.71  affected behavioral loyalty. This research can provide a coherent insight into the management of athlete brand characteristics, for sports team managers, athlete program managers,  sports marketers and the athletes themselves. It also provides a wide range of management actions necessary for better managing athletes' brand, creating a strong brand, creating a desirable image and its desirable association, and finally developing fans' psychological commitment and loyalty to athletes and enjoying the benefits and results from them.