نشریه مطالعات بازاریابی ورزشی
سال سوم شماره 3 (پیاپی 11، پاییز 1401)

The purpose of this study was to identify the barriers and strategies for using network marketing in sport industry in Iran. The study was a qualitative research in which Thematic analysis was used to analyze data in three stages of open coding, the main and selective categories. The participants were selected basd on Triangulation technique and included of experienced experts in network marketing, sports management experts who had related scientific works and researches. Participants were selected using purposive sampling method and thus the interviews started with 5 people and continued until reaching the theoretical saturation (N=25). The reliability of Crippendorf alpha (α) coefficient was 0.84, which indicates the desired reliability. Findings showed that barriers for using of Network marketing in sports in Iran included of Managerial, economic, legal, psychological and cultural barriers. Strategies for using Network marketing in sport industry in Iran is based on information management, legacy, technology and social benefits which can result to different out comes as human resource empowerment, economic benefits, service quality improvement. Managers of sports organizations can use network marketing to achieve valuable goals inside and outside their organizations.

The advent of social media in the last decade has changed the speed and scope of communication and interaction between individuals and organizations around the world and has also affected the way we behave and communicate with others. Comparing to the offline environment, the online environment offers more opportunities for interactive and personal marketing. Nowadays, brands use social media extensively to attract customers and have expanded in social networks, Which is one of the used strategies to increase the fans and using their club customers for getting more customers. Linking brand communities to social media leads us to the concept of brand communities created on social media, which is a subset of the broader concept of "virtual communities" or online brand communities. Brand communities also provide brand information to members of the community and help the organization to build a strong brand; At the same time, brand communities help to share information, to continue brand history and culture, and help consumers to promote loyalty. Social media plays a key role in making relationships between existing and potential customers and promoting their loyalty. The issue of loyalty is important, because it can be said that the most important property of many companies are their loyal customers. Various factors and variables play a role in creating loyalty. The results of previous research have shown that to what extent social media has a role in attracting customers and raising their demands, and as a result, increasing level of loyalty. This can also be true for Iranian sports clubs, but it needs a scientific study. In this study, the components of opinion seeking (user characteristics) and entertainment value (content features) of club's social media, participation and customer interaction in the club's social media and online brand social identity with loyalty were examined. The brand literature and research background have not paid enough attention to the relationship between these components and customer loyalty and there is still no coherent framework for it. Given this content and the importance of promoting loyalty, the researcher in this study examined the role of social media on online brand community identification and loyalty of sports club customers. The research method is descriptive and correlation kind, which was performed in the field form and is in the category of applied research. The instrument used in this research was the Yoshida et al. (2018) questionnaire, which includes this sections: demographic questions and specialized questions, including opinion seeking (user features) with 3 items, entertainment value (content features) With 3 items, online brand social identification with 3 items, social media interaction with 7 items and customer loyalty with 3 items. The statistical population of the study included the customers of fitness and aerobics clubs in Mashhad, which had active social media such as Instagram, Telegram and the website, and presented special activities to attract and interaction their customers on these pages. G-Power software was used to determine the sample size. Based on the software output, the statistical sample size should be 197 people. The research questionnaire was designed online and posted on the clubs' social media, and finally 190 complete questionnaires were received, which was acceptable considering the 95% return rate. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings showed the Cronbach's alpha value and the combined reliability were higher than 0.7 and the factor loading of all items was greater than 0.4, indicating the reliability of the measurement model. The AVE value for all components was greater than 0.5, indicating the convergent validity of the measurement model. Fornell-Larker test also showed that divergent validity of the research model is appropriate that. In the structural model, T values were greater than 1.96, which indicates the significance of the path coefficients, and R2 also greater than 0.36, which confirms the quality of the structural model. Also, the value of GOF was 0.61, which indicates a strong fit of the model. Based on the test results of the research model there was a significant relationship between opinion seeking(user characteristics) of club's social media and participation in social media, there was a significant relationship between opinion seeking and Online brand community identification, there was a significant relationship between opinion seeking and customer loyalty. There was a significant relationship between entertainment value (content features) of club's social media and participation in social media, there was a significant relationship between entertainment value and Online brand community identification, there was a significant relationship between entertainment value and customer loyalty. There was a significant relationship between participation in social media and Online brand community identification. There was a significant relationship between participation in social media and customer loyalty. Finally there was a significant relationship between Online brand community identification and customer loyalty of fitness and aerobics clubs in Mashhad. Therefore, the ability to opinion seeking and entertainment value of club's social media is effective in customer online brand social identification and loyalty. Also as the level of interaction and participation among customers increases, long-term relationships will be formed between them, the online brand social identification will be strengthened, and ultimately the level of customer loyalty will increase. It is necessary for managers to be more careful in using these media and networks because it is a good platform to retain customers and attract new customers. In this regard, it is recommended to club managers: use the Instagram social network because it is used more by customers and on the other hand provides the conditions for communication and two-way interaction, and also attractive visual content can be sent through it. Produce and publish quality content related to the conditions of the club and prevent from providing unrelated content, which will reduce the attractiveness of the page. One of the best and fastest ways to increase customer engagement and participation in social networks is to hold a competition, so by creating various competitions and challenges with the presence of famous people, you can increase the number of visits and interactions in the social network and attractiveness of your page.

The purpose of this study is to provide a model of loyalty to new customers with a history of sports and entertainment complexes in Isfahan. The method of conducting this research was causal-comparative and in the classification of research according to the purpose, this research is placed in the category of applied research. The statistical population included customers using the services of sports and recreation complexes in Isfahan. According to Morgan's table, the maximum sample size of 384 people was selected. The questionnaire used in this study had 5 sections including personal information, service quality questionnaire, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and return questionnaire. In this study, descriptive statistical methods including central tendency indices and dispersion indices and inferential statistical methods including Pearson correlation and structural equations at the alpha level of 0.05 were used. SPSS22 software was used for data analysis and AMOS22 software was used for structural equation modeling. The results showed that there is a significant causal relationship between perceived service quality with satisfaction and willingness to return in both groups of new and experienced customers. Loyalty also plays a more effective role in the tendency of new customers to return. Finally, the communication model of perceived quality of sports services, satisfaction, willingness to return and loyalty of new and experienced customers of Isfahan sports entertainment complexes has a good fit. It seems that all groups of customers, both new and experienced, should be considered by club owners, and improving the quality of service and satisfaction are the main goals of club managers. Also, due to the greater impact of loyalty on the repurchase of clubs in new customers than experienced customers, special attention should be paid to creating satisfaction by improving the quality of service to new customers.

The purpose of this study was to identify and rank the components of sports business development in Golestan province. The issue of interest for this study, sports business development, is understood as an emerging and constantly evolving area of the business and management world..Because of this, analyzing the sports environment through entrepreneurial processes is useful in improving the well-being and performance of sports companies, as well in increasing their economic production. The most challenging face of sports entrepreneurship is the need to progress at the same pace as the industry. In this regard, sports entrepreneurship in Iran has not yet been able to identify the motivations and needs of entrepreneurs. The aim of this study was factor analysis of components of sports business development in Golestan province. The research method was descriptive-analytical. The statistical population consisted of all sports business owners, sport managers and physical education professors in Golestan province (N = 1200) and the sample size of the study was (n = 297) that selected with Quota Sampling. A researcher-made questionnaire with 28 items and 4 components in the areas of specialty (6 items), environmental (6 items), commercial (7 items) and management (9 items) was used for data collection. Also, confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the construct validity of the questionnaires. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by 8 professors. To measure the reliability, questionnaires were distributed among 30 people in the research sample and the results were in SPSS 1 software. The combined method was recorded and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the questionnaire α = 0.76 was obtained, which is acceptable. To analyze the data analysis in the qualitative stage of the research, the qualitative content analysis method was used, the text of the interviews was implemented and their key points, which were in line with the objectives of the research, were coded. Finally, the components of sports business development were identified and approved by a group of experts. In the quantitative stage of the research, after compiling the desired indicators in the qualitative stage, compiling, distributing and collecting questionnaires, descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, percentage and frequency) and inferential statistics (exploratory factor analysis) were used to analyze the obtained data. . All analyzes were performed using SPSS statistical software. Version 21 and LISREL version 8.5 were performed. According to the findings of the descriptive part of the research, among the statistical sample in the qualitative part, 7 persons were university professors, 4 persons were sports administrators and 6 persons were sports experts. Also, among the statistical samples of the quantitative research section, 137 persons were sports club managers, 24 persons were pool managers, 19 persons were sports product manufacturers, 74 persons were sports shop managers and 43 persons were football school managers. According to the research findings, four different factors including specializedty, environmental, managerial and commercial factors were effective on the development of sports businesses in Golestan province that should be considered. The results of the present study with the research findings of Javanmaed & Farzan (2021), Al Mamun (2018), Viliamos & Tzeremes (2012), Ghorbani & Vahdani (2016), Azimzadeh et al. (2014), was consistent. Based on the results in this section, it can be acknowledged that one of the main and important factors in the development of sports businesses is the factors related to the expertise of the entrepreneur. And the entrepreneur in order to succeed in developing his business must have different expertise and capabilities. For example; Ability and mastery in information and communication technologies, ability, experience and expertise in relation to national and international sports organizations, ability, experience and theoretical and practical management expertise Sports, Ability and experience in holding sporting events, volunteering activities, internships and internships in sports organizations can play a key role in the process of creating and developing sports businesses and therefore it is very important to pay attention to these factors. Findings showed that environmental factors were effective in the development of sports businesses. In other words, the research samples mentioned environmental factors as one of the important factors for the creation and development of businesses. The research findings showed that the managerial factor has a significant effect on the development of the business model. This finding is consistent with the findings of Dastoom & savadi (2017), Carlos et al. (2016), Vivianna (2017), was consistent. Factors such as ability and mastery in goal setting, planning and path selection in sports business, ability and mastery in working with people in sports business, ability and mastery in resolving conflicts in sports business, ability and mastery in decision making sports business issues, ability and mastery in monitoring, evaluation and control of sports business affairs, ability and mastery in leadership, guidance and coordination of sports business affairs, ability and mastery in negotiation, bargaining, bargaining, holding Meetings and time management in sports business, ability and mastery in organizing and allocating sports business resources, ability and mastery in perceiving and analyzing sports business issues have an effective role in management. Findings showed that the commercial factor has a significant effect on the development of sports businesses in Golestan province. In the field of business, the main goal is to increase customer and organizational satisfaction, as well as increase the interests of both parties and improve efficiency in marketing, sales and service and support structures. According to the research findings, managers and relevant stakeholders in the province can use the factors identified in the present study to develop sports businesses whose role in the development of such businesses was confirmed in order to improve the employment situation and reduce unemployment in the province. And by holding training workshops for students and graduates of the field of physical education of athletes, coaches and members of sports teams as well as owners of sports businesses in the province and familiarize them with various factors affecting this area and appropriate planning at management levels and reduce problems and Existing restrictions provide suitable conditions for the development of sports businesses in the province.

The aim of this study was to analyze the gender factor in the effectiveness of advertising using sports on social networks (case study: Instagram) with emphasis on the role of attitude in the effectiveness of advertising and the role of gender in moderating the relationship between independent and dependent variables. The statistical population of the study was users of Instagram sport pages, and users of posterfootball, posterfutball, akhbare_perspolis, chejazab, science.base.fit and faculty.of.sport.sciences were selected as the available sample. This research is a descriptive- correlational kind and statistical analysis was performed based on 260 questionnaires using Smart PLS software. The confirmatory factor analysis method was used to determine the validity of the instrument's structure, also Cronbach's alpha and Composite reliability coefficient were used to confirm the reliability of the questionnaire. The model of this study includes eight independent components (entertainment, informativeness, peer influence, self-brand congruity, invasiveness, privacy concern, quality of life, and structure time) whose relationship with attitudes toward social media advertising was evaluated. The results revealed that among independent factors, invasiveness and self-brand congruity were meaningful commonly between males and females. Also, informativeness among females, and entertainment and peer influence among males were meaningfully related to attitude.

The purpose of this study was to determine the moderating role of social media in relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and customers' behavioral intention in swimming clubs.This research is applied, descriptive and correlational. The statistical population of this research was the customers of swimming clubs in Tehran. Sample size was determined by Cochran formula. Cluster and random sampling was performed to select 384 persons. The ervice quality questionaire (Liu, 2008), customer satisfaction questionaire (Chen, 2005), customers' behavioral intention questionaire (Parasuman, 1991) and researcher-made social media role questionnaire were used for data collection. The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by the supervisor and a number of experts in the field of research. The reliability of the questionnaires was evaluated by factor loadings, Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability, and mean extracted variance. The results of Spearman correlation test showed that the quality of service has a significant direct relationship with customer satisfaction and customers' behavioral intention. Customer satisfaction also had a significant direct relationship with customers' behavioral intention. The results of the structural equation method showed that social media moderates the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. . Social media also moderates the relationship between customer satisfaction and customers' behavioral intention.

The purpose of the research was to explain the effect of social marketing on motivating sports participation of the elderly in East Azerbaijan province. The main direction of the research is applied and descriptive in nature. The quantitative research method is based on structural equations with a comparative approach of a descriptive correlation type, which was conducted by the researcher as a survey. The statistical population of the research was the elderly sportsmen of East Azarbaijan province in 1400, based on the logical sample size required in structural equation modeling, 200 people were considered as a statistical sample. The measurement tool is a 45-item researcher-made questionnaire containing research variables; predictor variable; Social marketing included personal wellfare with 5 questions and social well wellfare with 5 questions and the criterion variable for sports participation motivation included physical fitness with 5 questions, social motivation with 6 questions, cognitive with 6 questions, challenge with 6 questions, participation with 5 questions, and medical with 7 questions. The content validity of the questionnaire was studied and confirmed by calculating the average variance extracted in the community and external evaluation of the model according to Cronbach's alpha coefficients. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. In order to verify and fit the model, confirmatory factor analysis method was used through Spss20 and Lisrel8.5 software. The goodness-of-fit index of 0.94 indicates a good fit and confirmation of the research model. The results showed that social marketing has significant positive effect on six dimensions of sports participation motivation; Physical fitness, social, cognitive, challenging, collaborative, medical motivation.It also creates social relations between the participants in the programs and provides their support and interaction and finally institutionalizes the desired behavior and enjoying its benefits.