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Handbook of Research on
Integrating Social Media
into Strategic Marketing

Nick Hajli
Newcastle University Business School, UK

A volume in the Advances in Marketing, Customer

Relationship Management, and E-Services
(AMCRMES) Book Series
Detailed Table of Contents

Foreword.............................................................................................................................................. xvi

Preface................................................................................................................................................. xvii

Chapter 1
How Social Commerce Emerged: The Role of Social Word of Mouth – Social Commerce.................. 1
Nick Hajli, Newcastle University, UK

Individuals perform social interaction with others through online communities, which support their decision
behaviour on the Internet. These abilities are mostly due to the rise of social networking sites through the
recent development in Web 2.0 technologies such as social media. The increasing popularity of social
media and social networking sites has developed e-commerce to social commerce. Social commerce is
a new stream in e-commerce, in which consumers use social media in their purchasing journey. In this
social climate, the social commerce era, consumers provide social support for the network by not only
persuading consumers to have more interconnectivity with their peers, but also by giving a number of
unique opportunities to firms. In this chapter, the author discusses the way social commerce has been
emerged. As social word of mouth is one of the key constructs of social commerce, social word of mouth
as well as the applications of social commerce and social support theory in business context have been
explained in detail in chapter.

Chapter 2
Co-Creating Brand Value through Social Commerce............................................................................ 17
Yichuan Wang, Auburn University, USA
Nick Hajli, Newcastle University, UK

This chapter looks at the opportunities of social commerce for branding. The chapter examines social
commerce constructs and their impact on brand development. The results of this empirical study show
that both social factors and social commerce constructs have positive effects on co-creating brand value
intention. This study also highlights the moderating effect of privacy concern between social commerce
constructs and co-creating brand value. Contribution of this chapter is the combination of social media,
social commerce, and social support in branding strategies, which produce co-creating brand value
strategies. The chapter also provides practical implications for the market to develop co-creating brand
value strategies through social commerce.





Chapter 3
Online Sport Brand Communities: Sport Brand Communities............................................................. 35
Nick Hajli, Newcastle University, UK

Organizations have reached the point where they need to change their strategies in order to create value
with customers. This is the modern marketing logic. It has mainly come about because consumers have
been empowered to exert influence on companies. In this chapter we argue that a different perspective
about consumer care has emerged through social media; consumers are no longer passive information
users but are now active content creators who can be part of value creation in the marketplace. Therefore,
this chapter analyses the opportunities that sport organizations can generate by co-creation of value
through social media. The findings of this chapter create a picture of how virtual communities support
co-creation of value for sports organizations.

Chapter 4
Understanding the Use of Social Media for Employer Branding.......................................................... 46
Maxim Viktor Wolf, University of London, UK
Julian Mark Sims, University of London, UK
Huadong Yang, University of Liverpool, UK

Employer branding applies marketing tools to promote an organisation as an employer to current and potential
employees. The importance of strategic alignment between parts of the business has been highlighted in
literature: marketing and human resource activities are no exception. On the contrary, the alignment of
customer brand and employer brand is equally important to marketers and human resource managers.
This chapter frames the creation and communication of the employer brand as a “strong communication
system”. A framework for assessment of the system’s strength is introduced and a practical application
of this framework is demonstrated in two case studies. The conflict between the traditional top-down
one-way marketing communication flow and bottom-up bi-directional communication on social media
is highlighted and the impact of this apparent conflict on the system strength is discussed. Social media
appears to change the way in which employer brand is created, communicated and perceived and this
chapter aims in aiding the understating of this changes.

Chapter 5
The Effects of Consumer Social Media Marketing Experiences on Brand Affect and Brand Equity... 74
Tugba Orten Tugrul, Izmir University of Economics, Turkey

A limited number of studies have shown that social media marketing activities positively contribute to brand
performance. In this chapter, therefore, a conceptual framework elucidating how consumer social media
marketing experiences lead to more favorable brand affect, and in turn, enhanced brand equity is proposed.
Importantly, perceived social media marketing activities are identified as a key moderator influencing the
effects of consumer social media marketing experiences on brand equity. Repeated measures ANOVA
and regression analyses were conducted to test the proposed model in a study consisting of three phases.
The results provide support for (a) the main effects of consumer social media marketing experiences on
brand affect and brand equity, (b) the mediating effect of brand affect, and (c) the moderating effect of
perceived social media marketing activities. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the theoretical
and managerial implications of the research findings, and recommendations for future studies.
 

Chapter 6
Intellectual Property Rights and Social Media: Copyright in the Digital Era – Social Media and
Copyrights.............................................................................................................................................. 89
Hatem Bugshan, University of London, UK

Issues related to intellectual property rights in the Web 2.0 environment are rarely discussed. This chapter
investigates the issues surrounding copyright in the digital era, which the market is increasingly using
social media. The chapter describes the legal risks confronting people on using content in the digital
era and examines the issues in this area. Valuable discussion will be generated for all users of digital
content. The chapter investigates copyrights in the digital era through a case study, gathering data through
interviews conducted in the UK. Research findings show lack of knowledge and instruction in the use of
digital content and information produced through social media is the main reason for emerging conflict
in this area. Knowledge about IPRs, and specifically copyrights in e-learning, needs to be provided for
people. One of the issues that must be addressed by the use of Web 2.0 to learners is a full explanation
of copyright laws. This will prevent content generated in this environment from infringing copyright.

Chapter 7
Value Co-Creation, Social Media, and Marketing 3.0: Towards the Search for Competitive
Advantage in Firms.............................................................................................................................. 100
Maria Angeles Garcia-Haro, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Maria Pilar Martinez-Ruiz, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Ricardo Martinez Canas, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

The aim of this chapter is to analyze a new concept value co-creation-that has emerged in the context of
marketing and business management research. In today’s market environment, companies are continually
pressured to innovate in order to attract and maintain consumer loyalty and gain and sustain competitive
advantage in the market. First, this chapter identifies factors and variables that are leveraged to determine
value co-creation in firms. Second, this chapter examines how the development of information and
communication technologies-in particular, the Internet and social media networks-has become the main
engine of the co-creation activity in a Marketing 3.0 context. Third, this chapter discusses the consequences
and benefits of implementing such concepts on the achievement of competitive advantages for firms.

Chapter 8
The Usage of Social Media in New Product Development Process: The Benefits and the
Challenges............................................................................................................................................ 121
Rebecca Liu, Lancaster University, UK
Aysequl Eda Kop, University of Aberdeen, UK

This chapter contributes to a better understanding of the role of social media in the NPD process and a
debate about the impact of social media on NPD success. Through a critical literature review, this chapter
provides an insight into the impact of social media on incremental NPD and its contribution to NPD
success, in the context of customer involvement. The review is mainly derived from 286 relevant papers
published in top-ranked journals between 2005 and 2014. The results suggest that while social media
provides an effective and efficient method for collecting information and knowledge about customers’
expectations and experiences, it does not necessarily always lead to NPD success. The study shows
that hidden customer needs, an advanced evaluation tool, the huge amount of information and a firm’s
absorptive capacity challenge the use of social media.


Chapter 9
On the Relationship between Online Social Support and Users’ ontinuance Intention: Evidence
from Social Network Sites................................................................................................................... 141
Xiaolin Lin, Washington State University, USA
Dawei Zhang, The University of Scranton, USA
Yibai Li, The University of Scranton, USA

This chapter discusses the online social support in the context of social networking sites (SNSs). The
pervasive adoption of social networking sites has profound influence on society and enables a new way to
provide social support. Social support has been considered a key social value that online users can obtain
from social networking sites. Research has shown that social support may reduce stress and promote
well-being among diverse populations. Despite its significance to society, the online social support in
the context of SNSs has been surprisingly under-investigated. Some fundamental questions—such as
(1) What are the dimensions of online social support on SNSs? and (2) How does online social support
influence other factors such as the users’ satisfaction and continuance intention to SNSs?—have not
been answered. This chapter attempts to answer those questions. Specifically, this chapter aims to first
identify the definitional dimensions of online social support on SNSs through an extensive review of
the literature. Second, this chapter uses these dimensions to model online social support and test its
effects on other SNS factors: user satisfaction and continuance intention. Eventually, the results support
all proposed hypotheses. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the results are
discussed at the end of this chapter.

Chapter 10
The Neuroscience of Social Television................................................................................................ 154
Shaun A Seixas, Neuro-Insight, Australia
Geoffrey E Nield, Neuro-Insight, Australia
Peter Pynta, Neuro-Insight, Australia
Richard B Silberstein, Neuro-Insight, Australia

In a short few years, social media has become the dominant way in which we communicate with the
outside world. It has become prevalent in almost every aspect of our daily lives, but one of the most
significant changes social media has had, has been on the way we watch television. This phenomenon,
known as dual screening, has caused some concern amongst marketers and advertisers, who believed
that this behaviour was having an overall negative impact on consumer engagement with television. This
chapter attempts to address some of these concerns by providing evidence obtained from the neurosciences
and from a case study. The evidence we present in this chapter demonstrates the opposite effect, whereby
social media can actually be used to enhance viewer engagement.

Chapter 11
Social Media and Higher Education: Direct and Indirect Marketing.................................................. 168
Ivan K. Cohen, Richmond the American International University in London, UK
Julie Salaber, Richmond the American International University in London, UK

The constant rise in tuition fees has created increasing pressure for British universities to augment
the range of marketing tools used to attract students in competition with both domestic and overseas
institutions. This chapter investigates the role of social media as a communication and marketing tool
for Higher Education Institutions in the UK. Social media is a powerful tool for both direct and indirect
 

marketing, and is highly relevant for universities targeting youngsters who belong to the so-called
Generation Y. After presenting the background for social media marketing and higher education, we
investigate whether the use of social media as a marketing tool has been effective in raising awareness
of British universities. To do so, we collect data on the use of social media by HEIs (in the UK and
in the USA for comparison), as well as data on students’ response to these new marketing strategies.
Unlike many other organisations, it seems that social media play a positive role in promoting British
Universities, although the evidence suggests that they still tend to use social media too much like more
traditional forms of marketing and PR.

Chapter 12
A Continuance Model for Optimized Participation in Virtual Communities...................................... 189
Mohana Shanmugam, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Malaysia
Yusmadi Yah Jusoh, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia

The social commerce wave has opened up vast opportunities in emerging markets through virtual
communities’ participation. This chapter investigates the constructs and theories from the social psychology
perspective looking into the intention and behaviour prospect by extending the Theory of Planned
Behaviour (TPB) and integrating the Social Support Theory (SST) to purport a continuance model for
virtual communities’ optimized participation in Malaysia. The model uncovers that the emotional and
informational constructs of the SST and constructs of the TPB as well as perceived value optimizes
participation. This chapter also establishes a continuance model and illustrates how theory from the
social psychology literature positions the constructs of SST, TPB and perceived value in enhancing the
participation of virtual communities. The SEM-PLS method used to analyse the data shows that the
intention and behaviour of the virtual communities determine users’ participation level. Furthermore,
this chapter seeks to enlighten our knowledge on virtual communities and tap into the social commerce
capabilities.

Chapter 13
Social Networking Sites and Marketing Strategies.............................................................................. 209
Ying Wu, University of Sussex, UK
Malcolm Stewart, University of Sussex, UK
Rebecca Liu, University of Sussex, UK

This chapter begins with an introduction to social networking. The opportunities and challenges of social
network sites regarding marketing strategies are discussed and these provide a foundation for exploring
viral marketing with regard to the development of online word-of-mouth activities on social networking
sites. This chapter explores strategies for successful viral marketing and investigates strategic perspectives
of social networking. We look into several types of social networking sites available for consumers to
share and access information and experience such as Facebook and Twitter in the context of marketing
strategy decision-making. The chapter concludes with an examination of the online marketing mix
regarding social network marketing strategy development and a case study (Fiesta Movement Campaign)
and methodology is also included to ‘bridge the gap’ between the academic theory in this chapter and
an example showing how marketers in the industry have taken advantage of social networking sites to
promote their business


Chapter 14
Understanding Customers’ Behaviour through Web Data Mining Models......................................... 243
Valerio Veglio, University of Southampton, UK

Companies have realized that the customer knowledge contained in web marketing database represent
one of the main key to forecast business performance in today’s competitive landscape. Appropriate web
data mining models are one the best supporting approach to make different marketing decision. Analysing
and understanding in advance customers’ behaviour can represent the main corporation’s strength in
planning marketing forecasting. This research want to demonstrate as predictive web data mining models
are accurate patterns in predicting marketing performance compared to traditional statistical methods
in global business. In addition, particular attention is paid on the identification of the main marketing
drivers performed by potential customers before purchasing a given service online. Finally, the criteria
based on the loss functions confirm the high predictive power of the web data mining models in detecting
the probability of customer conversion.

Chapter 15
Social Network Analysis Visualization: A Facebook Case Study....................................................... 260
Mohana Shanmugam, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Malaysia
Yusmadi Yah Jusoh, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia
Rozi Nor Haizan Nor, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia
Marzanah A. Jabar, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia

The social network surge has become a mainstream subject of academic study in a myriad of disciplines.
This chapter posits the social network literature by highlighting the terminologies of social networks and
details the types of tools and methodologies used in prior studies. The list is supplemented by identifying
the research gaps for future research of interest to both academics and practitioners. Additionally, the
case of Facebook is used to study the elements of a social network analysis. This chapter also highlights
past validated models with regards to social networks which are deemed significant for online social
network studies. Furthermore, this chapter seeks to enlighten our knowledge on social network analysis
and tap into the social network capabilities.

Chapter 16
Revisiting Information Systems Research in Nonprofit Context: (Non-)Adoption 2.0 in a Small
Voluntary Club..................................................................................................................................... 274
Ali Eshraghi, The University of Edinburgh, UK

Understanding information technologies and systems in the context of nonprofits is under-developed field
of study. Hence, this chapter reviews current literature on this field. It maps four conventional views on
ICT’s benefits for the sector. Then, using insights generated through an ethnographic study on a small
voluntary organisation, the challenges and issues surrounding the process of adoption and use of both
typical and new information technologies are explored. It is finally discussed that social technologies,
based on the notion of Web 2.0, may have some partial advantageous for volunteer-based organisations
but perhaps greater benefits will emerge at the individual level.
 

Chapter 17
Customer Attitudes towards Internet Banking and Social Media on Internet Banking in the UK...... 290
Yen-Yao Wang, Michigan State University, USA
Mohana Shanmugam, UNITEN, Malaysia
Nick Hajli, Newcastle University, UK
Hatem Bugshan, University of London, UK

Internet banking, a cost saving and productive service delivery channel, has become a new focus of banks
along with developments in information and communication technology (ICT). The advancements of
ICT may help improve customer satisfaction and influence customer attitudes towards Internet banking,
especially on the issue of security. This chapter investigates the attitudes of customers in the UK towards
Internet banking by conducting 25 in-depth interviews with various documents to supplement our analysis.
Results indicate that security is the most important factor affecting Internet banking adoption in the UK.
Furthermore, motivated by the growing importance of social media, this chapter also discusses the role
of social media on Internet banking and provides some suggestions on how banks can leverage social
media to enhance the adoption rate of Internet banking. The detailed results along with discussions,
implications, and limitation are discussed at the end of this chapter.

Chapter 18
Distributed Leadership and Its Applications in Health Care Settings: Social Media Perspective....... 306
Vida Farzipour, University of London, UK

In this chapter, I go through distributed leadership which is one of the mainstreams of plural leadership
from social media perspective. In addition, the attributes and variants of distributed leadership are covered
in this chapter. The role of social media to help the distribution of power and increasing engagement to
enhance the quality of care and patient safety is also addressed in the health care context. It is concluded
that Understanding distributed leadership and its application in the health care setting is largely related
to the appreciation of the political and social power that currently exists.

Chapter 19
Social Media and Marketing: The Evolution of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club............................ 327
Ivan K. Cohen, Richmond University, The American International University in London, UK

Tottenham Hotspur (“Spurs”) Football Club were once the most entrepreneurial of English football
teams, including being the first to obtain a stock market flotation and to attempt to diversify into other
areas beyond their core. However, like many football clubs, they were slow to embrace the Internet
including more recently the use of social media for marketing. This chapter investigates the history of
Spurs’ embrace of the Internet and social media and asks why a club traditionally renowned for its flair
and enterprise on the pitch has been so slow to embrace modernity in the digital world.


Chapter 20
Sports Marketing and Social Media..................................................................................................... 343
Reza Mohammadkazemi, University of Tehran, Iran

In this chapter, we are going to focus on the impact of Social media to change the marketing world
in every industry. Social media marketing (SMM) has had a particular impact in the field of sports
marketing. Social media in sports has effectively rendered a new style of communication with important
implications for the field. The fans’ connection to sports is changing and social media is creating a whole
new channel for the fans to interact and be a part of the action beyond that which they may hope to achieve
by physically being present at the stadium or the ballpark. Sports organizations today are reliant upon
social media for their continued success and growth. This chapter describes how social media is being
used amongst sports organizations and how it has changed the sports industry.

Chapter 21
Social Media Marketing....................................................................................................................... 362
Vipin K. Nadda, University of Sunderland – London, UK
Sumesh Singh Dadwal, Glyndwr University London, UK
Azmat Firdous, University of Sunderland, UK

This chapter provides an insight of contemporary developments in social media marketing with special
reference to the emergence of online technology and its influence upon various marketing operations.
The information flow through the introduction of the concept of social Media involving the synthesis of
sociology and technology and creating an environment on the internet where people share experiences
with each other and develop networks followed by analysis of its three main components (Publishing
Technology for Everyone, Information Diffusion, and Relationship Building) highlighting its various
dimensions. Further, it leads to discussion about Social Media Marketing becoming a latest and popular
trend as a digital platform for social interaction between virtual communities. Next section details main
social media platforms, their rankings, features, corresponding strategic actions followed by advantages
and challenges for organisations using Social Media for Marketing.

Compilation of References................................................................................................................ 383

About the Contributors..................................................................................................................... 431

Index.................................................................................................................................................... 438
 431

About the Contributors

Nick Hajli is a programme director and a Lecturer in Marketing in Newcastle University Business
School. He is an Editor in Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing. He also serves as the guest editor
for several high impact journals such as the International Journal of Information Management and the
Technological Forecasting and Social Change Journal. His active research areas are consumer decision
making in a social commerce context, co-creation of value with consumers, and healthcare development
in current digital era. His research has appeared in the top 20 Journals used in Business School Research
Rankings such as Journal of Business Ethics. He has also published on refereed journals such as Techno-
logical Forecasting and Social Change, International Journal of Market Research, International Journal
of Information Management, and other quality journals as well as in several international conferences.

***

Hatem Bugshan has received his PhD from Birkbeck, University of London. His research stream is
Intellectual Property Rights and Open Innovation. He has published in refereed journals such as Journal
of Strategic Marketing, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, and Qualitative Market Research.
He has also presented his papers in international conferences.

Ivan K. Cohen is currently an Assistant Professor in Finance and Economics at Richmond University,
the American International University in London. His research interests include areas of finance (pen-
sion fund investment, the finance of football clubs), economics (macroeconomics, including a recently
published article on Okun’s Law, and health economics and management). Ivan has recently published
in Cogent Economics and Finance, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Journal of
Clinical Research & Governance, and Qualitative Market Research: an International Journal.

Sumesh S. Dadwal is Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader (MBA) at Glyndwr University,
London, UK. He has 15 years of experience in business and academic research, teaching, E Learning,
educational quality management in wide range of business and healthcare subjects. He has also been
associated with QAA for Reviewer for Educational quality Oversight. Dr. Dadwal’s core areas include
International Strategic Marketing, consumer behaviour and misbehavior in f2f and online environment
product launches, prosumers and experience economy, service encounters and sensational experiences
management. He has undertaken analysis of brands, markets and consumer behaviours using various
qualitative and quantitative techniques. Dr. Dadwal has written various research papers and lead research
at various levels. He has hands on industrial experience in constructions and agricultural supply chain.


 About the Contributors

Ali Eshraghi is a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh Business School with consider-
able working, teaching and volunteering experiences in various organizations and contexts for over ten
years. He has a bachelor degree in Business Administration and an MSc. in Entrepreneurship both from
the University of Tehran, Iran. His area of research interest is technology and organizational change, in
particular from sociological point of view. He studies the co-evolution of everyday activities and ICTs.
For the PhD project, he has conducted an interdisciplinary, multi-setting ethnographic research to find
out the ways in which ICT-related practices are constituted and re-shaped within Scottish swimming
context as a well-established voluntary sector.

Vida Farzipour is a PhD student at Birkbeck College, University of London. She has developed
a broad understanding of leadership studies particularly due to her research in the area of distributed
leadership in health care systems. She is very interested in extending her knowledge and skills to under-
stand leadership and its effectiveness in health care settings. She studied HRM in Master’s degree and
Health Care Management in Bachelor’s degree which gave her a strong foundation to proceed to PhD
in Organisational Psychology at Birkbeck.

Azmat Firdous is a competent, reliable and motivated academic professional driven with well or-
ganised team spirit and goal oriented approach. He works as an Assistant Programme Manager of Post
Graduate Business and Management department at University of Sunderland, London Campus for the
last one year. He is also involved in supervision of MBA dissertations and completed his MBA in Market-
ing Innovation from Anglia Ruskin University UK, and from the University of Punjab Lahore Pakistan.
He is a member of ICMA Professional Accounting Body, membership of PIPFA, Pakistan Institute of
Public and Financial Accountant (Fellowship is due). He is entitled to the fellowship of the Association
of International Accountants. He has worked for various institutions including the University of Sunder-
land (Associate Lecturer), ISC Kingston University London, Kaplan International London, St-Patricks
College London, Oxford House College London, Williams College London and Laurel Academy Lahore
Pakistan. He also has experience of working in the corporate sector for ten years. As a Finance Manager
of a Company, he dealt with all the banks, external auditors, creditors, debtors, tax department and other
external parties. During the past eleven years of working for various institutions, he has taught courses
ranging from Accounting, Finance, Marketing, International Marketing, Strategic Marketing, Marketing
Management, Strategy, Management, Taxation, Audit, Quantitative Methods, Economics and Tourism.

María Ángeles García-Haro, Ph. D. student, is Research Intern of Marketing at Marketing Depart-
ment, University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). She has Master in Strategy and Marketing and Degree
in Business Management. Her research interests fall in the areas of innovation, social media and ICT.
She has published book chapters and attended conferences and seminars.

Yusmadi Yah Jusoh was born in Kelantan, Malaysia in 1972. She graduated with a B.A. (Hons) in
Economics from National University of Malaysia (UKM) in 1996 and obtained a Master in Information
Technology from the same university in 1998. In 2008, she was awarded a Ph.D. in Systems Science
and Management from UKM. She joined UPM in May 2008 and currently works as a Senior Lecturer
at the Department of Software Engineering and Information Systems, Faculty of Computer Science and

432
About the Contributors

Information Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). She teaches software project management,
information systems, and management information systems. Her research interests include software proj-
ect management, information systems, management information systems and knowledge management.

Aysegul Eda Kop holds a bachelor degree in Business Administration from Yildiz Technical Univer-
sity in Turkey and a master degree in Marketing from University of Nottingham in the UK. Now, she is
a PhD student at the Department of Management Studies in University of Aberdeen. She is working on
how companies identify customers’ hidden needs for new product development by using social media
in her PhD. Her research areas of interest mainly include new product development, social media and
consumer behaviour.

Yibai Li is an assistant professor in the Operation & Information Management Department, Kania
School of Management, The University of Scranton. Li obtained his Ph.D. in Information Systems in
Washington State University. Li has a B.S. degree in Computer Science and a B.A. degree in Business
Administration. He also has a Master of Science degree in Management Information Systems and a data
mining certificate from Oklahoma State University. His research interests include Social Computing,
Discrete-event Simulation and Business Intelligence. His teaching areas include Management Informa-
tion Systems, Business Intelligence Systems, SAP/ERP and Data Mining.

Xiaolin Lin is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Management, Information Systems
and Entrepreneurship at Washington State University. His research focuses on Gender Differences in IS
Usage, Social Media Usage, Social Commerce, Information Security, and the impacts of IT on business
values. His research has appeared in such journals as the Journal of Business Ethics, International Jour-
nal of Market Research, and European Journal of Training and Development as well as in the leading
conference proceedings such as Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) and Hawaii
International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). His teaching interests include Management
Information Systems, E-commerce, Database, Business Intelligence Systems, and SAP/ERP.

Rebecca Liu, Lecturer of Lancaster University Management School. She has an MBA from the
University of Missouri (USA) and a PhD from the University of Strathclyde (UK). Her research is
across the fields of network management learning, global value chain and innovation management. Her
research project was awarded by the Product Development Management Association (PDMA) and the
Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM). Rebecca has 15 years commercial experience with
leading global organisations (e.g. FedEx, GM and Philips Electronics) and has held various managerial
positions in international markets. She was awarded ‘the Best Employee of the Year’ by Federal Express
Corporation (FedEx). Rebecca’s publications appeared in several prestigious journals, such as Industrial
Marketing Management and Management Learning.

Ricardo Martínez-Cañas is an Associate Professor of Management at Business Management Depart-

ment, University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). His research interests fall in the areas of Social Capital,
Science Parks, Innovation, Tourism Management, Crowdsourcing and ICT. Professor Martínez-Cañas
has published in Journal of Knowledge Management, Journal of Business Ethics, International Journal
of Human Resources Management and other journals.

433
 About the Contributors

María Pilar Martinez-Ruiz has a Ph. D. in Economics and Business Administration, and is cur-
rently Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing at the University of Castilla-La Mancha,
Albacete (Spain). She has participated in different Conferences and Seminars worldwide, has written
different book chapters and numerous research articles in prestigious journals such as European Journal
of Marketing, International Journal of Market Research, Journal of the Operational Research Society
and Decision Support Systems. Her main research lines are marketing communications, retailing, and
product and service innovation.

Reza Mohammad Kazemi is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University

of Tehran, IRAN. His Ph.D. in Sport Management, Iran, 2007 is about Marketing-Mix Elements in
Football industry of IRAN and comparing it with Asian countries. He started to teach marketing and
entrepreneurship in Faculty of entrepreneurship in 2008. More than 30 of his papers on marketing 7
different tools in this matter which includes social media is one of the most important one that he has
mentioned. Moreover to teaching media and marketing, he has worked in IRIBB as a producer in sport
programs. He is also a formal FIFA match agent in the Middle East.

Vipin Nadda is a competent, conscientious, reliable and motivated academic professional driven
with well organized team spirit and goal oriented approach; Dr Nadda is currently serving as Lecturer
and Assistant Programme Manager (PG- Dissertations) with University of Sunderland, London Campus.
A science graduate with MBA (Marketing), MTA (Tourism) and PhD, he has more than fifteen years
of Experience in academics and Industry. Besides this, he has also published two books and presented
papers in various international seminars and Global conferences. Dr Nadda also freelance as ‘Educa-
tion development consultant’ for Global Examination Board, University of East London, and ‘Associate
lecturer’ with the Glyndwr University/BPP University/Anglia Ruskin University, Director of studies for
PhD with Cardiff Metropolitan University UK, as ‘Member of Academic Council’ and Chief Examiner
for Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality (CTH), London. As an experienced academician, he
has been lecturing a variety of courses ranging from Marketing, HR in ‘Business and Management’ to
‘International Tourism and Hospitality Management’ in the UK as well as overseas. With a wide range
of industry experience, he has served as ‘Product development Manager in the ‘Tourism Industry’ and
‘Marketing Manager’ in the ‘Pharmaceutical industry’ developing tour packages for domestic as well
as International customers along with the formulation and implementation of business development
and marketing strategies overseas. As a consultant to the industry, Dr Nadda was actively involved in
the employee’s recruitment, development and delivery of training programmes for many companies.

Geoffrey Nield, Neuro-Insight chief operations officer, specializes in research and development
in biomedical engineering and played a central role in developing the Steady State Topography (SST)
methodology for observing human brain activity, for application in the field of advertising and market
research. Nield has applied SST-based technologies in his advisory roles with major global advertis-
ers. His papers have appeared in the International Journal of Psychophysiology, Journal of Advertising
Research, International Journal of Advertising and IEEE Pulse.

Tugba Orten Tugrul is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Izmir University of Economics,

Department of Business Administration, Turkey. She has a BS and a PhD in Business Administration
from Yeditepe University (2005) and Izmir University of Economics (2011), respectively. Her research

434
About the Contributors

interest concentrates on social media marketing, sustainability, branding, sequential consumer choices
and emotions. She is involved in many national and international projects, and has given seminars in
different institutions.

Peter Pynta (B.Bus, Marketing) worked in the media, advertising & research business for the past
25 years and is currently Director – Sales & Marketing at Neuro-Insight Pty Ltd. In a career that has
spanned media, sales & research roles, Peter has specialised in the development of business units that
provide accountable innovation via consumer-centric research and media insights within companies like
News Corporation, Nielsen, the Ten Network & the Nine Network.

Julie Salaber received a PhD in Management from the University of Paris-Dauphine (France). She
is now an Assistant Professor in Finance at Richmond University, the American International University
in London. Her research interests spread across finance (empirical asset pricing, behavioural finance),
economics (macroeconomics, religion) and international business (cross-border mergers and acquisi-
tions). She has recently published in European Journal of Finance, International Business Review and
European Journal of Political Economy.

Shaun Seixas (BSc (Hons), Ph.D., (SUT) is a senior analyst at Neuro-Insight. Drawing from his
experience in functional brain imaging methodologies, he works closely with clients to improve the ef-
fectiveness of their media communications using Neuro-Insight’s innovative technology.

Mohana Shanmugam is a certified PSMB trainer and a lecturer at the Information Systems Dept,
with the College of Information Technology (CoIT), UNITEN. She has more than 7 years of experience
handling a diverse academic process caseload and over 5 years of experience as an active researcher. Her
previous research projects cover areas such as Knowledge Management, Data Mining, Mobile Technol-
ogy and the area close to her heart is Social Commerce. She is currently pursuing her PhD studies in
the area of Information Systems particularly looking at social media and social commerce. Her research
has appeared in the Informatics for Health & Social Care Journal, Journal of Enterprise Information
Management as well as IEEE proceedings.

Richard Silberstein (Ph.D., neuroscience, University of Melbourne) is an emeritus professor of cog-

nitive neuroscience at Swinburne University of Technology and founder and chairman of Neuro-Insight
Pty. Ltd. With more than 30 years of neuroscience research experience, Silberstein created the SST brain
imaging technology exclusively available to Neuro-Insight. He has published over 200 papers in various
areas of cognitive, clinical, and consumer neuroscience including conferences presentations and articles
in Brain Topography, Neuroimage, Journal of Advertising Research and IEEE Pulse.

Julian Sims joined the Department of Management in the School of Business Economics and In-
formatics at Birkbeck in 2010. Prior to that he was senior lecturer at Bath Spa University and part-time
lecturer at the University of Bath, where he taught both accounting and information systems. He is author
of a number of publications, and his work has appeared in a number of journals and conferences. He is
a reviewer and associate editor for a number of journals and conferences

435
 About the Contributors

Malcolm Stewart is working as a full time Lecturer in Global Marketing at the University of Sussex
Business School and is course leader for the university’s flagship course MSc. in International Marketing
and the BSc. in Marketing and Management. Before attaining his PhD in Marketing from Strathclyde
University, he worked in industry with BT for five years in Global and Digital Marketing. He is also
a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing
(MCIM) and External Examiner for Royal Holloway, University of London. His research interests fo-
cuses on Global Digital Marketing.

Valerio Veglio is Research Fellow of Management Science at the University of Southampton from
January 2014. He is also Lecturer of Management at the University of Milan-Bicocca (Italy). In addition,
he has given lectures of marketing analytics at the University of Pavia (Italy) from 2010 to 2014. His
main research interests are in the areas of marketing analytics and data mining, innovation, entrepreneur-
ship and business models with a particular focus on analysis of the efficiency to compare different data
mining models to problem solving in managerial realities. Previously he was a Post-doc Researcher of
Marketing at the Department of Computer Science, Systems and Communication at University of Milan-
Bicocca. He received a Master of Science in Economics and Business Management from the University
of Pavia (Italy) and a PhD in Marketing and Corporate Governance from Milan-Bicocca University. Prior
to joining the University of Milan-Bicocca as PhD Student, he was Marketing Consultant in PriceWa-
terhouseCoopers S.p.A. in Milan and he also worked as a Marketing Consultant for Feltrinelli Srl and
Iternational Diagonal Marketing Company Srl in Milan (Italy).

Yen-Yao Wang is a Doctoral Candidate in Information Technology Management. Prior to joining

to Michigan State University in 2011, he received his master degree in Information Systems at Iowa
State University. His research interests include social media analytics, economic value of IT, strategic
management of IT, and the impacts of IT on supply chain management.

Yichuan Wang is a PhD student in Management Information Systems and Research Fellow for
Business Analytic Laboratory at the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, Auburn University. He
received his M.S. degree in Technology Management from National University of Tainan (Taiwan) and
B.B.A. from National Chung Cheng University (Taiwan). His research interests center around health-
care information technology, social commerce, and strategic use of big data. His articles have appeared
in International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Information Management,
Informatics for Health & Social Care, Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, International
Journal of Market Research, as well as the proceedings of ICIS, AMCIS, and HICSS. His recent paper
was among the finalists from the nominations for an outstanding paper award in the 20th Americas
Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2014).

Maxim Wolf joined the Department of Management in the School of Business Economics and In-
formatics at Birkbeck to work on his PhD in 2013. Maxim read Computer Science and Business Stud-
ies at the Nordakademie Elmshorm (Germany) and in Karlstad University (Sweden). He spent twenty
years building software systems and delivering HR solutions across Europe, and for over five years has
been implementing social media solutions for employee engagement. Maxim’s papers on Information
Systems, Employee Engagement, and Social Media have been published in a number of peer reviewed
national and international conferences.

436
About the Contributors

Ying Wu is a final year PhD student in Management and an Associate Tutor in International Mar-
keting at the University of Sussex. Prior to this Ying attained an MSc. in International Marketing from
the University of Sussex and an Honours Degree in Computing Science and Mathematics from the Sun
Yat Sen University in Guangzhou, China. Ying’s research focuses on the modeling of viral marketing.

Huadong Yang is currently a senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool Management School
(ULMS) in UK. He received his PhD in organizational psychology from the University of Groningen in
the Netherlands. Before joining the ULMS, he has held academic positions at Birkbeck, University of
London (UK) and at the University of Twente (in the Netherlands). He is interested in Human Resource
Management, especially in how to use social media as a tool to enhance High Commitment HRM.

Dawei (David) Zhang, assistant professor in the Operations and Information Management Depart-
ment at the University of Scranton and also an assistant professor in the department of Management at
Lehigh University, holds a PhD in Management Information Systems from the University of Calgary,
Canada. David has background in both computer science and economics. His general research interest is
economics of information systems (IS). His current research focuses on: IT productivity, IT substitutabil-
ity with other production inputs, IT and firm value in the financial markets, and healthcare informatics.

437
 343

Chapter 20
Sports Marketing and
Social Media
Reza Mohammadkazemi
University of Tehran, Iran

ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we are going to focus on the impact of Social media to change the marketing world in every
industry. Social media marketing (SMM) has had a particular impact in the field of sports marketing.
Social media in sports has effectively rendered a new style of communication with important implica-
tions for the field. The fans’ connection to sports is changing and social media is creating a whole new
channel for the fans to interact and be a part of the action beyond that which they may hope to achieve
by physically being present at the stadium or the ballpark. Sports organizations today are reliant upon
social media for their continued success and growth. This chapter describes how social media is being
used amongst sports organizations and how it has changed the sports industry.

INTRODUCTION avenues for profit in the sports industry contribute

Sport is not just a game. Ever since the first book-
keeper took the first bet from the first punter on
a game’s result, sport has been a business. Sports
constitute big business. For instance, the com-
bined, the four big leagues in America, National
Basketball Association (NBA), Major League
Baseball (MLB), the National Football League
(NFL) and the National Hockey League (NHL)
generate approximately $23 billion in revenue
over a typical year; and, that’s just the tip of the
iceberg. U.S. sporting equipment sales at retail
sporting goods stores are $42.6 billion yearly, ac-
cording to U.S. government figures. The myriad
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8353-2.ch020
its complexity; these include ticket sales, sports
video games, licensed products, and copyrights,
sporting goods, sports-related advertising, Sport
Media, stadium naming fees and facilities income.
Social media can be an effective solution to in-
creasing revenues by targeting the various avenues
for profit effectively (Plunkett, 2012)
What Is Social Media?
According to Wikipedia, social media is defined
as internet-based tools for sharing and discuss-
ing information among human beings. The term
‘social media’ is the combination of two words:
‘social’ and ‘media.’ Media commonly refers to

Copyright © 2015, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.

Table 1. Classification of Social Media by social presence/media richness and self-presentation/self-
disclosure
Low
Self-presentation / High Blogs
Self-disclosure
Low Collaborative projects (e.g.,
Wikipedia)
advertisement and the communication of ideas or
information through publications or channels. So-
cial represents the interaction of individuals within
a group or community. Taken together, social
media refers to communication and collaboration
platforms which are sustained generated by the
interpersonal interaction of individuals through
the privileged tool or medium (Szu, 2014).
Social media is the social interplay among
people, through which they share, or create infor-
mation and opinions in virtual communities and
social networks. Media for social interaction is us-
ing highly accessible and scalable communication
techniques (Wysocki, 2012). Social media is the
use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn
communication into interactive dialogue. Kiets-
mann, Hermkens, McCarthy, and Silvestre (2011)
stated “social media is comprised of mobile and
web based technologies that provide interactive
platforms for the public to share, create, discuss,
and modify content”.
Generally Social media enables us to watch
and share videos and photos, engage in online
conversations, read and write blogs, and post on
social network sites or comment on others’ post-
ings. Thus, it can be gathered from the diversity
of these activities that social media is a vast term
for multifarious platforms, tools and content that
enable people to exchange, create and use infor-
mation (Mohammadkazemi, 2013).
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Sports Marketing and Social Media
Social Presence/Media Richness
Medium High
Social networking sites (e.g., Virtual social worlds (e.g., Second
Facebook) Life)
Content communities (e.g., Virtual game worlds (e.g., World
YouTube) of Warcraft)
Classification of Social Media
Social media has many different forms including
magazines, Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs,
micro blogging, wikis, social networks, podcasts,
photographs or pictures, video, rating and social
bookmarking. By applying a set of theories in the
field of media research (social presence, media
richness) and social processes (self-presentation,
self-disclosure table 1), Kaplan and Haenlein cre-
ated a classification scheme (Table 1), with seven
different types of social media (Haenlein, 2010).
1. Collaborative projects (for example,
Wikipedia).
Projects research focuses on technology that
affects societies groups, organizations and com-
munities, for example, text chat and voice mail
and text chat. It has improved from collaborative
work study of supporting people’s work activities
and working relationships (Klieber, 2009).
2. Blogs and microblogs (for example, Twitter).
A blog is a Web page that serves as a pub-
licly available personal journal for an individual.
Commonly updated daily, blogs often reflect the
personality of the author. A microblog varies from
a traditional blog in that its content is generally
smaller in both actual and aggregated file size
(Humphreys, 2010).

Sports Marketing and Social Media
3. Social news networking sites (for example,
Digg and Leaker net).
A social news website reflects user-posted
stories that are ranked based on amicably. Users
can comment on these posts, and these comments
may also be ranked. Since their emergence with
the birth of web 2.0, these sites are used to link
many types of information including support,
news, humor, and discussion. Social news sites
allegedly facilitate democratic participation on
the web (By Jesse Holcomb, 2013).
4. Content communities (for example, YouTube
and Daily Motion).
Content communities permit users to share
online multimedia materials. Famed content com-
munities include Flickr, YouTube and SlideShare.
After registering for an account, users upload
their materials, describe them, and make them
publicly available. Visitors search the content
communities by subscribe, keyword, to individual
users, and send feedback on the content (Carlisle
George, 2007).
5. Social networking sites (for example,
Facebook).
A social networking service is a platform to
build social networks or social relations among
people who, for example, share activities, interest,
backgrounds, or real-life connections (Cecconi,
2007).
6. Virtual game-worlds (e.g., World of
Warcraft).
Virtual gaming is where a person can experi-
ence being in a three-dimensional environment
and interact with that environment during a game.
This is a vital part of the game (Whitton, 2008).
7. Virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life).
A virtual world is a computer-based online
community environment that is designed by and
shared among individuals so that they can inter-
act in a tailored, simulated world. Users interact
with each other in this simulated world using
text-based, two-dimensional or three-dimensional
graphical models called avatars (haenlein, 2009).
These segmentations between the different types
of social media have become increasingly blurred.
For example, Shi, Rui and Whinston (Whinston,
2013)allege that Twitter, as composition of broad-
casting service and social network, classes as a
social broadcasting technology.
Who Are Social Network
Sites Users?
There is a great deal of demographic variation (e.g.,
age, sex, race, income, and educational attainment)
among those who use different social networks.
According to a 2011 report from the Pew Re-
search Center’s Internet &American Life Project
(Humpton, Goulel, Rainie, &Purcell, 2011) that
you can see in Figure 1, about half of American
adults (47 percent), or 59 percent of Internet users
in America, state that they use at least one social
networking site (common reasons cited for use
of social networking are illustrated in Figure 2).
This is close to double the 26% of adults (34% of
internet users) who used a social network site in
2008. Internet users of all ages are more likely to
use a social network site today than they were in
2008 the growth of social network site use has been
most pronounced among those who are over the
age of 35. In 2008 only 18% of internet users 36
and older used a social network site, by 2010 48%
of internet users over the age of 35 were using a
social network site. This is about twice the growth
experienced by internet users 18-35; 63% of whom
used a social network site in 2008 compared with
80% in 2010. Among other things, this means the
average age of adult-social network site users has
shifted from 33 in 2008 to 38 in 2010.
345
 
Sports Marketing and Social Media

Figure 1. Age distribution of social networking site users in 2008 and 2012. % of social networking site
users in each age group for instance in 2008, 28% of social networking sites users were 18-22, but in
2010 that age group made up 16% of social networking site users.
Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet &American Life social Network site survey conducted on landline and cell phone
between October 20-November 28, 2010. N for full sample is 2,225 and margin of error is +/- 2.3 percentage points. N for
social network site and Twitter users is 975 and margin of error is +/- 3.5 percentage points.

Why Do People Use Social
Network Sites?
In 2011, IBM developed a survey of almost 1,000
consumers for its annual CRM Study. One of the
questions asked was why consumers were active
on social networks. At the top of the list with
70%, not surprisingly, was the aim of connect-
ing with family and friends. In second with 49%,
consumers revealed that they were looking to stay
connected to relevant news and information. Just
behind with 46%, consumers expressed the desire
for entertainment. And, last but certainly not least,
42% wished to share reviews of company or prod-
uct experiences (Parasnis, 2011). Figure 2 shows
some reasons why people use social network sites.
And Why Do Sport Fans
Use Social Networks?
Through the social network sites fans can:
• Get a pre-game buzz going– While their
players and coaches are warming up, they

346

Sports Marketing and Social Media
Figure 2. Reasons consumers go to social media or social networking sites. Note: Sample size N = 1056.
Source: IBM institute for Business Value analysis. CRM study 2011.
can go over the game plan, and get in the
zone, some social media company will be
hard at work, connecting with fans online
who can’t wait for the game to begin.
• Live tweet their games–When a fan can’t
make a game, how can he be part of the
action? Through social media! Regular up-
dates can make fans feel like they’re really
there (Lee, 2014).
• Participate in discussions after games–
There’s nothing like a good debate after a
close match. Social media enables fans to
continue discourse about matches and their
favorite teams beyond the actual game
times and thus foster a continued dialogue.
• Promote each player–The most loyal fans
feel as if they have a connection with their
favorite players. Social media can provide
exclusive interviews, and contests for au-
tographed jerseys and caps. Thus, social
media can enable fans to more easily and
closely interact with teams and engender a
sense of greater closeness with individual
players.
• Stay active during the off-season–A con-
sistent social media schedule will keep the
engagement going until the next season
comes around.
• Handle a scandal –Unfortunately, scandals
are often a part of sports. An online pres-
ence gives fans the platform they need to
347

address these little hiccups, but will they
know what to say? A good social media
company will have just the right words.
Social Media and Companies
Social Media and social networking sites today
are the best route available to a brand for connect-
ing with potential customers because they allow
companies to reach out to potential customers
without spending exorbitant amounts of money
on advertising. Through interactive exchanges
that can often be financially of little or no cost
for companies, social media enables continued
brand presence and brand engagement which
can contribute to fostering brand awareness and
loyalty. These new media inspire public trust of
audiences by connecting with them at a more
significant level. Social media marketing is the
new motto for many brands; Social networking
Traders are taking note of many social media op-
portunities and beginning to achieve new social
improvisation at a higher rate than ever before.
Social media marketing and the businesses that
take advantage of it have become more experienced
(Almotairi, 2014).
Not surprisingly, firms of all types and sizes
are using social media for marketing and public
relation fuss. The increase of the social media
and sequential advances in technology obviously
create incomparable and excellent opportunities
for those able to invest on them.
In fact Social media is now essential demands.
Social media has altered the way we communicate
with others and how we exchange information. And
for companies it provides a marketing opportunity
that overcomes the traditional medium and con-
nects them directly with customers. This is why
many businesses—from giants like Starbucks and
IBM to the local ice cream shops—are exploring
social media marketing initiatives (Neti, 2011). Not
so long ago, marketers were unsure about using
social media for business .But in 2013 (accord-
ing to a survey in the USA, over 3000 marketers)
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Sports Marketing and Social Media
a significant 86% of marketers said that social
media are important to their businesses (Stelzner,
2013)In the early days, emails and websites first
supported businesses, social media is the next
marketing wave. With the appearance of social
media, marketing now has a wholly different reach
and return (Story, 2007). Social media makes a
two-way connection between the company and the
customer, where both can communicate with one
another. It can be one of the practical examples
for a win-win condition, the customer can state
his opinion and get a response, while the company
gets to dive deep into customer care and distinguish
their overall performance.
Mangold and Faulds (2009)noticed nine ways
that companies use social media successfully; (1)
provide networking platforms, (2) use blogs and
other social media tools to engage customers,
(3) use both traditional and Internet-based pro-
motional tools to engage customers, (4) provide
information, (5) be outrageous, (6) provide ex-
clusivity, (7) design products with talking points
and consumers’ desired self-images in mind, (8)
support causes that are important to consumers,
and (9) utilize the power of stories.
The advent of mobile technology, particularly
in regard to increased availability of social media
and mobile marketing has become vital to business
efforts. Wright, Khanfar, Harrington, and Kizer
(2010) hypothesize that using mobile technology
to contact a customer is becoming more efficient
than traditional methods of marketing, commu-
nication, and advertising. Traditional methods of
marketing like radio, television, and magazine
are capable of connecting to a large population
but these mediums are too general (Hana S. Noor
Al-Deen, 2013). Social media efforts, specifically
through mobile technology, are becoming more
valuable in reaching particular audiences and
tailoring the message based on each individual
consumer. The increase in mobile marketing and
interactive marketing is expected to continue its
growth (Wright et al., 2010).

Sports Marketing and Social Media
Sport Marketing
The term ‘marketing’ is being used in a variety
of ways. Some think of marketing as the use of
advertising, publicity and personal selling strategy
to make others know about a product, or to attract
more consumers to purchase it. However, market-
ing is much more comprehensive than this narrow
conception. Simply stated, marketing means to
be focused on satisfying the needs and wants of
customers or consumers. In turn, this means that
sport marketing is focused on meeting the needs
of sport customers or consumers, including people
who take part in playing sport, watching or listen-
ing to sport news and programmers, collecting
memorabilia, purchasing merchandise, buying
sporting goods like shirts and shoes, or even surfing
a sport website to find out the latest about their
favorite team, player or event. A sport consumer
is someone who generally uses sport products
or services. A sport customer is someone who
pays for the use of a specific product or service
(BLlythe, 2005). It is acceptable to use the terms
inter-changeably to refer to those people who use
and pay for sport products and services.
Sport Is a Unique Product
Sports marketing are the combination of marketing
concepts to sport services and products, and the
marketing of nonrelated sport products through
sport events (Merz, 2008). Sports marketing
therefore have two principal aspects. First, it is
the usage of general marketing practices to sport
products and services. Second, it is the marketing
of other industrial products or services through
sport. Like any other marketing, sport marketing
tracks to meet the needs and wants of consumers.
It attains this by providing sport-related products
and services to consumers. However, sport mar-
keting is dissimilar to formal marketing in that it
also has the ability to encourage the consumption
of non-sport products and services by association.
It is rational to understand that sport marketing
means the marketing of sport plus the use of sport
as a tool to market other products and services.
For example, the marketing of sport products
and services directly to sport consumers could
include sporting equipment, professional competi-
tions, sport events and local clubs. Other examples
include selling season tickets, team advertising,
designing a publicity stunt to promote an athlete,
and developing licensed apparel for sale. Mar-
keting through sport happens when a non-sport
product is marketed through an association to
sport. Some examples could include a well-known
athlete endorsing a biscuit, a firm sponsoring a
sport event, or even beverages companies arrang-
ing to have exclusive rights to provide drink at a
sport venue or event (Coca Cola n.d.).
The two aspects of sport marketing are central
to understanding the full range of ways in which
sport is used. But the weakness is that they tend
to emphasize the selling part of sport marketing
(Smith A., 2008). Before any dealing occurs, a
long term strategic analysis must be planned in
order to find out what sport customers want and
what the best methods of delivering it are. As a
result, sport marketing should also be considered
as a set of planning and accomplishment activities
related to the delivery of a sport product or service.
Before any sales, a sport product or service must
take a place in the mind of a consumer. Actually,
this demands that a costumer is cognizant of the
sport product or service and has responded to it
in some way. The process of developing such a
response is known as branding, and when a sport
brand has found a firm place in consumers’ minds,
then can be said that it is positioned (Smith A Z.,
2008a)The result of successful branding and hav-
ing strong market position are not only a single
transaction but also sport marketing has mirrored
the establishment of a steady relationship between
a sport brand and its users.
349

Sport Marketing Mix Elements
A strategy sports organization utilized commonly
is the “Marketing Mix”. This tool consists of four
variables known as the “Four P’s” of marketing.
The marketing mix blends these variables together
to produce the results it wants to gain in its specific
target market. The following describes the four
P’s of marketing:
• Product: Products are the goods and ser-
vices that business provides to sale to target
market (Gates, 2013). When developing a
product quality, design, features, packag-
ing, customer service and any subsequent
after-sales service must be considered.
Usually it is manufacturers who decide
what products to produce and people have
to choose among them. However, through
social network interactions, customers can
post about their needs and product desires
and companies can react. For example
Adidas blogs and sites receive customers’
demands and produce exclusive products
for customers (Anderson, 2014).
• Place: Place refers to distribution, location
and methods of delivering the product to
the customer. This includes the location of
the business, shop front, distributors and
logistics. E-commerce and social network-
ing has given a new future to this element
(Rank, n.d.). Customers are able to pur-
chase directly from manufactures indepen-
dent from any brokers.
• Price: Price is the amount of money that
customers have to pay in order to buy prod-
ucts. The price charged for a product will
depend on a number of factors: the cost
to make it, the amount of profit required,
competitor prices and the price consum-
ers are willing to pay (Owomoyela, 2013).
Customers can utilize the internet and so-
cial media to discuss and compare prices.
350

Sports Marketing and Social Media
• Promotion: Promotion concerns the act of
communicating with consumers to aware
of value of the product. It then involves
persuading general consumers to become
customers of the business using methods
such as advertising, direct marketing, per-
sonal selling and sales promotion (Moor
Hall, 2009). Social media have the key role
in this element. This can be better concep-
tualized via the social media marketing
mix strategy of Manchester United.
What are the key elements of the marketing
mix of Manchester United? All products consist
of presenting an excellent football team that plays
and wins in an incredible way. Moreover, there
are other components of the product including
trading such as the sale of shirts, and a variety of
memorabilia (for more information visit www.ma-
nutd.com. The product also allocated to television
rights, and Manchester United’s own television
channel. In one respect the place is Old Trafford
where home games are played, but Manchester
United also plays at a range of other venues. And,
of course its products are sold through club’s
website and a range of other social media.
Manchester United markets as a worldwide
brand. The club also engages in a variety of pro-
motional activities, for example with the mobile
phone company Vodafone. Manchester United
books, shirts, key rings, programs and many other
items are sold and promoted through its website.
Positioning or repositioning a product - refers to
locating that product within a market for example
presenting it is a down-market or up-market prod-
uct. It is a product for younger consumers or older
consumers (Matthey, 2012).
A Move from the 4 P’s to the 4c’s
Today’s companies, marketers and brands face
an ever changing environment and with the con-
tinuing developments in computers and commu-
nication technology, the increase in consumers’

Sports Marketing and Social Media
knowledge about what they want and needs, the
way we communicate to consumers should change
as well. A different perspective to marketing is
necessary to provide for the consumer effectively
and efficiently in order to build long lasting rela-
tionships. Marketing in this day and age needs to
be a two-way communication process.
Bob Lauterborn, professor of advertising at
the University of North Carolina has tracked the
success of new products introduced into the U.S
(Lemly, 2013). According to Bob, 80 percent of
new products fail each year. With such a high
failure rate, Bob notes that something isn’t work-
ing with our “mindset”. He wants to replace the
Four P’s with his Four C’s.1-Product is replaced
by Consumer, 2- Price is replaced by Cost, 3-
Place is replaced by Convenience, 4-Promotion
is replace by Communication.
• From Product to Consumer
The rule of four C’s of marketing mentions
that customers should be the priority. Inversely,
the traditional marketing mix focus is on Products,
in the 4 C’s model, the primary focus is on the
customer. So the companies which follow this
strategy believe in producing products which
satisfy their consumers. While the extreme in-
terpretation of focusing on the customer would
be to provide customizable products informed by
individual customer desires and preferences, this
is typically only an option for smaller marketing
and not for mass markets. For mass markets, the
traditional marketing mix can be used (curvecom-
munications, 2013). The Consumer model could
be known as a conversation between the customer
and the business, they come together to create a
custom-tailored product to satisfy a customer’s
demands. One of the most important innovations
that the social media has contributed to products is
enhanced personalization and customization. Two
complete processes that allow customers to design
their own product that will satisfy their needs and
wants (Thirumalai, 2011). By providing “the right
content in the right format to the right person at
the right time (Ho, 2005)”, companies are trying
to provide solutions to their customers, rather
than selling them a single product. The Consumer
model could be known as a conversation between
the customer and the business, they come together
to create a custom- tailored product to satisfy a
customer’s demands.
• From Price to Cost
Cost replaces to pricing in the traditional mar-
keting mix. Cost is a very important consideration
during consumer decision making and hence in
the 4 C’s rule, the cost variable is given special
attention. Online customers don not only look at
the price that is quoted on the websites, but also
compare competitor prices (Pradeep Kr, 2011).
• From Place to Convenience
Convenience replaces placement or distribu-
tion of the traditional marketing mix. Companies
must think of convenience to buy for costumers
instead of place.
Thus convenience, like place, plays a critical
role. The customers the will not buy the product if
it is not convenient to them. Convenience is one of
the most important reasons that users come online
to do transactions or to make sales enquiries. The
core meaning of “convenience” in marketing mix
is “accessibility to the service” which became
easy via the Internet (McClean, 2012). In sport
industry place could be a stadium, gym, tennis
court, etc. They can’t be easily moved to accom-
modate customers. The matter is how can it be
convenience for customers to buy and use sports
product? And how can sport product be available
to customers at their home? Official sites for many
types of sports like NFL, NHL, and MLB are the
solution to the place versus convenience concept.
For example listener can pay to have all MLB
broadcasts in their home, car or on their mobiles
(Chelladturai, 2013).
351

• From Promotion to Communication
Promotion concept in traditional marketing is
a one-way message but communication is a two-
way interaction. Instead of virtuous pronounce-
ment about how good the product or service is,
consumer today seek to be engaged and have
meaningful interactions with companies. Even
traditional media like television channels and radio
are starting to have their own websites and use
social media like Twitter and Facebook. Recently,
many kinds of sports organizations have found
out that Lauterborn’s fourth C is more effective
(Chelladturai, 2013).
Why Should Sport Companies
Use Social Networks?
There are many reasons why companies should
use social networks. Ten key reasons are sum-
marized below:
Cost-Effective
Social networking in a business promotional plan
allows stretching advertising dollars further than
usual. The budget that companies set for promo-
tions can be used for other forms of advertising
or to prepare prizes for social networking contests
or promotions. some sports organization allocated
budget which remained from advertising for their
active online fans redeem tangible prizes of their
choice (Evans, 2010).For example Baylor football
team offers prizes including season tickets to a
sport of the winner’s choice, lunch with the coach
or team gear (visitwww.baylorbears.com).
Reach
Social networking allows the sport companies
to reach a wide audience and fans. Consumers
are increasingly reliant on technology and social
media. The 2012 London Olympics could have
about 1 billion fans but how is it possible? Sports
352

Sports Marketing and Social Media
fans worldwide viewed events, received updates,
and monitored results by using digital device and
social network sites (Media[BM], 2012).
Connection
Traditional marketing campaigns miss out on the
two -way communication between their business
and customers. Social networking gives companies
a more personal connection with their customers.
For instant Mufaddal Choonia, Chief Executive
Officer, Mahindra Racing, believes that one of
the reasons for their success comes back to digital
and social media .He says “social network site
is extremely important for us since it’s the only
two-way conversation we can have with the fan.
We get members to interact with the team and
(Chopra, 2014).
Flexibility
Online marketing through sports social sites gives
companies more flexibility in the type of promo-
tion they do. Companies can send out information
on special deals, general information or tips about
their industry, company information and contests.
The informal nature of the sites allows sharing
things that companies wouldn’t with traditional
print advertising. Brazil is selling World cup ticket
online and through social network sites fans can
sell and buy thicket for this event (Smith A., 2014)
Timely
Social networking allows companies to instantly
disseminate information to their followers. Tradi-
tional marketing requires printing time and may
only run a few times (Kerley, 2011). Companies
had to plan out their marketing and promotions well
in advance. With social media, they can post in-
formation immediately as they deem appropriate.

Sports Marketing and Social Media
Easier Referrals
Customers need to trust before purchasing. They
trust their friends. Technology makes it easier
for customers to share company’s information
with their online friends. When the customers
follow a company’s profile online, they can refer
it to their friends (Frost, 2014). Many sports club
use this theory and provide a social site for their
members and obtain many new members because
their present consumers invite their friends to join
the same club and gym.
Promotions
Special promotions persuade customers to
purchase more from the business. This kind of
promotion gives new customers an opportunity
to try new products or services (Healey, 2014).
For these promotional ideas to work effectively,
companies need to get the word out. Social net-
working allows sharing information about the
promotions to a large audience.
Increased Web Traffic
Social networking profiles provide a tool for driv-
ing traffic to the company’s main website. This is
particularly beneficial for web-based companies
who do most of their business virtually. Including,
the website address in social networking profiles
and mentioning it in the regular posts leads more
people to visit it.
Branding
Social media aids in branding the company. The
messages, photos and videos they post on their
profile pages build an image of the company. Care-
fully planned posts that consistently promulgate
the company’s brand by maintaining a consistent
tone and message help to build and maintain a
company’s success.
Hiring
When a company builds an online presence, it
likely will reach potential employees who are
savvy in social networking. The larger candidate
pool of individuals with technology experience
allows the company to find the best candidates
when you have openings. These individuals can
then use their social networking skills to further
promote the company online (Frost, 2014).
Integration of Sports
Communication, Marketing
and Social Media
Sports touches people live in unique ways, so it
should come as no surprise that communication
about and marketing sports through social media
also require unique approaches. Sport as an agent
for bringing people together and as a unique prod-
uct means that it is an industry where social media
can have a dramatic impact on communication
and marketing (Chelladturai, 2013). But why is
sport a unique product?
1. Aspects of the sport product are intangible.
2. Sport is subjective and heterogeneous.
3. Sports are inconsistent and unpredictable.
4. Sport is perishable.
5. Sport evolves emotions.
Sport Communication
Sports communication is the heart of the sports
industry. Pedersen, Miloch and Laucella (2011)
define sports communication as the “process
by which people in sport, in a sport setting, or
through a sport endeavor share symbols as they
create meaning through interaction (Neti, 2014a)”.
Sports communication underline the relationship
development between organizations, players, fans,
and third parties. Basically, these relationships
have pivotal role in the success of each individual
team. Sports organizations use mixed media to
353

improve these relationships via internet, televi-
sion, radio, and papers.
Sports communication is a multi-dimensional
phenomenon which includes branding, reputa-
tion management, and customer service to sales,
marketing, and sponsorship. Further, Rein, Kotler,
and Shields impart five principal goals in effec-
tive sports communication (1) to increase the
tendency for stockholders, (2) to set the sports
brand’s identity for a long time, (3) to humanize
the sports brand, (4) to persuade the stakeholder to
identify with the sports brand and feel a personal
connection with the participants, and (5) to place
the outcomes of competition in more than just a
winning context (Wysocki, 2012).
These strategies are vital in relating with
stakeholders, sparking interest, and continually
building and retaining the fan base.
Sport Communication and Social Media
The number of professional sports teams which
use the social networks is increasing swiftly.
Social media have changed sports media and its
consumption. Fans, athletes and teams now are
able to connect with one another easily. Sanderson
and Kassing state that social media provide an
opportunity to professional teams and athletes
together and publish sports news in addition to
increasing their self-preservation management
(Blair Browning, 2012)
In the past magazines, newspaper then radio
and television were the only way of accessing
athletes, games, events and news about sports.
The feedback of audiences was limited. Sports
organization couldn’t get direct feedback from
audiences. In the 1970s people could watch games
live by satellite program (F.Wayne Blann, 2011).
Later the technologies like computer, Internet and
networks influenced on sport communication. At
this time Fans could chose whatever they want
from many available options and they were not
obliged to consume what media had made for
them. Through the social media every person
354

Sports Marketing and Social Media
is able to create and transfer information about
world of sport at any time. In other words fans
have commenced to challenge the media by creat-
ing and sharing content independent from them
(Mohammmadkazemi, 2011).
Sport World and Social Media
The use of social media by sport industry is in-
creasing steadily. Teams, athletes and fans derive
benefit of social media phenomena.
1. Teams: Nowadays professional teams and
amateur ones use social media because
they desire to provide timely updates, to
communicate with fans, to receive public-
ity, etc. Here are a few examples of teams
that used social media to grow their brand
(Chelladturai, 2013).
a. Milwaukee Bucks: The Milwaukee
Bucks are a professional basketball
team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
They are part of the Central Division of
the Eastern Conference in the National
Basketball Association (NBA). In 2009
this team built the “Fear the deer”
campaign around Twitter, bloggers and
YouTube .the team filmed special “fear
the deer” videos and showed them at
the games and posted them to You tube.
Fans and broadcasters have energetic
discussion about team via social media.
b. Cleveland Indians: The Cleveland
Indians are a professional baseball team
based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Team launched the “Indian Social
Media Deck” in 2009.The Indians took
a big step into social media. In 2011,
The Deck dedicated raised seats in the
left field grandstand with WIFI which
allows hosting fans to blog or tweet
live from the game. More recently,
the Indians has moved the Social Deck
from left to a luxurious enclosed seat-

Sports Marketing and Social Media
ing area. It is a great effort to satisfy
the social media-savvy fans.
c. AFL Alumni Association: The Arena
Football League (AFL) is the highest
level of professional indoorAmerican
football in the United States(visit www.
arenafootball.com). The AFL creates a
network for members and provides ben-
efits including greater opportunities for
community involvement, discounts and
promotions, charity communications,
job postings, event advertisements and
invitations, Hall of Fame nominations,
and opportunities for voting on League
issues.
d. NHL Connect: NHL Connect is the
official fan community of the National
Hockey League and includes groups,
videos and photos.
2. The Athletes: Social media burst into the
society and it has been reflected in sports
with athletes keeping in touch with their fans
to promote themselves and products through
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram among
other outlets. The athletics, formerly had to
rely on traditional media to tell their story but
nowadays they just write a blog post or tweet
or can make a video to You tube to reach
fans. Popular athletes can make substantial
sums of money when they are enlisted by
third parties to post promotional tweets or
pictures to their social media pages.
3. Fans: Fans are the largest part of the sports
social media. They talk about their favorite
team and discuss about the match and referee.
Some sports fans preferring to go online for
game updates and sports news. It’s clear how
crucial it is for sports teams to be on social
media. Now people can stay up-to-date with
the score via Facebook, Twitter, and sports
apps. No matter where a fan is for what he or
she is doing, it is possible to be interacting
with a given team and being apprised of any
updates.
Mobile Sport Marketing
Mobile Phone: Mobile phone usage has also
become beneficial for social media marketing.
Today, many cell phones have social networking
capabilities. Individuals are notified of any hap-
penings on social networking sites through their
cell phones, in real-time (Kietzmann, 2013). This
constant connection to social networking sites
means products and companies can constantly
remind and update followers about their capabili-
ties, uses, importance, etc. Because cell phones are
connected to social networking sites, advertise-
ments are always in sight. Also many companies
are now putting QR codes along with products
for individuals to access the company website or
online services with their smart-phones.
Mobile marketing is a very formidable tool for
sports organizations and teams. It permits them
to interact and engage, on a personal level, with
their fans (consumers), both at the stadium and
throughout the season. Additionally, it is a com-
munication medium that is ideal for the sports fans
that tend to be younger, more educated, tech savvy,
and more in-touch with trends. Sports marketers
can take advantages of mobile tactics and cam-
paigns to reach fans in many ways (Nick, 2013)
Text Message: As early as 2011, professional
basketball teams like the Chicago Bulls and Phoe-
nix Suns began using sports text marketing to raise
the numbers of their fans bases and retain current
fans engaged(Nick 2013b). With SMS marketing,
fans can be updated on the latest stats, scores and
other information via text messages. At that year,
famous league soccer team Chicago Fire also began
using text message to connect with fans directly
(Neman, 2014). The soccer team now makes use
of a variety of text marketing tools, including
polls in the arena, games, advertising, special
offers, and text-to-win promotions. They study
the results and use them to understand what fans
are looking for and what levels of engagement is
convenient for them.
355

The feedback these teams have received so
far has been numerous. It seems the fans enjoy
the personalized engagement with their favorite
sports organizations. This intimate Communica-
tion has proven to make fans feel more closed to
their teams and also to get a new, more tech-savvy
crowd to become interested in games. Here are just
a few ways organizations are using text message
marketing for Sports.
1. Ticket Promotions: Teams continually run
ticket promotions in order to increase ticket
sales as well as to attract new fans into the
stadium. For example, the team might run
an opted-in text message in their stadium
programs or on their TV commercials:
“Text us to 212121 for an opportunity to
win tickets to the playoffs!” When customers
text in, organization can repeat market these
fans. This increases ticket sales, helps team
management to understand what kinds of
promotions work and what levels of engage-
ment consumer are willing to commit to.
2. Scores and Stats: Teams often use sports
text marketing to send out up-to-the-minute
scores and statistics to their growing lists of
opted-in fans. By giving fans such a simple
way to keep up with their favorite teams,
sports organizations have an easier time of
both maintaining their fans for current or
future promotions (Szu, 2014). Stats and
Scores are two of the outstanding points
of interest for fans, and it’s vital for teams
to transfer the information that their audi-
ence want. So they consumers can trust the
organization and brand.
3. Schedules and Information: Text message
marketing makes it easier for teams to keep
fans informed with the very latest schedules
and team announcements, which effects be-
ing in attendance at games and interest in the
teams. Because of text messaging Marketing
is one of the most effective communications
with consumers, sports organizations can
356

Sports Marketing and Social Media
be rather certain that fans are always up to
date with the latest changes and team an-
nouncements, and so able to plan to watch
or attend games (Nick, 2013a). This has a
noticeable effect on maintaining consumer
and revenue base for sports teams.
Mobile Advertising: Mobile advertising is a
form of advertising via mobile (wireless) phones
or other mobile devices. It is a subdivision of
mobile marketing(Story, 2007)Some commonly
types of mobile advertising are mobile web banner
or banner advertising that is a kind of advertising
on the World Wide Web provided by an advertis-
ing server. By click on it, it will be connected to
a related-company.
Mobile Application: Mobile applications, also
referred to as mobile apps, are software programs
that run on smart phones and other mobile device
that enable users to connect to websites on their
mobile devices in more streamlined and user
friendly ways. A mobile app can be a mobile
Web site bookmarking utility, a mobile-based
instant messaging client, Gmail for mobile, and
many other applications (webopedia, 2014). Many
sports teams and leagues have their own mobile
applications. For example NHL Ice Time is the
official app from the National Hockey League;
NBA Game Time is the official app from the
National Basketball Association.
Mobile Website: A Mobile Site is a website
which is especially designed for optimized per-
formance on a mobile. Today, sport fans preferred
to access sports scores, feeds, news stories and
fantasy leagues through their mobile browsers.
One example of a sport mobile website is Sky
Sports .It provides the latest sports news, views
and video and range of mobile services and ap-
plications. Have a general look (Figure 3): Social
networking and sports apps dominate in popularity
among advertising source (Szu, 2014a).
Competitive Factor: Represents the average
number of bids auction.

Sports Marketing and Social Media
Figure 3. 2014. MoPub Mobile Advertising Insights Report
Today’s the evaluation of social media are
finding unique ways of generating revenue from
the very beginning. Here are a few of the revenue
models that some sport organizations use them
(Lehtinen, 2013).
1. Freemium Model: The word “freemium”
is a combining the two aspects of the busi-
ness model: “free” and “premium” (Hayes,
2008). This business model offers a basic
service for free, while users are charging for
advanced futures. The freemium business
model is popular for companies just starting
out as they try to lure users to their software
or service. An example of a freemium busi-
ness model is Skype, a company that allows
you to make calls over the Internet. Their
basic service is free, but for more advanced
services you have to pay a premium.
2. Affiliate Model: The service generates rev-
enue streams by increasing traffic, leads, or
sales to another, affiliated company’s website
(Helmut Krcmar, 2011). Businesses that sell
products depend on affiliated sites service, to
send them the traffic or leads that are needed
in order to sell. Although high traffic sites
use this model more since even low traffic
rates can create high revenue streams, there
are examples of individual blogs that have
been able to yield income using this model
(e.g. Shoe Money site).
3. Subscription Model: This model asks us-
ers to pay monthly or yearly to access to a
product or service (Noren, 2013).It gives
357

a chance to companies to have long-term
relationships with their customers, which
can be better in the long run. Getting the
price-points right and preserving personal
touch with subscribers are the major chal-
lenges in this model (e.g. Netflix, Spotify).
4. Virtual Goods Model: Users are paying
for virtual goods, such as upgrades, points,
or gifts, on a website or in a game. The
margins of virtual goods are high, since
goods essentially do not cost anything for
the service provider (Wauters, 2007). There
is little or no marginal or production cost
once the economy of the service has been
set (e.g. Facebook Gifts, Playdom).
5. Advertising Model: This model emphasizes
on selling advertising against their traffic.
According this model as much as traffic site
has the more can be charged for advertising
in this site (e.g. Myspace, Yahoo!).
CONCLUSION
Social media in sport marketing explores sports
marketing goals in relation to social media tools
and concept being used today. The most important
change to the sports world dues to the advent of
social media. With platforms such as Facebook
and Twitter, there are millions of users for sports
brands to promote themselves to. The social me-
dia industry has incredible effect all businesses
including sports businesses. Social media in sport
world created a quick and efficient way to com-
municate with fans and customers by specializing
and detailing information in addition, conventional
advertising and promotion is enhanced through
these communications. Generally it can be said
that Social media is speedily becoming a new force
in any organizations around the world.
358

Sports Marketing and Social Media
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KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Social Media: In this paper, any kinds of

mobile application or websites in which fans/
consumers can make their networks.
Social Media Marketing (SMM): Marketing
through social media which is creating a new
channel for the fans/costumers to interact with
their Producers.

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