Gashaw Abeza

Social Media Scholarship in Sport Management Research: A Critical Review

This work critically assesses the history and current state of social media scholarship in sport management research. Methodologically, the study is based on a comprehensive census review of the current body of literature in the area of social media. The review identifies 123 social media articles in sport management research that were mined from a cross-disciplinary examination of 29 scholarly journals from January 2008 (earliest found) to June 2014. The work identifies the topic areas, the platforms, the theories, and the research methods that have received the (most/least) attention of the social media research community, and provides suggestions for future research.

Activating a global sport sponsorship with social media: an analysis of TOP sponsors, Twitter, and the 2014 Olympic Games.

This research explored the use of Twitter for sponsorship activation by the The Olympic Program (TOP) sponsors during the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games. Using NCapture, a total of 7,519 tweets and retweets of all ten TOP sponsors around the Games were captured from the 1st of January (pre-Olympic) to the 3rd of April, 2014 (post-Olympic). The data were analysed with the aid of Leximancer analytics software. Results show that there is no regular pattern of Twitter use for activation that was identifiable amongst the TOP sponsors; all were found adopting different strategic approaches. Notably, the TOP sponsors differ in terms of the number and types of tweets they produced, retweets they broadcasted, hashtags they rerun, and the registered growth of their followers from pre-games to post-games. The results also show three possible sponsorship objectives communicated by TOP sponsors, namely promotion (of services, products, and companys image), customer appreciation, and athletes encouragement. Potential theoretical and practical implications will be discussed, including suggestions for future research. The work encourages continued investigation.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: An Examination of the Interdisciplinary Foundation of Relationship Marketing

In the 20th century, the scholarly study of human relationships both grew dramatically and simultaneously fragmented into various disciplines and subdisciplines. Although diversity of thought is generally considered helpful for the evolution of scientific fields, the value accrued from interdisciplinary discourse depends on the ability of scholars to integrate multiple perspectives and synthesize foundational works in a systematic manner. The goal of this study is to synthesize foundational theories from social and behavioral sciences that have contributed to an understanding of relationship marketing. In seeking to provide a holistic understanding of the field, we incorporate contributions from the disciplines of marketing, management, psychology, and sociology. In building on our analysis, we synthesize our findings into a conceptual model that examines the systematic dimensions of relationship marketing. The article concludes by identifying key themes for contributors to the Journal of Relationship Marketing to consider going forward.

Sport Communication: A Multidimensional Assessment of the Field’s Development

Sport and communication have existed since humans began interacting with one another, with organized sport and planned communication formalized for hundreds of years. However, social science scholars have only taken a high-level of interest in sport communication over the past decade. Over the past 10 years, much has been written and researched in the field, and its formalization continues, justifying a need for a review of its current status and the articulation of its future directions. Thus, this article identifies and critically discusses the developments in the field of sport communication in terms of its academic infrastructures and the resulting body of knowledge. It also assesses how the field’s developments are affecting scholarly advancements and identifies areas of “disciplinary pain.” The work concludes by providing suggestions for future research.

Mixed methods research in sport marketing

ABSTRACT Much has been researched in the field of sport marketing over the past decades, and the fields community of scholars have employed diverse quantitative and qualitative research methods. However, limited information exists on the state of mixed methods in the field. In response, this study examines the use of mixed methods in sport marketing via a content analysis of 451 articles published over the period of two decades. Findings revealed that the utilization of mixed methods in sport marketing is still in its infancy and has received little scholarly recognition. The work in part addresses this matter through presenting mixed methods design typologies that help answer the fields scholars such questions as why, what, how and where we are mixing.

The Independent Sales Contractor and Relationship Quality: An Exploratory Study of Relational Attitudes and Behavioral-Intention

ABSTRACT Since the turn of the century, independent sales contractors have emerged as an important and growing sales and distribution channel. This study, guided by theories of attitude-behavior relation, constructs and tests a conceptual independent sales contractors (ISC) relationship quality scale. The findings support the proposition that relationship quality is a composite of attitudes and behavioral intentions. The work provides theoretical and practical implications, as well as suggestions for future research.

The world’s highest-paid athletes, product endorsement, and Twitter

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the practice of celebrity athletes’ product endorsement in the context of social media, guided by meaning transfer model. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a content analysis method based on data gathered from the official Twitter account of 17 of the highest-paid athletes over a period of five months. Findings Results outline the state, involvement level, roles, modes, preferred content types, discernible differences, shared features, and best practices employed in endorsement tweets. A framework of athletes’ product endorsement on Twitter is presented. Research limitations/implications The study presented theoretical and practical implications, and limitations and impetus for future research. Originality/value The study investigated professional athletes’ use of their own media channel for the purpose of endorsement, presented a framework that illustrates the practice of celebrity athletes’ product endorsement on social media, and identified a best practice and an exemplary reference.

Social Media in Relationship Marketing: The Perspective of Professional Sport Managers in the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL

This study aims to obtain an in-depth understanding of the use, opportunities, and challenges related to social media (SM) in achieving relationship marketing (RM) goals in professional sport. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 26 managers of professional sport teams from the four major leagues in North America. Results outline the platforms adopted, the six intended objectives of SM use, the seven opportunities SM provides, and the seven challenges of SM as a RM medium. Theoretical and practical implications as well as suggestions for future research are provided.