Abstract
The various existing social media platforms aim at interaction and connectivity between users within online communities through the production and sharing of content. Like sports, social media allows users to obtain experiences that often stirs emotion. This empirical study combines football with social media through a multiple linear regression analysis involving the social networks, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, of the three biggest Portuguese clubs—SL Benfica, FC Porto, and Sporting CP. This research reviews the literature of sports fanaticism, the structure, and content of posts, combined with a bibliometric analysis of social media, which allows the understanding of this vast theme in four components: social media engagement, user-generated content, online communities, and content marketing. Through the testing of the hypotheses written for this research, assertive conclusions were obtained about the performance of social media posts in the sports field, such as the relevance of visual posts, compared to textual posts; the effectiveness of posts that refer to the nostalgia of the supporter; and the determination of the social network most suitable for the accompaniment of a live football match.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pittman, M., Reich, B.: Social media and loneliness: why an Instagram picture may be worth more than a thousand Twitter words. Comput. Hum. Behav. 62, 155–167 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.084
Collins, T.: The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby (2015)
Stokes, R.: eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Online Marketing Second Edition (2008)
Constantinides, E.: Foundations of social media marketing. Procedia. Soc. Behav. Sci. 148, 40–57 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.016
Osokin, N.: User engagement and gratifications of NSO supporters on facebook: evidence from European football. Int. J. Sports Mark. Spons. 20(1), 61–80 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-11-2017-0115
Coursaris, C.K., Balogh, B.A.: Do Facebook Likes Lead to Shares or Sales ? Exploring the Empirical Links Between Social Media Content, Brand Equity , Purchase Intention, and Engagement.https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2016.444
De Vries, L., Gensler, S., Leeflang, P.S.H.: Popularity of brand posts on brand fan pages: an investigation of the effects of social media marketing. J. Interact. Mark. 26(2), 83–91 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2012.01.003
Raney, A.A.: Why we Watch and Enjoy Mediated Sports (2006)
Yu, Y., Wang, X.: World Cup 2014 in the Twitter world: a big data analysis of sentiments in U.S. sports fans’ tweets. Comput. Hum. Behav. 48, 392–400 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.01.075
Wang, X.: Applying the integrative model of behavioral prediction and attitude functions in the context of social media use while viewing mediated sports. Comput. Hum. Behav. 29(4), 1538–1545 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.01.031
Wang, X.: Using attitude functions, self-efficacy, and norms to predict attitudes and intentions to use mobile devices to access social media during sporting event attendance. Mob. Media Commun. 3(1), 75–90 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1177/2050157914548932
Kietzmann, J.H., Hermkens, K., McCarthy, I.P., Silvestre, B.S.: Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Bus. Horiz. 54(3), 241–251 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.005
Brodie, R.J., Ilic, A., Juric, B., Hollebeek, L.: Consumer engagement in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis. J. Bus. Res. 66(1), 105–114 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.07.029
Vivek, S.D., Beatty, S.E., Morgan, R.M.: Customer engagement: exploring customer relationships beyond purchase. J. Market. Theory Pract. 20(2), 122–146 (2012). https://doi.org/10.2753/MTP1069-6679200201
Brodie, R.J., Hollebeek, L.D., Jurić, B., Ilić, A.: Customer engagement: conceptual domain, fundamental propositions, and implications for research. J. Serv. Res. 14(3), 252–271 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670511411703
Dolan, R., Conduit, J., Fahy, J., Goodman, S.: Social media engagement behaviour: a uses and gratifications perspective. J. Strateg. Mark. 24(3–4), 261–277 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1080/0965254X.2015.1095222
Baird, C.H., Parasnis, G.: From social media to social customer relationship management. Strat. Leadersh. 39(5), 30–37 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1108/10878571111161507
Smith, J.L., Wagaman, J., Handley, I.M.: Keeping it dull or making it fun: task variation as a function of promotion versusprevention focus. Motiv. Emot. 33(2), 150–160 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-008-9118-9
Weinberg, B.D., Pehlivan, E.: Social spending: managing the social media mix. Bus. Horiz. 54(3), 275–282 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.008
Plume, C.J., Dwivedi, Y.K., Slade, E.L.: Social media in the marketing context. A state of the art analysis and future directions. In: Chandos Publishing (2016).https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-46371-5_3
Li, Y., Xie, Y.: Is a picture worth a thousand words? An empirical study of image content and social media engagement. J. Mark. Res. 57(1), 1–19 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1177/0022243719881113
Lin, K.Y., Lu, H.P.: Why people use social networking sites: an empirical study integrating network externalities and motivation theory. Comput. Hum. Behav. 27(3), 1152–1161 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.12.009
Hwang, H., Kim, K.O.: Social media as a tool for social movements: the effect of social media use and social capital on intention to participate in social movements. Int. J. Consum. Stud. 39(5), 478–488 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12221
Labrecque, L.I., vor dem Esche, J., Mathwick, C., Novak, T.P., Hofacker, C.F.: Consumer power: evolution in the digital age. J. Interact. Market. 27(4), 257–269 (2013).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2013.09.002
Weimar, D., Holthoff, L.C., Biscaia, R.: When sponsorship causes anger: understanding negative fan reactions to postings on sports clubs’ online social media channels. Euro. Sport Manag. Q. 1–23 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2020.1786593
Stavros, C., Meng, M.D., Westberg, K., Farrelly, F.: Understanding fan motivation for interacting on social media. Sport Manag. Rev. 17(4), 455–469 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2013.11.004
Kerr, A.K., Gladden, J.M.: Extending the understanding of professional team brand equity to the global marketplace. Int. J. Sport Manag. Market. 3(1–2), 58–77. Retrieved from https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-70349648189&partnerID=40&md5=f751b32b058723e134754fdcdb77b397
Parganas, P., Anagnostopoulos, C., Chadwick, S.: “You’ll never tweet alone”: managing sports brands through social media. J. Brand Manag. 22(7), 551–568 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2015.32
Mangold, W.G., Faulds, D.J.: Social media: the new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Bus. Horiz. 52(4), 357–365 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.03.002
O’Reilly, N., Lafrance Horning, D.: Leveraging sponsorship: the activation ratio. Sport Manag. Rev. 16(4), 424–437 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2013.01.001
Hedlund, D.P.: Creating value through membership and participation in sport fan consumption communities. Eur. Sport Manag. Q. 14(1), 50–71 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2013.865775
Kriemadis, T., Terzoudis, C., Kartakoullis, N.: Internet marketing in football clubs: a comparison between English and Greek websites. Soccer Soc. 11(3), 291–307 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1080/14660971003619677
Abosag, I., Roper, S., Hind, D.: Examining the relationship between brand emotion and brand extension among supporters of professional football clubs. Eur. J. Mark. 46(9), 1233–1251 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1108/03090561211247810
Meng, M.D., Stavros, C., Westberg, K.: Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal Article Information: About Emerald (2015). www.emeraldinsight.com
Gibbons, T., Dixon, K.: “Surf’s up!”: A call to take english soccer fan interactions on the internet more seriously. Soccer Soc. 11(5), 599–613 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2010.497359
Anagnostopoulos, C., Parganas, P., Chadwick, S., Fenton, A.: Branding in pictures: using Instagram as a brand management tool in professional team sport organisations. Euro. Sport Manag. Q. 18(4), 413–438 (2018).https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2017.1410202
Van Erp, M., Van Hage, W.R., Hollink, L., Jameson, A., Troncy, R.: Detection, representation, and exploitation of events in the semantic web. In: Proceedings of the 11th Interational Semantic Web Conference ISWC2011, 7 Suppl 1(October), I1 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1186/1710-1492-7-S1-I1
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Pereira, J., Rodrigues, R.G., Duarte, P., Gouveia, A. (2022). Social Media Marketing of Football Clubs: A Study with Portuguese Football Clubs—SL Benfica, FC Porto, and Sporting CP. In: Reis, J.L., Peter, M.K., Cayolla, R., Bogdanović, Z. (eds) Marketing and Smart Technologies. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 280. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9272-7_45
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9272-7_45
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-16-9271-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-16-9272-7
eBook Packages: Intelligent Technologies and RoboticsIntelligent Technologies and Robotics (R0)