FiT Publishing

Associating esports teams with a particular city has gained significant attention, with the assumption that esports teams receive benefits from the local fanbase as traditional sports teams take advantage of the local community. The researchers examined whether team identification was important in esports as it is in traditional sports and tested if local and nonlocal fans showed different levels of team identification after localization. The results of path analyses revealed that team identification had a positive impact on team loyalty and consumer behavior. Additionally, team loyalty...Read more

This study examines relationships among perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR), perceived team CSR, social identities, and corporate brand equity in the context of using Chinese professional baseball teams as brand extensions. Data from online surveys of Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) consumers (N = 467) were analyzed using structural equation modeling and the SPSS macro PROCESS. Findings revealed that perceived CSR and perceived team CSR have a direct positive effect on corporate brand equity. The results also showed that consumer-company identity mediates...Read more

When the Charlotte Bobcats became the Charlotte Hornets at the beginning of the 2014 NBA season, the team became the first in history to rebrand itself with a moniker previously used and recently dropped by another NBA franchise. Despite being bound by NBA branding and merchandising rules, the organization was able to re-imagine the original Hornets brand to create a new distinct brand identity that pushed the organization into the future while still honoring the past. The franchise employed a variety of creative brand communication techniques, including sending Hugo the Hornet mascot door...Read more