Impact of basketball fan behaviour on the organization’s brand

Background. In recent years sports industry has been growing fast, changing trends forced organizations to be creative and look for different ways to increase the competitiveness. Sport has become a business that meets all key management principles (Paul, 2003). In order for an organization to be profitable it is important to have good governance and effective marketing to attract new customers (Fillis & Mackay, 2014), in sports – fans that create added value for the clubs (Zagnoli & Radicchi, 2010). Some authors argue that fans are not only consumers, but also co-creators of the final product (Richelieu & Pons, 2011). The objective of this work was to measure the impact of basketball fan behaviour on the brand of sport organization. Methods. To measure the impact of basketball fan behaviour on the brand of sports organization methodological triangulation was used in the study. The research consisted of 3 stages: questionnaire (Sandanski, Slavchev, & Draganov, 2016), semi-structured interviewing I and semi-structured interviewing II. The study was partly conducted during the Erasmus+ Sport project "Fans Against Violence". In Lithuania the aforementioned project was conducted by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation in the partnership with association "Aktyvistai". 240 basketball fans from 5 different Lithuanian basketball clubs participated in the survey, 4 representatives from different basketball clubs and 4 fan leaders from different sport clubs were interviewed. Results and conclusions. The majority of basketball fans that participated in the survey were men aged 20–24 years (25.8%) and attended basketball matches by the guidance of hedonistic will (13.5%). The same men became basketball fans encouraged by other fans (25%). The strife between fans from different basketball teams goes from generation to generation and the main reason of aggressive behaviour is provocative actions from opposite fans (15%) and alcohol consuWhile alcohol consumption is considered to be one of the main reasons to encourage fans’ aggression, only a small percentage of the respondents were strongly against the use of alcohol (7%). Summarizing all the results that were received during a semi-structured interviewing II it can be stated that the behaviour of the fans not only affects the brand of a basketball club, but is the main factor that impacts the brand of the club

Relationship between organizational intelligence and innovations: case of Lithuanian sports federations

Background. Sports organizations exist to perform tasks that can only be executed through cooperative effort, and sports management is responsible for the performance and success of these organizations. The main problem concerning sports organizations and making them implement modern management paradigms is the duality of functions, which divides a sports organization into units increasing the internal competition and reducing the possibilities to create new knowledge. This undoubtedly affects the insufficiently productive functioning of a sports organization under modern conditions of globalization. Organizational intelligence (OI) could be a way to promote innovations, create and share knowledge (McMaster, 1998; Winand, Qualizza, Vos, Zintz, & Scheerder, 2013b). Methods. Two questionnaires were used in this research: first, regarding the evaluation of organizational intelligence level, the second regarding the sports organization’s preparation for innovations. Results. One of the lowest evaluated OI factors was organizational openness and the highest rating was given to group work. Comparing OI internal dimensions score of sports organizations which implemented or not innovations during the last 12 months it became clear that there was a significant difference in the scores for organizational openness in sport organizations which implemented innovations and (M=4.2747, SD=0.82337) and for sport organizations which did not implement innovations (M=3.5874, SD=0.51288), p=.24 (two-tailed). Conclusion. Sports organizations having more features of intelligent organization more analyse innovation development opportunities in various aspects, but the level of intelligence and innovation ideas development has no relation, except for costs analysis. Sports organization becoming intelligent and developing innovations had advantage only in some phases of innovation development: situation analysis and decision making

Retrospective attitudes towards the assessment system in physical education in the former Soviet Republic of Lithuania: differences with regard to gender, education, age, and physical activity

Background: The study aimed to determine differences between retrospective attitudes of adults towards the assessment system in PE in the former Soviet Republic of Lithuania (SRL) according to gender, education, age, and physical activity. Material and methods: Randomised and cross-over study design. The research sample comprised 1,115 participants (510 male and 605 female, 524 35–45 years old 591 46–55 years old; 603 with secondary education and 512 with university education) representing the population of the Republic of Lithuania. Results: 35–45-year-old participants displayed more positive attitudes towards the suitability of assessment in PE in the former SRL and attitudes towards the influence of assessment on motivation to enjoyment than 46–55-year-old participants, but 46–55-year-old participants reported higher scores of attitudes towards the social characteristics of assessment by an individual and a teacher and attitudes towards the influence of assessment on physical activity than younger participants. Conclusions: AThis study revealed significant differences in retrospective attitudes of 35–45-year-old and 46–55-yearold adults towards the assessment system in physical education in the former SRL. Retrospective attitudes of participants towards the assessment system in PE in the former SRL differed also with respect to educational level

The use of sports apps for engaging in physical activity

Background. As healthy lifestyle and physical activity become more relevant, sports apps are receiving more attention as one of the most convenient tools for monitoring one’s physical condition. While activity-related apps are thought to be effective tools for health care and management, there is still a lack of information on the key factors that motivate individuals to download and use them. Seeing the large selection of different sports apps with similar functions, it can be assumed that other factors, such as certain characteristics of the apps or the user’s characteristics can also influence the consumer’s choice. Methods. The study included 410 physically active subjects who were using sports apps (137 men and 273 women). To establish sports app usage, the questionnaire developed by Ha, Kang, and Ha (2015) was used. The statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS. Results. In the analysis of different factors, the perception of sports apps was assessed the most positively. All these factors were more likely to be assessed positively by women than by men (p ≤ .05). The strongest correlations with intentions were found between perceptions of sports apps (enjoyment, ease of use, usefulness, reliability) (r > .5, p ≤ .01) while with other variables correlations were slightly lower. Conclusions. Women are more positive about the use of sports apps, in their perceptions and their connection to the smart device. Intentions to use sports apps are most influenced by perceptions of sports apps and personal innovativeness, which not only directly affects the intentions themselves, but also influences the perceptions that influence the intentions

Athlete brand development in social media: analysis of students’ attitudes

Background. Athlete brand image management is one of the most popular topics of discussion in sport management right now. As professional sport has become a commercialised industry segment with more athletes involved, athletes are becoming promotional faces. Most professional athletes are involved in the use of social networks. There athletes actively demonstrate their personal lives, professional accents and advertise products. It is important to understand and analyse the impact of social networks on an athlete’s brand and ways to properly position themselves in social media. Using social networks, athletes are closer to fans and consumers than ever before. Based on and applying the Athlete Brand model developed by Arai (2010), this study aimed to investigate students’ attitudes towards athletes’ self-positioning on social networks. Methods. The study involved 367 students (151 men and 216 women) from three Lithuanian universities. The Arai (2010) questionnaire was used for the study. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS 26.0. Results. It has been found that athletes’ sports performance is statistically significant in the development of a professional athlete’s brand, it is the fundamental aspect that creates the initial status of athlete’s brand. Results showed that the strongest direct causal link was found between an athlete’s athletic performance and lifestyle. It was also found that very strong links, in the opinion of the respondents, were between the athletes’ communication and behaviours. Conclusions. When building an athlete’s brand, it is important to pay attention to three key components: athletic performance, attractive appearance, and marketable lifestyle. These three uses of an athlete’s brand can be explained by specific aspects of sports competitions or components of personal life. However, one of the most important factors in shaping a positive image of an athlete is athletic achievements. Practical implications. This study can provide a consistent consumer approach to key aspects, focusing on consumer attention in athlete positioning. This can help the athlete and marketers develop an appropriate personal branding and positioning strategy in social media, which will then broaden the circle of fans and strengthen the opinion of loyal fans. Athlete’s brand is a set of closely interrelated and fan-centred physical, functional, aesthetic, and emotional elements that sets athlete’s brand apart from competitors and creates financial benefits for the athlete. The brand creates benefits not only for the athlete, but also for the market participants around him/her (consumer/fan, commercial brand), which can be called the functions of the brand

Sporto klubų teikiamų paslaugų konkurencingumą lemiantys veiksniai : Kauno miesto sporto klubų pavyzdys

Šiandien nacionalinėje, Europos Sąjungos ir pasaulinėje rinkoje gali konkuruoti tik modernios bei Pažangios organizacijos, modernizuojančios darbo vietas, didinančios darbo našumą, mažinančios produkcijos savikainą, nuolat mokančios personalą naujų darbo metodų, plėtojančios kooperaciją nacionalinėje ir tarptautinėje rinkoje, gebančios tinkamai prisitaikyti prie nuolat kintančios aplinkos. Sparčiai besiplečiant globaliai rinkai ir diegiant vis naujesnes technologijas, konkurencija organizacijoms tampa sudėtingu uždaviniu, todėl atsiranda būtinybė analizuoti konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius. Organizacijos konkurencingumą veikia daug skirtingų veiksnių, todėl tikslinga nustatyti, kurie iš jų yra svarbiausi ir stipriausiai veikia konkurencingumo reiškinį. Straipsnio tikslas - nustatyti pagrindinius sporto klubų teikiamų paslaugų konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius. Siekiama atskleisti sporto klubų teikiamų paslaugų konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius teoriniu aspektu; nustatyti pagrindinius sporto klubų teikiamų paslaugų konkurencingumą veikiančius veiksnius ir jų priežastis Kauno mieste; parengti šių veiksnių praktinį modelį. Išskiriami pagrindiniai, sporto klubų teikiamų paslaugų konkurencingumą lemiantys, vidiniai ir išoriniai veiksniai. Tarp vidinių veiksnių didžiausią įtaką turi sporto klubo įvaizdis ir paslaugų kokybė, o išorinių vertinimo aspektu svarbiausi yra socialiniai ir ekonominiai veiksniai. Pagrindinės sporto klubų teikiamų paslaugų konkurencingumą lemiančių vidinių veiksnių svarbumo priežastys yra klientų asmeniniai interesai bei jų socialinių poreikių patenkinimas, o išorinių veiksnių svarbumo priežastis nulemia valstybė ir visuomenėje nusistovėjusios vertybės bei normos. Straipsnyje taip pat siūlomas parengtas sporto klubų teikiamų paslaugų konkurencingumą lemiančių veiksnių praktinis modelis pagal jų išsidėstymą prioritetine tvarka. Reikšminiai žodžiai: Konkurencija; Konkurencingumas; Paslaugos; Sporto klubai; Competition; Competiveness; Services; Sport clubsToday, only modern organizations can compete in the national, European and global market, as they develop knowledge, or use of scientific and technical progress in modernizing jobs, basically increasing productivity, reducing production costs, the staff is regularly taught new ways of working, developing co-operation in the national and the international market, they are able to adapt to the constantly changing environment. Aim of article was to identify the main factors affecting the competitiveness of services of sports clubs. The paper identifies major internal and external factors influencing the competitiveness of the services provided by sports clubs. Internal factors were factor and demand conditions, related and servicing industries (clusters), the company structure, strategy and competition, manager/strategy developer, corporate image and service quality. External factors were the role of the government, opportunities and international business, social and economic factors. The main reasons for the importance of internal factors affecting the competitiveness of sports club services are the clients’ personal interests and meeting their social needs, and the importance of the external factors is determined by the state and the values established in the society. The practical model of factors affecting the competitiveness of the services provided by sports clubs was developed in the order of their priority. The model of factors affecting the competitiveness of the services provided by sports clubs reflects the internal and external competitive environment of sports dubs services