Sport Communication
Hossein Karim Abbas
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of perceived social responsibility on brand equity with the mediating role of team identification and online community identification in Iraqi Naft al-Wasat futsal team fans. The present research was applied in terms of objective and in terms of ...
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The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of perceived social responsibility on brand equity with the mediating role of team identification and online community identification in Iraqi Naft al-Wasat futsal team fans. The present research was applied in terms of objective and in terms of method was of correlation type. The statistical population of the research was formed by the fans of Iraq's Naft al-Wasat futsal team who were members of online virtual groups or online fan communities. According to Mueller's optimal sample size rule, 277 fans participated in the research as a sample. The data collection tool was Kim and Manoli's (2022) standard questionnaires of perceived social responsibility, team identification, online community identification and brand equity. Variance based structural equation model was used to analyze the data. The results of the research showed that perceived social responsibility has a positive and significant effect on brand value (β=0.322), team identification (β=0.652) and online community identification (β=0.695). Also, team identification (β=0.315) and online community identification (β=0.311) have a positive and significant effect on brand equity. Finally, the perceived social responsibility has a significant effect on the brand equity with the mediating role of team identification and online community identification in Naft al-Wasat futsal team fans (β=0.422). According to the results of the research, managers of team can increase their level of social responsibility to improve their brand value and strengthen the fans' team identification and fans' identification in the club's online communities.