Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Assistant Professor of Sports Management, University of Maragheh
Abstract
The present research was conducted with the aim of modeling the impact of integrated marketing communications on the formation of a favorable image of volleyball clubs with the mediating role of social media. This study was of an applied, quantitative, field-library and correlational type. The statistical population consisted of volleyball fans in Urmia city and according to the results of GPower software and simple random method, 194 people were selected as a statistical sample. The data collection tools were Lee and Park's Integrated Marketing Communications Questionnaire (2007), Jahanbani's social media (2018) and Orth and Green's Brand Image (2009). In order to analyze the data, in addition to descriptive analysis, structural equation modeling and Sobel test were used in SPSS version 23 and SMARTPLS version 3.1.1 software at a significance level of 0.05. The results showed that the research model has a good fit and that integrated marketing communications (p=0.001; t=9.695) and social media (p=0.001; t=5.466) have a positive and significant effect on the favorable image of volleyball clubs and integrated marketing communications also have a positive and significant effect on social media (p=0.001; t=610.25). The results of the study also showed that social media plays a mediating role in the effect of integrated marketing communications on the formation of the favorable image of volleyball clubs (p=0.001; z=9.560). Therefore, effective and continuous marketing communications with audiences and appropriate use of social media can lead to the formation of a favorable image of volleyball clubs in the minds of audiences and fans.
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