A six-stage model of brand loyalty for sport consumers: Integrating theories of enduring involvement, identity and loyalty
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thesis
posted on 2017-05-19, 03:18authored byArgus, Kevin James
This thesis explores the formative antecedents and stages
leading to consumers’ enduring involvement (EI) and
loyalty with brands and products. This aim was pursued
by conducting a study of sport consumers, of varying
duration and intensity of EI and loyalty. A further aim
was to determine whether the motives of consumers’
transitions between these stages of EI provide insights
that explain their transitions between stages of brand
loyalty and/or product loyalty. Of particular interest was
discovering the motives of consumers’ transitions towards
the highest stage of fortitude loyalty; a steadfast, lifelong
commitment to brands found among many sport fans
(Oliver, 1999).
The literature review revealed that little was known about
the origins of EI, or how it evolves, due to a lack of
macro approaches in research design. Similarly, among
loyalty literature, a dearth of macro studies had limited
current knowledge of how and why sport consumers, who
consume experientially (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982;
Holt, 1995) and within in a social context, appear to
transition to a deeper stage of loyalty than consumers of
many other product categories (Funk and James, 2001;
Oliver, 1999).
This study comprised multiple case studies that included
biographical investigations of sport consumers, each with
extensive histories of EI in sport, being participants of
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May 2009; reviewed January 2010
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grassroots sports and/or spectator fans of professional
league sports. An interpretivist qualitative research
design, incorporating multiple depth-probing interviews,
gathered rich data on informants’ life histories of their EI
within sport. Adopting holistic macro design uncovered
the relevant influences of all social structures informants
belonged to, including family, school, work, intimate
relationships, marriage and other interest groups.
Several important findings fulfilled the research aims.
Critical to this research was adopting holistic- qualitative
interpretivist methods (Golden-Biddle and Locke, 1993;
Hogg and Maclaran, 2008) that enabled the previously
untold stories of informants to surface. This data
identified their childhood inhibitions (from within family
and school), which formed the source of their primaryantecedent
motives for establishing an EI in sport. These
primary antecedents of consumers’ EI incorporated
deeply held self-esteem and identity-development goals
(life themes), which remained constant and pervasive
throughout their lives. Secondary antecedents of
consumers’ EI in sport were motives categorised by selfexpression
and socialisation. These motives were subject
to change, as their changing life projects (e.g.,
transitioning from goals of being a good student to
becoming a good employee) reflected changes in their
life-cycle stages (e.g., transitioning from teenager to
young adult) and/or life-circumstances (within their social
structures). A consistent process explained how sport
consumers evolved and maintained their EI in sport.
Of the six-stage model that emerged, the research
identified that the first four stages established EI for all
sport consumers. They included pre-involvement, trial,
engagement and immersion. Sport consumers came to
realise that their EI in sport brands enabled them to
perceive and/or experience having a sense of control over
the development and maintenance of their self-esteem,
through a process of identity development. Seminal
research of identity theory linked to self-esteem supports
these findings (Burke and Stets, 2009; Cast and Burke,
1999; 2002; Ervin and Stryker, 2001).
The fifth and sixth stages of EI were integration and
fortitude. They were found among sport consumers
exhibiting product loyalty and/or brand loyalty.
Identifying these final two stages of EI revealed motives
that have received little attention among identity theorists
in terms of how and why individuals maintain deep
commitments to social groups. Sport provided a social
context that enabled the individual to engage in important
identity supporting roles, the benefits of which carried
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May 2009; reviewed January 2010
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over to other social contexts through a proactive process
of integration. These benefits (and processes) were
significant to the development of fortitude loyalty.
Ironically, fortitude loyalty was only realised when sport
consumers were able to rebuild their self-esteem after it
had been diminished through adversity (e.g., within
relationships, at work, or due to health issues), by
reengaging in sport in ways that enabled them to
reconstruct and/or stabilise their sense of identity.
In terms of key processes, when consumers commenced
new important life projects (e.g., intimate relationships,
work roles, or parenting roles) reprioritisation of their
critical needs sometimes occurred, which affected their EI
behaviour. A number of outcomes followed such as the
temporary or permanent cessation of EI, or switching to
an alternative brand within the same product category, in
order to maintain their involvement and continue their
newly identified life projects. Where changes to EI
behaviour included a temporary cessation of involvement,
all consumers took deliberate actions to reengage their EI
behaviour with their sport brands and/or products.
The findings of this research contribute to our
understanding of EI and brand loyalty by establishing
crucial links between EI, loyalty and identity. This study
also provides insight into how consumers employ
motivated reasoning to explain their involvement in
brands and product categories. Ideas for future research
are discussed, including the need to investigate further the
link between childhood inhibitions and the evolution of
EI with particular brands and product categories.
Management implications are also discussed including the
implications of the research for how professional and
grassroots sports design and communicate their brands.