CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
2.6 Conceptual Franework
2.6.2 Antecedents: Event Awareness and Event Image
Event awareness is the consumer’s knowledge of the event brand. Brand awareness can be interpreted simply as whether consumers are aware of a brand, or if consumers’ recognition and recall of the brand in different situations is considered (Aaker, 1997; K. L. Keller & Moorthi, 2003). Researchers have identified brand awareness as a fundamental and essential attribute of brand equity (D.A. Aaker, 1991;
Tong & Hawley, 2009). Brand awareness reflects how consumers know about a brand and reflects its prominence in their minds (D.A. Aaker, 1991). Brand awareness is critical in Aaker’s five-factor model and Keller’s brand knowledge model in consumer-based brand equity theory. Subsequent researchers have further explained brand equity. Among them, Gladden et al. (2002) studied brand equity in a college sports environment, Ross (2006) analyzed brand equity in a sporting event environment, and Yanling Duan and Bing Liu (2017) explored the measurement of brand equity in Chinese sporting event brands. In these models, brand awareness still occupies an important place (D.A. Aaker, 1991; Agarwal, 1996; Ekhveh & Darvishi, 2015; James M. Gladden & Funk, 2002; K. L. Keller & Aaker, 1992; Marisa Maio Mackay, 2001; Na, Marshall, & Keller, 1999; Raut et al., 2020; Ross, 2006; Yanling
& Bing, 2017). Recall and recognition enable effective brand awareness measurement (Donthu & Yoo, 1998; Jamil & Wong, 2010; K. L. Keller, 1993; Klopper & North, 2011).
Recall reflects the ability of consumers to retrieve brands from memory under different conditions (Pierre, 2003). For example, when “sportswear” is mentioned, one will think of brand names or logos such as “Nike” or “Adidas.” The recall is considered an appropriate measure for sports brand equity (J. Gladden, 2013).
Branding aims to build a certain level of brand knowledge in consumers’ minds and gain brand awareness (K. L. Keller & Moorthi, 2003). Consumers’ ability to identify
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a brand under various conditions reflects their perception of that brand (Ekhveh &
Darvishi, 2015). Thus, recognition is considered another suitable measure of sports brand equity. Cognition has high explanatory power for sports brand equity and influences event brand strength (Ross, 2006; Ross et al., 2008). Ross et al. conducted a study on the brand equity of a sports team and showed that the audience’s brand awareness determines the audience’s loyalty to the event (Ross et al., 2008). Thus, event awareness can be understood as the consumer’s knowledge and perception of the event in the branding of sporting events.
Event Image
The event image is a comprehensive brand perception formed by consumers, based on their experience with the event brand information (Xiaoling, 2011; Z. Yun & Rongri, 2019). The event image reflects the awareness formed by consumers’ associations with the event brand. Studies have shown that brand image reflects the product or service in consumers’ memories and is the perception formed by consumers’ associations with a product or service (Aaker, 1997; K. L. Keller, 1993). When consumers are satisfied with a brand, positive brand associations are created, resulting in a positive brand image (Aaker, 1991; Tong & Hawley, 2009;
Marinova et al., 2011; Yoo et al., 2000). Thus, the brand image is a crucial element of spectator-based sports brand equity (Ross, 2006).
The sports environment contains various brand associations (J.
Gladden, 2013). In a competitive sports environment, implementing a unique brand image strategy, coupled with event development and marketing means, can effectively enhance brand loyalty, thus gaining a competitive advantage (Hongliang, 2009).
Therefore, brand management efforts can focus on brand image in the sports environment. In sports events, the image of competition, service, and facilities impact the image of the event. These images influenced consumers’ evaluations of the brand.
Competitive Image
Competition is the core component of a sports event brand.
Competitive image refers to the overall impression of all stakeholders of the event during the bidding, holding, and ending process, including the overall evaluation of sports characteristics and scale level of events (Jia, 2013). This definition means that the brand image formed by the competitive image of consumers can form their
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attitude towards the event brand, thereby establishing their loyalty to that event brand.
In the brand building of sports events, brand image is a multi-dimensional image, and competition is its foundation. Researchers have studied the competitive image of some competitions. They believe that with the continuous improvement of the degree of commercialization of competitions, the focus on establishing the brand image of competitions should be on the competition itself (Xin-dan, Xing-yang, & Hui-fan, 2016). The primary means to guarantee brand loyalty is to maintain a higher competitive level, improve the intensity of the competition and enhance the ornamental value of the competition (Z. Yun & Rongri, 2019).
Service Image
Service quality can positively influence customers’ attitudes and behavior loyalty (Si-wen & Kai, 2019). Relevant research shows that the success of sports events is inseparable from the guarantee of high-quality services. Service image is a critical factor of brand image in sports events (Z. Yun & Rongri, 2019).
According to the experience of large-scale sports events, voluntary activities are undoubtedly an essential part of the regular operation of sports events. Improving service quality and efficiency can enhance the level of the activity, enhance its competitiveness, and form a positive brand image (Rui-min & Hui-jun, 2020). The knowledge, responsibility, skills, and spirit embodied in voluntary service are conducive to the long-term development of sports event brands (Jin-feng & Jun, 2019).
Facilities Image
The image of facilities is an effective means of establishing a brand image (Z. Yun & Rongri, 2019). Sports events are closely related to the construction of public facilities. Venues, transport, accommodation, and food can affect athletes’
performances and spectators’ experiences. The infrastructure of stadiums and gymnasiums is the fundamental factor in improving audience satisfaction (Zhaoyu, 2018). The continuous improvement of venue facilities and urban landscape features can improve the hosting ability of the sports events and the experience of watching the sports events. In addition, it is also an essential factor for audiences to choose sports events and form recommendation behaviors (Z. Yun & Rongri, 2019).
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Event Awareness and Event Image
Researchers have proposed that brand awareness is the foundation for building brand equity (Keller, 2001). They suggested that brand awareness should be established first in the brand creation process, and brand awareness should precede brand image (D.A. Aaker, 1991; Severi Erfan & Choon, 2013; Gill & Dawra, 2010;
Washburn & Plank, 2002). This is because consumers first need to understand a brand in order to establish a series of connections. When consumers begin to make choices about brands, the first thing that comes to mind is the brand name or logo in their memory that shows brand awareness (Macdonald & Sharp, 2000). Once consumers identify a brand, they can form the meaning and image of the brand in their minds through a series of associations (Sürücü, Öztürk, Okumus, & Bilgihan, 2019).
Consumers’ knowledge of a brand can influence consumer behavior (Bora, Mathilda, Jeffrey, & Krzysztof, 2018; Ekhveh & Darvishi, 2015). Consumers’ perception of a brand influences their association with that brand, which in turn influences the image of that brand in consumers’ minds (Aaker, 1996; Jain, 2019; K. L. Keller, 1993;
M.Gladden & C.Funk, 2001; Ross et al., 2008). Therefore, event awareness should precede event image when building a small sporting event brand.