Identifying Drivers of Emotional Branding Effective in Strengthening Customer Loyalty in Sports Clubs with a Futures Studies Approach
Keywords:
Emotional Branding, Customer Loyalty, Sports Club, Delphi, Structural AnalysisAbstract
The present study aimed to identify the key drivers influencing the strengthening of customer loyalty through emotional branding in sports clubs and to develop a future-oriented model explaining the relationships among these drivers. This applied research was conducted within the framework of futures studies using a mixed exploratory-structural approach. Data were collected through literature review, expert interviews, and three rounds of the Delphi method. Subsequently, cross-impact analysis and MICMAC structural analysis were employed to determine the influence and dependence of the identified variables. Finally, morphological analysis was used to construct future scenarios of customer loyalty in sports clubs. The participants consisted of experts in sports management, marketing, and futures studies who were selected purposively. The findings revealed that five major drivers, namely “the brand’s ability to create emotional attachment and a sense of belonging,” “quality and consistency of customer experience,” “the importance of customers’ emotional and motivational needs,” “development of the digital ecosystem of sports services,” and “efficiency of operational processes,” played the most influential roles in strengthening customer loyalty. MICMAC analysis demonstrated that emotional brand attachment had the highest direct and indirect influence within the system. Scenario analysis further indicated that the most desirable future for sports clubs emerges when all key drivers are in favorable conditions and synergy exists among emotional, technological, and operational dimensions. The findings indicate that customer loyalty in sports clubs is a multidimensional phenomenon shaped by the integration of emotional branding, customer experience quality, digital transformation, and operational efficiency. Therefore, sports clubs capable of establishing deeper emotional bonds with customers while simultaneously delivering sustainable and digitally oriented experiences are more likely to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and long-term customer loyalty.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Seyed Yousef Hajiasghari; Bahman Valinejad, Mitra Choopanimoghaddam, Roya Mahmoudi, Maryam Mirzaei, Vahid Alizadeh Ara (Author)
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