Fans’ Perceptions of Professional Tennis Events’ Social Media Presence

Abstract

This article aims to develop a better understanding of how sport fans perceive events’ social media presence. An online qualitative survey was conducted with sport fans (n = 105) of four professional tennis events (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open). Findings suggest that fans perceive the events’ usage of social media to be about three aspects: interaction, insight, and brand anthropomorphism. In addition, fan responses suggest that while Facebook is the most popular site for general social media usage, these fans consider Twitter to be their most preferred platform to follow the events. Finally, fan responses illustrate three barriers that brands need to overcome in order to successfully develop and execute their social media strategy: competition with other media, a lack of year-round incentives, and technological capabilities of the platforms, which ultimately influenced fans’ motives and use.

Keywords

social media fan perceptions tennis events brand management sport communication

Scholars note that the changing nature of the sports industry provides unique and challenging opportunities for sports marketers to develop lasting impressions and relationships with sporting publics (Gladden, Irwin, & Sutton, 2001). Accordingly, Gladden, Irwin, and Sutton (2001) conclude that brand management and relationship building are two of the most important factors that sports marketers need to consider in the new millennium. Sports brands endure a range of challenges including the evolving nature of the industry (i.e., globalisation), growing clutter of the marketplace (i.e., available products and services), and changing technologies (i.e., media communication tools). As a result, there is an obvious need to develop and manage innovative brands in the sport industry that engage with fans. However, Richelieu and Pons (2009) argue that the key challenge is turning fans into paying consumers. Sports teams, leagues, and events rely on revenue generated from fans (i.e., through the purchase of tickets, related merchandise), and Couvelaere and Richelieu (2005) conclude that sports brands need to provide opportunities for fans to “live the brand at different moments of their daily lives” (p. 25). Social media, at least theoretically, are one way for sports brands to accomplish these opportunities.

Given the importance of brand management, the development of strong consumer–brand relationships, and the emergence of social media, it is imperative to understand the role of social media within the sporting context. Brands are traditionally thought to evoke a certain personality, presence, and product or service in consumers’ minds and are intangible assets, considered to be one of the most important to an organisation (Kaynak, Salman, & Tatoglu, 2007). Traditionally, sports events have not commonly been recognised outright as a brand. However, Bouchet, Hillairet, and Bodet (2013) state this view is changing and sports events are increasingly considered and managed as such. High profile sports events, such as those that acquire immense media attention, celebrity athletes, crowd appeal, and a global presence, are developing into legitimate global brands in their own right (Parent & Smith-Swan, 2013). Arguably, the four Grand Slam tennis events (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open) have achieved brand status. Given the increasing commercialisation of sports, it is not surprising that events are propelled into the branding spotlight. Sports events are now seen as prime opportunities to generate further revenue for stakeholders (e.g., sponsors, investors), and thus it is not unexpected that event personnel are protective of a brand’s image. Therefore, the branding of sports events is seen as an important part in ensuring both their success and maximising extra financial revenue (Bouchet, Hillairet, & Bodet, 2013).

Within specific industries such as sports, the advantages of social media appear well suited to build brands and relationships with fans (Wallace, Wilson, & Miloch, 2011). One of the benefits of enhanced fan connectedness is longer and more profitable relationships through increased consumptive behavior (End, 2001; Funk & James, 2001; Gladden & Funk, 2001; Trail, Fink, & Andrew, 2003). However, new technological opportunities, innovations, and challenges with social media present an ever-changing virtual landscape for sports marketers and their events to negotiate. The use of social media as marketing channels has increased, with both Facebook and Twitter embraced in the sporting context.

Scholars have noted that social media were originally developed as spaces for people, not brands, for fun and personal purposes (Fournier & Avery, 2011a, 2011b). However, brands have encroached on this “private” space and have garnered the reputation of being gate crashers. As Fournier and Avery state,

as more branding activity moves online, marketers are confronted with the realization that brands are not always welcome in social media. Amid the cultural conversation, most brands seem inauthentic … brands … are uninvited crashers of the Web 2.0 party. (2011b, p. 193)

The marketing efforts of brands have previously been met with resistance from consumers, as they seek to retain a personal space free from the intrusion of marketers and advertisers. As a result, the most effective methods for brands to use in order to encourage consumers and fans to engage and negotiate with their social media properties remain unclear. As indicated by Fournier and Avery (2011a), the personal nature of social media presents a unique challenge to those sports brands seeking to capitalize on the growth and popularity of these media to build their brand and relationships with fans. As Wright, Khanfar, Harrington, and Kizer (2010) argue, effective social media must not appear as advertisements to the consumer but rather as attempts to “build a relationship with the consumer and establish a level of trust” (p. 77).

Although scholars theorize that social media provide excellent channels for fostering relationships with fans (de Vries, Gensler, & Leeflang, 2012), there is a need to explore how those who engage with professional sports events perceive these brands’ social media presence. As such, this study is novel in its approach, as it examines the perceptions of professional tennis events’ fans relating to the events’ social media use. The article begins with a review of the existing fan-related social media literature. After an explanation of the methods, a discussion of the findings examines emergent themes related to the fans’ perceptions of social media use by these tennis events. Finally, directions for future research are suggested.

Literature Review

Scholarly inquiry into management- and producer-oriented perspectives of social media usage is emerging (e.g., Abeza, O’Reilly, & Reid, 2013; Clavio, Walsh, & Vooris, 2013). This line of inquiry provides valuable insights into attitudes, motivations, and challenges of social media use from those involved with the creation of both social strategy and online content. However, one limitation of previous studies is the lack of end-user feedback. While brand managers and marketers may perceive that their social media strategies are developed to support their brand- and relationship-building endeavors, if fans’ perceptions do not support this, then brands’ efforts and fans’ perceptions of these efforts lack congruence. Indeed, Koll, von Wallpach, and Kreuzer (2010) argue that it is not possible to build a brand successfully without the knowledge of how stakeholders (in this study, the consumers) perceive the brand and its actions. Given resourcing is often touted as a barrier to social media engagement by sports brands (e.g., Abeza et al., 2013; Thompson, Martin, Gee, & Eagleman, 2014), there is a need for research to explore fan perceptions to ensure efforts are not squandered and social media are being used optimally.

In addition, much of the existing fan-oriented literature is informed by uses and gratifications theory. For example, Clavio and Kian (2010) studied the Twitter followers of retired female athletes fans and found that the most salient use focused on elements relating to personal fandom and affiliation to the athlete. Further, in contrast to earlier studies (e.g., Schultz & Sheffer, 2010), social and personal elements were rated more highly than informational elements. Both Clavio and Kian (2010) and Kassing and Sanderson (2010) report that fans search for content that provides an insider perspective while also allowing for opportunities to share information. In one of the few studies with a non-U.S. sports focus, Özsoy’s (2011) examination of Turkish sports fans reported similar findings, with use of social media for sportive reasons largely driven by the desire for information, news, and content that could not be found elsewhere.

Scholars also indicate that fans are driven by a desire for interaction both with a brand (i.e., athlete, team, or league) and with other participants as part of a larger fan community (Clavio & Kian, 2010; Pegoraro, 2013). Findings from Raacke and Bonds-Raacke (2008) evidence that interactive and content creation-based items are the most important to users of certain social media sites. As such, brands should seek to provide opportunities to foster these elements.

A number of fan-related studies have also examined their social media consumption. For example, as part of their seminal work on Facebook as a brand management tool, Wallace, Wilson, and Miloch (2011) observed fan engagement related to the branding and marketing constructs identified in their study. Scholars have also conducted studies on professional sports teams’ social media fans to identify whether distinct segments exist within these online communities. For example, Bruffy, Scott, Naylor, and Beaton (2014) conducted an online survey of New Zealand basketball fans to explore their behaviors within the context of Funk and James’s (2001) psychological continuum model (PCM). Their findings suggest that a large segment of fans are placed within the Attraction stage, contradicting common beliefs that it is mainly loyal and identified fans connecting with sports teams through social media.

Sports brands manage their own social media and there is a need to understand how users perceive a brand’s use of various social media platforms (Clavio & Kian, 2010; Hambrick, Simmons, Greenhalgh, & Greenwell, 2010). Therefore, it is necessary to examine the perception of consumers. However, previous research has focused on using simple metrics (i.e., likes, shares, and comments) as measures of social media effectiveness (e.g., Abeza & O’Reilly, 2014; Geurin & Gee, 2014; Thompson et al., 2014; Wallace et al., 2011). While these data allow sports properties to quantify engagement with certain content, it does little to shed light on the underlying perceptions of those who follow the events. In addition, while emerging research emphasizes the underlying motivations and gratifications sought when following and using social media, there is little research to date that seeks to establish how fans perceive a brand’s social media presence. Researchers acknowledging a lack of fan-related research have called for further advances in this context (Bowden, 2009; Rohm, Kaltcheva, & Milne, 2013). With that in mind, the following research question was employed:

Research Question: How do fans perceive professional tennis events’ social media usage?

Study Context

The worldwide competition structure of tennis and its increasing reputation in the Olympic Games serve to illustrate its global reach (Brouwers, Sotiriadou, & de Bosschler, 2015). According to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) (as cited in Brouwers et al., 2015), tennis is the second highest popular global sport after football, played in 190 countries, has 4.4 million fans, and attracts 800 million television viewers globally. As former Women’s Tennis Association Chair and CEO Stacey Allaster states “having 10 different [countries] represented in the top 10 rankings shows how truly global tennis has become” (Marshall, 2011, para. 4). This increased globalization has led to further commercialization of the sport, its players, and events, which have led to increased opportunities for marketing activities (Bennett, Cunningham, & Dees, 2006; Brouwers et al., 2015; Delia & Armstrong, 2015).

As part of a larger study, the Grand Slam tennis events were selected using a purposive sampling approach. Often referred to as the tennis “Majors,” the four events are widely regarded as the most prestigious events in tennis. Collectively, they provide expansive international reach and are identified by both their temporal and geographical dispersion—Asia/Pacific region (Australian Open, January), Europe (Roland Garros, May; Wimbledon, June/July), and North America (U.S. Open, August/September). As such, they represent significant milestones on the tennis calendar each year. Furthermore, each of these four events has sought to embrace emerging technology and, importantly, has focused on the utilisation of social media to build and grow the uniqueness of their international brand. Table 1 offers an overview of each event’s social media presence.

Table 1.

Social Media Presence by Event.

	Event
Characteristic/Platform	Australian Open	Roland Garros	Wimbledon	U.S. Open
Joining dates
Facebook	December 15, 2008	December 09, 2009	May 28, 2008	June 13, 2009
Twitter	November 12, 2008	May 24, 2009	May 21, 2008	May 19, 2008
Social media followers
Facebook	887,158	784,000	1,500,000	637,291
Twitter	565,738	208,000	700,000	328,614
Social media usage
Facebook	✓	✓	✓	✓
Twitter	✓	✓	✓	✓
Instagram	✓	✓	✓	✓
Google+	✓	✓	✓	✓
Pinterest	✓	✓	✓
YouTube	✓		✓	✓
Foursquare		✓		✓
Tumblr	✓

Note. A tick mark indicates the event is active on the respective social media platform.

Research related to social media use in the tennis context is emerging. Previous studies have examined individual athletes’ use of Twitter for promotional and self-presentation purposes (e.g., Hambrick & Mahoney, 2011; Lebel & Danylchuk, 2012) and a national governing body’s development of a social media strategy through a case study of Tennis New Zealand (Thompson et al., 2014). In one of the first social media-related tennis studies, Schoenstedt and Reau (2013) examined the use of social media marketing at the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Master’s Tennis Open and note that the popularity of the event could be leveraged into lucrative marking opportunities. They concluded that further research in this context was required.

Method

This study undertakes a qualitative case study on four global tennis events. This approach is appropriate for inquiry into areas with limited academic inquiry (Creswell, 1998), enabling researchers to examine contemporary phenomena within a real-life context (Yin, 2003).

Data Collection

This study utilised an online survey to explore fans’ perceptions of social media usage by the four tennis events during 2013. Online surveys have been widely used to examine various forms of media and have been used as the primary method in previous fan-related social media inquiry (e.g., Clavio, 2011; Clavio & Kian, 2010; Clavio, Walsh, & Coyle, 2013). This approach allows researchers to reach a wider audience and in a familiar manner to them. This current study followed Wimmer and Dominick’s (2006) strategies for implementing an effective survey in regard to construction of questions, designing the questionnaire and pretesting, and gathering survey data. In addition to demographic questions, information on respondents’ social media usage (e.g., Clavio & Kian, 2010) was collected. This included asking respondents about their social media usage levels (i.e., time spent on social media per week), use of social media sites, and the number of sports brands they follow on social media. Open-ended questions (Frey, 2004) also probed deeper into fans’ perceptions of professional tennis brands’ social media usage, allowing for a more in-depth exploration of the topic (Brace, 2013; Witkemper, Blaszka, & Chung, 2014).

A 19-item survey instrument was created, which included items on general social media usage (5 items), event social media usage (12 items), and demographics (4 items; see Appendix). The section containing information on general social media use employed a mixture of multiple-choice, open-ended, and 7-point Likert-type scale response categories. For the section containing items relating to fans’ perceptions of the events’ social media, narrative responses were preferred. However, logic-filtering prequestions (Wimmer & Dominick, 2006) were employed using “yes,” “no,” or “not sure” responses in order to present fans with an appropriate open-ended question. Finally, demographic responses were captured using a mixture of multiple-choice and open-ended questions.

Consideration was given to the global scope of the survey, and the fact that for some participants, English may not be their first language. Once the questions were constructed, the survey was reviewed by a panel of six experts consisting of two faculty members, two marketing and communication graduate students, and two sport management professionals with experience working with social media in a sporting context. This review was conducted in order to (1) examine face validity, (2) reduce redundant questions, and (3) evaluate overall readability and clarity (Wimmer & Dominick, 2006).

The modified questionnaire was then piloted on 10 people known to the lead researcher who follow other professional tennis events (i.e., New Zealand’s ASB Classic and Heineken Open) and minor changes to the wording and order of some questions were made. These 10 people consisted of both casual and avid tennis fans, male and female, and ranged in age from 19 to 58 years. In addition, three spoke English as a second language.

Participants

The final sample consisted of 105 usable surveys. This sample size is considered acceptable when utilizing a qualitative methodology in areas where there is limited current knowledge (Auerback & Silverstein, 2003). The survey was conducted in English via the online survey and data collection website Survey Monkey. Consistent with other studies (e.g., Witkemper et al., 2014), purposive and convenience sampling were used to recruit respondents. The survey was made available via links on the lead researcher’s social media profiles, tennis-related message boards and forums, in tweets featuring each event’s relevant hashtag (e.g., #ausopen) and in posts made by the lead researcher to each of the events’ Facebook pages. Permission was first sought from the relevant administrators of message boards and forums before proceeding. In addition, elements of snowball sampling were utilized, as initial messages posted to Twitter and Facebook were shared by other social media users.

Links to the survey were shortened to ensure message copy would meet the Twitter-imposed 140-character limit for tweets and were meaningful for those reading the tweet. The survey was made available for 6 weeks around each tennis event: (1) 2 weeks prior to the start of the relevant event, (2) 2 weeks of the event, and (3) 2 weeks after the completion of the event. It was determined this time frame would provide the greatest exposure and best response rate.

Sample characteristics

Table 2 presents the demographic information of the survey respondents. Respondents were from 19 different countries, with a number from Europe (n = 46, 43.8%), Asia/Pacific (n = 30, 28.6%), North America (n = 27, 25.7%), and the Middle East (n = 2, 1.9%). The majority of respondents were female (n = 64, 61%), and this was consistent across all four events. Nearly three quarters of respondents were under the age of 35 (n = 77, 73.3%), with ages ranging from 25 to 54 years. More than two thirds indicated they were avid fans (n = 75, 71.4%). A majority of respondents used both Twitter (n = 82, 78.1%) and Facebook (n = 69, 65.7%). Overall, 59% (n = 62) of respondents identified Facebook as the social media site they used most frequently. Nearly half of all respondents used social media several times a day (n = 51, 48.6%), and nearly all users (n = 101, 96.2%) use social media at least once a day (M = 6.19, SD = 0.77). Those who used social media less frequently did so 3–5 times per week.

Table 2.

Demographic Information of Survey Respondents.

	Event
Category/Characteristic	Australian Open	Roland Garros	Wimbledon	U.S. Open	Total
Gender
Female	17 (63.0)	16 (61.5)	15 (60.0)	16 (59.3)	64 (61.0)
Male	10 (37.0)	10 (38.5)	10 (40.0)	11 (40.7)	41 (39.0)
Age
18–24 Years	12 (44.4)	9 (34.6)	6 (24.0)	13 (48.1)	40 (38.1)
25–34 Years	11 (40.7)	4 (15.4)	9 (36.0)	13 (48.1)	37 (35.2)
35–44 Years	3 (11.1)	9 (34.6)	9 (36.0)	1 (3.7)	22 (21.0)
45–54 Years	1 (3.7)	4 (15.4)	1 (4.0)		6 (5.7)
Country of residence
United States	1 (3.7)	8 (30.8)	5 (20.0)	9 (33.3)	23 (21.9)
Australia	10 (37.0)	2 (7.7)	3 (12.0)	6 (22.2)	21 (20.0)
United Kingdom	2 (7.4)	4 (15.4)	6 (24.0)	4 (14.8)	16 (15.2)
France	2 (7.4)	4 (15.4)	2 (8.0)	2 (7.4)	10 (9.5)
New Zealand	1 (3.7)	1 (3.8)	2 (8.0)	2 (7.4)	6 (5.7)
Switzerland		2 (7.7)	2 (8.0)	1 (3.7)	5 (4.8)
Canada		2 (7.7)		2 (7.4)	4 (3.8)
Germany	1 (3.7)	1 (3.8)	1 (4.0)	1 (3.7)	4 (3.8)
Italy	1 (3.7)	1 (3.8)	1 (4.0)		3 (2.9)
Ireland	1 (3.7)		1 (4.0)		2 (1.9)
Netherlands	1 (3.7)		1 (4.0)		2 (1.9)
Serbia	1 (3.7)	1 (3.8)			2 (1.9)
Austria	1 (3.7)				1 (1.0)
Egypt	1 (3.7)				1 (1.0)
India	1 (3.7)				1 (1.0)
Malaysia	1 (3.7)				1 (1.0)
Poland	1 (3.7)				1 (1.0)
Vietnam	1 (3.7)				1 (1.0)
Israel			1 (4.0)		1 (1.0)
Avid sports fan
Yes	24 (88.9)	18 (69.2)	15 (60.0)	18 (66.7)	75 (71.4)
No	3 (11.1)	8 (30.8)	10 (40.0)	9 (33.3)	30 (28.6)
Sports a fan of^a
Tennis	24 (88.9)	18 (69.2)	13 (52.0)	18 (66.7)	73 (69.5)
Basketball	5 (18.5)		10 (40.0)	10 (40.0)	25 (23.8)
Football	6 (22.2)	10 (38.5)	1 (4.0)	4 (14.8)	21 (20.0)
NFL	4 (14.8)		2 (8.0)	8 (29.6)	14 (13.3)
Baseball	1 (3.7)		2 (8.0)	6 (22.2)	9 (8.6)
F1	1 (3.7)	3 (11.5)	2 (8.0)	3 (11.1)	9 (8.6)
Rugby	6 (22.2)		1 (4.0)		7 (6.7)
Cricket	2 (7.4)		4 (16.0)		6 (5.7)
AFL	6 (22.2)				6 (5.7)
Other	6 (22.2)	2 (7.7)	2 (8.0)	10 (37.0)	20 (19.0)

Note. For ease of reading, 0 (0.0%) values have been removed from the table. f = frequency; NFL = National Football League; AFL = Australian Football League; F1 = Formula One racing.

^aTotals will not sum to 100%, as multiple responses were accepted for this category.

Data Analysis

A thematic textual analysis using a general inductive approach was conducted to examine the open-ended question responses allowing themes to be derived through interpretation of the raw data (Thomas, 2006) and ensuring data-driven themes emerged. Thomas’ (2006) steps for inductive coding were adopted and included preparing the data, close reading of the text, creation of categories, reduction of category overlap, and redundancy and creation of most important themes.

Analysis began with a close reading of the raw text, allowing the researcher to gain an understanding of the themes and events within the text (Thomas, 2006). Within-case analysis preceded across-case analysis (Patton, 2002) in order to identify emergent themes and issues related to the research purpose. Responses were reread, and related data were grouped together and assigned a theme or themes. Throughout this process, emerging themes were identified and developed, which continued until no new themes emerged, indicating all major themes had been identified (Thomas, 2006). Quotes from participants used in the findings are supplemented with contextual information about the participant (e.g., the tennis event they were commenting on, their country of residence, and their gender).

Findings and Discussion

This study explored fans’ perceptions of professional tennis events’ social media usage, and the analysis revealed four central themes: interaction, insights, brand anthropomorphism, and challenges (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Fans’ perception of events’ social media usage.

Interaction

One of the central tenets of social media is the ability to enable direct connection and communication between brands and consumers. Increasingly, researchers view engagement as an important construct in the development of consumer–brand relationships (Brodie, Ilic, Juric, & Hollebeek, 2013; Rohm et al., 2013). While interaction is not a new concept within social media-related research, this study builds on the extant literature and offers insights from fans to evidence that they believe these tennis events are willingly entering into conversations with and helping to support exchanges between the brand and other fans. The use of terminology such as conversation reveals that fans seemingly view this as a long-term approach, requiring input and commitment from both parties.

Brand to fan

Responses from most participants indicate that they are aware that each event uses various strategies to encourage followers to interact and engage in conversations with them. These are important considerations if the events seek to develop and build relationships with their followers. Such conversations enable more than the mere maintenance of a relationship, rather they appear to facilitate relationship enhancement.

They try to interact with us as fans, and they put out some questions for people to respond to. They tweet their fans a lot, and not just asking questions, but answering them and replying to them. I really like that; it makes it feel like they want to have a conversation with you. (Australian Open, Australia, F)

They make sure they’re hot on the issues that fans are talking about, and they go to those conversations and engage. It gets you talking with them, like you would with your friends. (Wimbledon, Australia, F)

A number of the Australian Open and Wimbledon respondents acknowledge that as the sports events proactively enter into fans’ conversations and engage with them, they provide the opportunity for fans to develop an emotional bond that may influence their relationship with the event brand (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). This further serves to highlight the increasing importance of two-way interaction in the social space.

A majority of respondents appeared to be relatively happy with the level of interaction and social connection between themselves and these events. Yet, a small portion commenting on the U.S. Open noted that they would like to see more interaction on the U.S. Open’s Facebook and Twitter accounts: “I think they need to have more engagement, perhaps interact with fans a bit more. Especially during the year” (U.S. Open, USA, F). With interaction often viewed as a key tenet in the development of relationships, and a vital part of facilitating socialisation, greater interactivity throughout the year and not just around the event period would be beneficial.

Fan to fan

Furthermore, participants identified that the events’ social media use aimed to establish and maintain brand-to-fan conversations and foster fan-to-fan discussions, enabling respondents to interact with other fans and share their collective passion for the sport.

It’s not just an information dumping ground. They do try to facilitate conversations between fans. I like that they try to encourage that open conversation. (Australian Open, Australia, F)

It takes you there. It forms a Wimbledon community, albeit virtual. It definitely beats watching it alone in one corner of the world. They really help encourage this which is great, as social media simulates the experience of watching it in a group. (Wimb, Israel, F)

Scholars espouse the benefits of social interactions and fostering feelings of community, encouraging brands to focus on supporting interaction among a product’s consumers (Cova & Cova, 2002; Richelieu & Boulaire, 2005). This study illustrates that this practice appears to have been adopted and well utilized by the tennis events, as they seek to build their brand and relationships with fans. One interesting finding was some participants’ identification that social media use by the events helped to develop a brand-specific community among event followers, regardless of their geographical location. Such comments were particularly prevalent among Australian and U.S. Open fans, who viewed this positively and provided numerous examples of this in practice. Interestingly, many of the examples included mention of specific hashtags (i.e., #sleepisfortheweak and #usopennightshift) that they felt served to foster and generate feelings of community.

I love what they did a few years ago with #sleepisfortheweak. Now they support this hashtag and we’ve got a group of fans that use it. It’s helped make a community among international fans that are following in different time zones. We’re all AO fans now, and they’re [the event] part of that. (Australian Open, India, M)

In light of this, the events should continue to offer opportunities for fans to interact, giving them a communal site to convey their passion for the sport. If fans willingly go to the events’ social media pages to engage with like-minded, passionate tennis fans, the events should foster this, as this interaction and engagement is a central tenet in the formation of relationships (Brodie et al., 2013). Fostering this view of community may also help to develop feelings of membership that have the potential to generate attachment to the brand and ultimately lead to increased brand loyalty (Cova & Cova, 2002). Such comments reveal that the use of event specific hashtags may work to further enhance these opportunities.

Emotional connection

Another key factor to emerge was respondents’ acknowledgement that the use of social media by the events led to the development of emotional connections. For some, it was as simple as making them feel more involved with the event; while for others, it went further and heightened their anticipation and excitement for the event. Interestingly, respondents in locations farthest from the event location commented on this aspect, which is particularly noteworthy given tennis’ global audience.

I feel engaged with the event, even though I’m not actually there. I’m on the other side of the world [NZ] and yet I still feel part of it. It’s really special. (Wimbledon, New Zealand, M)

It helps to keep me more connected. Then I think you anticipate it more and look forward to it more when you see the updates. It gets me thinking; yes, the tournament is starting again soon. I have to be there! (Australian Open, USA, F)

This finding suggests that the participants perceive the tennis events’ social media use to be about promoting closer connections between the events and the fans themselves. Perhaps more importantly is the identification that the events use social media to achieve this between highly involved fans and new fans who may not be familiar with the sport of tennis or the events themselves.

It brings people in. Like for me, it gives me more knowledge and I feel connected now. Before, I didn’t know much about the sport, players, or the event, and so for me, it draws people in. It brings the fans in and makes them all feel involved. They ask questions you can reply to, it makes it feel fun and relaxed and just connected with it I guess. (U.S. Open, Germany, M)

It’s bringing in people who aren’t just tennis fans and who aren’t just going to the arena for the day. It gets everybody engaged with it and it’s no longer just about the sport but everything else as well. It makes it accessible to everyone. (Australian Open, Ireland, F)

This represents an important finding, as the preeminent thought among scholars is that social media followers of a brand are more likely to be already highly identified fans. The reactions from respondents indicate that this may not be true and, if so, social media provides brands with the potential to appeal to, and form, relationships with new fans. This result coincides with recent findings by Bruffy et al. (2014) who discovered a large segment of their respondents placed within the Attraction stage of the PCM (Funk & James, 2001) and less than 15% within the Allegiance stage.¹ Importantly, it highlights the potential for the events to leverage social media to build their brand and develop relationships with both existing and new fans.

Insights

Most of the respondents considered the events to be using social media to provide them with unique event-related insights. The acknowledgement of information as a key part of this is consistent with previous literature (e.g., Clavio et al., 2013) and reveals that social media serve as channels for professional tennis events to disseminate insightful information to fans. However, as one of the first studies to seek fan perspectives on brands’ social media usage, this study moves beyond the simple acknowledgement of these earlier findings. Findings reveal two central aspects identified by most respondents with respect to the insightful nature of information presented by the four events on their social media platforms, exclusivity, and at-event experience.

Exclusivity

Firstly, a large portion of participants identified that the events used social media to distribute information they deemed to be exclusive, such that it would not be possible to get elsewhere. This aligns with Mangold and Faulds (2009) who suggest that brands should aim to provide exclusivity to help brand-related discussions. As evidenced by participants’ comments, the events utilize this strategy in practice. Moreover, Rohm, Kaltcheva, and Milne (2013) previously documented exclusivity in their study of consumer–brand interactions, yet it was considered a motivator for interaction, rather than an example of brand-related social media use, as revealed in this study.

Their behind the scenes stuff has been really good over the past year. It gives you knowledge and access. [It’s] that exclusive stuff that is important to you as a fan. The background content (photos, videos or interviews) that you can’t get elsewhere that’s really important, it makes you feel special! (U.S. Open, Switzerland, M)

When compared to the other two events, a number of respondents from both the Australian and Roland Garros samples expressed an explicit desire to gain access to more behind-the-scenes content. Specifically, they wanted more off-court coverage in the lead-up to the respective events:

It would be neat to see and read about the changes they’re making around the grounds, new courts, new facilities and the process of producing the clay, profiles of the Roland Garros staff. I think that’d be great! (Roland Garros, USA, M)

I would love to see more behind-the-scenes content. Definitely more about the prep that goes on before each tournament actually begins. I think that’d be really insightful and different too. Like, each Grand Slam probably has to do different things. (Australian Open, Netherlands, F)

Access to such content would provide fans with unique insight into each event and deliver further incentives to follow. In addition, if the events continue to provide content showcasing the venues transformation, they can potentially build further brand associations with fans, ones that extend beyond just the presence of star players. This initiative is of vital importance, given that it is not possible for event personnel to guarantee such players will attend or that they will make it through early rounds and the brand image must therefore extend beyond this simple aspect (Bouchet et al., 2013).

At event experience

Secondly, in speaking of their experience in attending the event, many participants highlighted the events’ use of social media to distribute insights that provided opportunities for event attendees to enhance their at-event attendance experience.

I was at one of the back courts the other day waiting for Federer, and then all of a sudden someone said he’s not going to be on this court, it’s up on Twitter. They’ve confirmed [via @australianopen] he’s somewhere else and everyone disperses. So, with that example, it’s a pretty great way to keep everyone informed and happy here. (Australian Open, Australia, F)

This dimension is unique compared to findings of previous studies. Given the participants’ acknowledgements that these types of insights created positive event-related associations, they represent an important aspect of usage by the events and may translate to enhanced brand loyalty and positive brand associations (Gladden & Funk, 2001). With this knowledge, the events should look to include more content that will aid in the at-event experience.

Brand Anthropomorphism

Another interesting finding to emerge was the respondents’ assertions that social media allow the events to anthropomorphize their brands by showcasing brand personalities and the portrayal of a human persona.² This aspect was particularly prominent in participant responses from all events with the exception of Roland Garros. Participants from the Australian Open and Wimbledon in particular noted that they engaged in naturalistic conversations that enabled the event brands to cultivate an online personality that saw fans interact with them as they would with another human being.

It’s great to see them use a certain tone of voice, and interact with fans. It makes them seem more human and it showcases their sort of personality. I think that’s good. It brings them a bit closer. It’s as if you’re building a connection or relationship with another person. You kind of forget they’re actually a brand. (Australian Open, UK, F)

The way they use social media gives Wimbledon a personality. It might sound strange … it’s probably not something I would have thought about before, but definitely now I think about it, the interactions with them and the way they post, it’s just like they’re another human. That’s so different. That wasn’t possible before. (Wimbledon, UK, M)

One respondent illustrates this with a specific example for Wimbledon:

I remember I think they posted a photo of a young kid in white, with a Wimbledon headband, and just captioned it like ‘our future Wimbledon Champion’, and then there are other times where they’ve just posted a simple welcome tweet on Twitter. But the way they did it, it leaves you thinking it’s not just a brand. You forget they are one. It’s not just a place for them to do promos or whatever; they’re just being like other users. (France, F)

This is one of the first studies to document this finding, with respect to fan-oriented research, revealing that social media may allow brands to connect with fans in a more naturalistic manner with the potential to nurture stronger, long-term relationships. Consumers are potentially more likely to form stronger connections with the brand, if they can imbue their brand with human characteristics (Kwon & Sung, 2011). Given participants’ acknowledgement that social media are used in ways that enable them to develop emotional connections with the events, event brands taking a humanistic approach and establishing a human persona are, perhaps, more likely to succeed in creating stronger consumer–brand relationships. This is important, given that previous literature has indicated that fans have been sceptical about allowing brands into their personal social space (see Fournier & Avery, 2011b).

However, this current study did not examine whether the brands’ personalities that participants identified was congruent with the brands’ personalities the events aimed to portray. Further examination is required in order to ensure events are posting updates and content that aligns with the desired brand personality in consumers’ minds. This would be a worthy area for future research, as it has potential to affect the event’s brand image and, if viewed positively by fans, may lead to increased revenue generation opportunities through ticket- or merchandise-related sales.

Challenges

While emergent literature notes that social media use is not without its challenges (e.g., Abeza et al., 2013; Thompson et al., 2014), these prior findings are largely founded on an organizational perspective. To the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to identify challenges faced by events based explicitly on fan perceptions, providing interesting insights for practitioners, as they seek to utilize social media to build their brands and relationships with fans. Three distinct challenges were identified based on participant responses. These were competition with other media, a lack of year-round incentives, and technological capabilities of the platforms.

Competition with other media

Understanding this challenge is important, as consumers seek value in their encounters with professional tennis events online (Williams & Chinn, 2010). Nearly all participants acknowledged that social media do not operate in isolation from other media that provide event-related information, and, as such, social media content needs to be different and unique. Several respondents noted that similar content was posted on various social media platforms as well as on the official website, leading fans to question their need to follow the events’ numerous social media accounts:

I actually find their website really good, and don’t look at their social media very much to be honest. The impression I have of it is, what they put on social media is the same. It’s no different really, so it’s kind of like, what’s the point? (Roland Garros, Italy, M)

A number of Wimbledon and Australian Open respondents indicated that official event apps were popular ways to follow the events and were judicious about occurrences of cross-posted content.

The smartphone apps are really good too, but I don’t think the content is so different. They have the same photos and links to their news articles. It needs to be different, otherwise what’s the point? (Wimbledon, UK, F)

If the events aim to leverage off mobile apps and new technologies, they must be mindful to ensure content is not replicated across multiple media. If content becomes repetitive, the events risk fan disengagement. If fans do not see value in following and interacting with the events and their posts, they will not be exposed to the branding and relationship-building efforts undertaken by the events, potentially inhibiting their ability to develop stronger brand knowledge and long-term relationships with fans.

In addition, one respondent commented that they felt Wimbledon used Twitter as a conduit to its official website:

They post on Twitter a lot, with headlines and so on, but I think most of their activity is to direct people to their website. I don’t know why they do that, maybe they get more money. The social media use, it’s not so much about being social. (Wimbledon, Australia, F)

Comments such as this reveal that fans are discerning in their perceptions of such events’ social media efforts. In order for social media efforts to be successful in helping them to build their brands and relationships, these events should focus on providing content that draws on the social aspect of these media.

Lack of year-round incentives

Most of the respondents’ responses also implied that they perceived a lack of year-round incentives, which had some respondents questioning the value and relevance in following the events outside the event period. This challenge is perhaps more profound for events that are faced with 50 weeks of the year, where fan attention is often drawn elsewhere such that they must work to generate (and hold) fans’ interest.

For major events, I normally follow before and during. But not so much after, just because then I’d have endless feeds of stuff. I mean I might keep it for a while and then maybe unfollow them down the line, unless they continue to have really good stuff. (Australian Open, Serbia, F)

International respondents advised that they were more likely to follow the players throughout the year, along with tennis’ governing bodies (i.e., ATP and Women's Tennis Association [WTA]), rather than specific events:

I won’t stick around with this as much, because it’s one of the four majors of the year. Most of the updates appear to be about the other Slams, which I follow individually. Then there are the other smaller tournaments throughout the year. Then there are the players; I’m probably more likely to follow them. They’re always doing something. (Wimbledon, Australia, M)

Professional tennis events must overcome this potential barrier and draw on novel and creative ways to provide incentives for fans to continue to “follow” or “like” the brand outside the event period. Some Australian Open respondents provided suggestions on how this could be achieved:

If they have new information or rare pictures to offer, I would definitely pay extra attention and follow them more regularly. (Australian Open, France, F)

In light of such comments, these events would be wise to continue to include content that delivers added value to fans during the between-event period in order to keep them following and engaged. Other such content may include short video interviews with key personnel or marketing promotions only available to social media followers (i.e., perhaps merchandise discounts).

Technological capabilities of the platforms

The identification of this factor has possible implications for fan consumption and the potential to effect consumer–brand relationships as well as the consumer’s experiences with the brand. While participants indicated that they used a range of social media sites in their everyday life, Facebook emerged as the site they used most frequently. In contrast, Twitter emerged as the most preferred site to follow the tennis events due in large part to the capabilities of these various platforms. This finding is surprising in light of previous research indicating that brands view Facebook as the best place to connect with fans (e.g., Abeza et al., 2013; Thompson et al., 2014), further highlighting the need for brands to understand their fans and the need for continued social media research. For the event personnel who aim to leverage social media as a site to build their brands and relationships with fans, this study’s findings reveal that their efforts may be fraught with issues relating to the technological and functional capabilities of the various social media platforms. For example,

Twitter, because I like how it is quick to update, and I can refresh it easily. YouTube isn’t as fast to update. So if you want up-to-date information, Twitter is the best place. (Wimbledon, USA, M)

I know you can get the videos on YouTube, but it’s too hard to make comments and interact with other people there … and people seem to post stupid, irrelevant things in the comments section. So I go to their Facebook. You don’t miss anything, but you can interact with them and other fans. (U.S. Open, France, F)

Research notes that unique opportunities may be afforded to marketers through the use of specific social media platforms (Thompson et al., 2014; Weinberg & Pehlivan, 2011). However, the current study reveals that the very nature of certain platforms provides professional tennis events with a challenge in utilizing them for branding and relationship-building endeavors. While links with previous research highlight that particular challenges brands encounter include keeping current with technological changes (e.g., Barwise & Meehan, 2010; Thompson et al., 2014), this study extends this discussion by illustrating that certain intrinsic features of various platforms may both encourage and dissuade fans from using them to follow the events regardless of the nature of the content provided.

For professional tennis events, this also presents a challenge in evaluating social media outcomes. For example, simple engagement metrics (e.g., likes, shares, favorites, and retweets) may not be suitable methods to determine the successfulness of various strategies. Indeed, low interaction numbers may not signal disengagement but rather indicate a by-product of technologically related factors that impact fans’ decisions to engage on the respective platform itself, thus, not being truly indicative of their feelings towards the content the events post. Indeed, events should ensure they focus time and resources towards platforms that fans seek to utilise, thus optimizing their brand- and relationship-building efforts while also evaluating their social success with metrics beyond a simple like.

Conclusions and Implication

This article explored fans’ perceptions of social media use by four professional tennis events. Participants identified interaction, insight, and brand anthropomorphism as key aspects of the events’ social media use. Results indicate that fans are willing to connect (i.e., through following and liking) and interact with professional tennis events, which is surprising, given prior assertions that fans are skeptical about allowing brands into their “personal” social space in the past (see Fournier & Avery, 2011b). However, fans may avert or absolve their connection if they perceive content to be irrelevant or too infrequent. For these tennis event brands seeking to utilise social media to foster long-term consumer–brand relationships, they must ensure social media provide content that delivers value to them (Williams & Chinn, 2010) and provides year-round incentives to follow or they run the risk of undermining their efforts.

Findings also indicate that social media are becoming worthy sites for brands to showcase relevant brand information and illustrate that the essence of branding appears to have moved beyond mere mass messaging. Instead, it is now the brand’s responsibility to develop and foster deeper, long-term consumer–brand relationships in order to create loyalty, trust, and ultimately brand ambassadors (Fournier & Avery, 2011a). As a result, professional tennis event brands need to actively engage their fans through social media, as they are perceived as an important site to foster the development of relationships with both existing and potential fans.

This research is not without its limitations. Firstly, we acknowledge the sample size was small and participants were selected using a purposive and convenience sampling approach. Secondly, all of the data were related to four specific tennis events, and while generalizations beyond the four events may be limited, it is anticipated that the findings will be transferable to other similar sports events brands. Finally, it is acknowledged that these responses are reflective of the perceptions of English-speaking participants. Despite these limitations, the findings from this study provide a solid foundation on which future research can build and explore sports events' use of social media as a branding and relationship building tool in greater depth.

In completing this study, a number of interesting results emerged, from which a number of potential future research opportunities have arisen. Firstly, this study recognizes that fans proactively share content while attending the tennis events and they have a desire to share user-generated, event-related content while in attendance. Therefore, future studies could explore how user-generated social media content and fan engagement are encouraged as part of an at-event experience and how this compares with an online-event experience. Such research could then suggest the extent to which event experience (i.e., at-event or online) is related to value in terms of enhanced brand loyalty or stronger consumer–brand relationships. Secondly, respondents identified hashtags as one way in which two events assisted in the development of a fan community. Future research could explore the utilization of hashtags in the development of online fan communities and construction of fan identity.

Footnotes

Appendix

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

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