How do Swedish football fans perceive the Bundesliga? : A quantitative study examining the Brand Equity and the Brand Interest of the Bundesliga in Sweden.

Sammanfattning: Background: Nowadays, football is much more than just a sport. In fact, football is a global industry contributing to many countries’ economic and social wealth. Football leagues are deeply involved in globalization processes and follow international marketing strategies while aiming for growth in foreign markets. In that context, it is essential for any football league to know its brand equity and the interest in the league in the desired market, to be able to make strategic decisions which lead to internationalization and marketing management success. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the Brand Equity of the Bundesliga including Brand Interest. The current research extends Shuv-Ami's (2016a) market brand equity model within sport organizations with Machleit et al.'s (1990) concept of brand interest and is applied to the Bundesliga in the Swedish market. Research Question: What is the perceived Brand Equity including Brand Interest of the Bundesliga in Sweden? Methodology: The chosen approach for this study was a deductive approach with a theory and context extension of Shuv-Ami's (2016a) market brand equity model. A quantitative data collection through online survey was conducted and collected 805 survey answers from Swedish football fans which were used for the analysis. Conclusion: The findings showed that the perceived Brand Equity including the brand interest of the Bundesliga in Sweden was very positive. The Bundesliga was especially highly ranked in terms of Brand Knowledge, Brand Image, Brand Personality, Brand Satisfaction, and Brand Interest. Further, the proposed Brand Equity model including Brand Interest as a new variable has been successfully confirmed by this study as Brand Interest had been identified as a significant contributor to Brand Equity. Keywords: Brand Equity, Brand Interest, Bundesliga, Sports Marketing, Football, Brand Equity of a Football League, Football Marketing.