Alireza Khosravi; Mehdi Naderi Nasab; nima majedi; seyed Abbas biniaz
Abstract
The aim of this study was to present an interpretive structural model of the factors influencing the branding of national team athletes. The research method employed was mixed-methods. The study's population consisted of experts in the field (including branding consultants, branding practitioners, branding ...
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The aim of this study was to present an interpretive structural model of the factors influencing the branding of national team athletes. The research method employed was mixed-methods. The study's population consisted of experts in the field (including branding consultants, branding practitioners, branding experts, and university professors specializing in sports marketing and branding). The selection criterion for the experts in the qualitative section was theoretical saturation, and 19 individuals were selected using purposive sampling and the snowball strategy. These identified individuals were then used for the interpretive structural analysis in the quantitative section. Data collection tools included semi-structured interviews in the qualitative section and a 13×13 square matrix in the quantitative section. To ensure validity and reliability of the results, strategies such as credibility, transferability, confirmability, process audit study, and inter-coder agreement were employed. The qualitative data analysis was conducted in two stages: initial coding and focused coding, while the quantitative data analysis was performed using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and MICMAC analysis. The findings revealed 13 determining factors related to the branding of national team athletes. Based on the interpretive structural analysis, the relationships between the factors were categorized into five levels, resulting in a hierarchical relational model. The results indicate that media attractiveness leads to the personal branding of national team athletes, and these athletes need to enhance their level of socialization through lower-level variables in the hierarchy before reaching this stage.
