Understanding Fans Loyalty in Brazilian Soccer
No other cultural phenomenon appears to represent the ‘Brazilian Soul’ better than soccer. Due to its popularity, soccer can be seen as part of the national identity. People in general are very proud of the FIFA World Cup that was won five times by the national team. Independently of gender, religion, ethnicity or social class, most Brazilians are encouraged to adopt one soccer team as part of their own identity. During childhood, people are influenced to choose a team to support according to their parents commitment. Parents try to influence their children’s preference exalting the glories of their preferred teams, depreciating the adversaries’ success or dressing themselves and the children with the teams’ colors. Identification with a sports team resembles two marketing subjects: brand image and brand loyalty. Brand image refers to the cumulative associations about a product in customers’ imaginary (Bauer, Sauer & Exler, 2008). Brand attributes like sincerity, sophisticateon, competence, excitement and ruggedess, presented in brand personality (Aaker, 1997) can also be seen in team symbols. Brand loyalty presumes a deep commitment to buy the same brand (Oliver, 1999; Bell, Auh & Smalley, 2005).
