The Development of Brand Loyalty within Online Motorsport Brand Communities

Abstract: The use of online brand communities and its effect on brand loyalty has been heavily researched in previous studies. However, online brand communities in the context of motorsport, which is inherently different from other sports, has not been thoroughly researched previously and currently remains unknown. The study aims to understand how motorsport followers become brand loyal within their brand communities and if their identification with the brand has an influence on the process. The following research questions were developed to find these answers: RQ1: "How does involvement in online brand communities affect brand loyalty among motorsport fans?" RQ2: "How do online brand communities influence brand identification for motorsport enthusiasts?" RQ3: "How does member participation in online brand communities contribute to the connection between online brand communities and brand loyalty in motorsport?" A quantitative research design was followed, using a survey with questions developed based on previous research. The final sample size was 403 after the data was cleaned. The findings from the survey suggest that concepts such as brand community engagement had a direct effect on the development of brand loyalty. Other findings also showed that brand identification had a mediating role between certain brand community belonging characteristics and brand loyalty. Additionally, the study found that brand community participation had no moderating effect between brand community belonging characteristics and brand loyalty, however did have a direct link between brand identification and brand loyalty. Further research includes testing the study’s model in other brand communities within the motorsport context to provide more information into this unknown field of sport and its members.