In the spring of 2020, I completed my Strategic Communication, M.A. from High Point University, focusing on social media and sports marketing. During my studies, I was tasked with conducting interesting and relevant research that could be used to develop a thesis. I chose to be the first researcher ever to examine the concept of a fluid fan and whether sports marketers should feel the need to address their unique demographic. A fluid fan is a sports fan who follows players instead of teams and exhibits different motivations for their team affiliations than that of a traditional, passionate fan who would be influenced by hometown or family draws.
My findings indicated that not only does the fluid fan category exist, but a large motivation for fluid fans to switch team affiliations lies within the use of social media. This shows that it is vital for teams and athletes to have relevant and attractive content available for the public to continue to draw numbers and increase profits. While this is a new concept that needs to be examined further, it is evidence that content creators are becoming more important than ever for marketers to not only draw in new crowds, but to also retain and grow their current consumers as well.
My research is now being turned into a full dissertation to complete my Doctorate of Business Administration. If this topic sounds interesting, you can read my entire report by clicking below.
