IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aac/ijirss/v8y2025i1p1631-1638id4711.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Causal relationship between athlete branding communication and social media communication process and value added of sports industry in Thailand

Author

Listed:
  • Jutarat Ritnuang

Abstract

This research aimed to develop a model of the relationship between sports athlete branding communication, the social media communication process, and the value added to the sports industry in Thailand. This research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative methodology was used to test the cause-and-effect relationship between sports athlete branding communication, the social media communication process, and the value added to the sports industry in Thailand. Data were collected using questionnaires from 209 Thai individuals with experience in watching sports competitions in Thailand. Qualitative methodology was conducted using phenomenological methods from in-depth interviews, and the results of these interviews were confirmed by holding focus groups with three marketing communication and branding experts and two sports communication academics. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results of the research hypotheses indicated that 1) athlete branding communication has a direct effect on the value added to the sports industry in Thailand and an indirect effect on the value added to the sports industry in Thailand through the social media communication process, 2) athlete branding communication has a direct effect on the social media communication process, and 3) the social media communication process has a direct effect on the value added to the sports industry in Thailand. The analysis found that the hypothesized model was consistent with the empirical data and met the criteria with a χ2 value of 28.85, a p-value of 0.09, a χ2/df value of 1.44, a GFI value of 0.95, an AGFI value of 0.90, and an RMSEA value of 0.05. The benefits of this research can explain the causal relationship between athlete branding communication, the social media communication process, and the value added to the sports industry in Thailand. The results of the study can be used to manage sports communication in Thailand, leading to sustainable performance for the sports industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Jutarat Ritnuang, 2025. "Causal relationship between athlete branding communication and social media communication process and value added of sports industry in Thailand," International Journal of Innovative Research and Scientific Studies, Innovative Research Publishing, vol. 8(1), pages 1631-1638.
    • Handle: RePEc:aac:ijirss:v:8:y:2025:i:1:p:1631-1638:id:4711
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ijirss.com/index.php/ijirss/article/view/4711/707
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aac:ijirss:v:8:y:2025:i:1:p:1631-1638:id:4711. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Natalie Jean (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://ijirss.com/index.php/ijirss/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.