The Influence of Customer Engagement in Developing Consumer Trust in the Field of Ice Hockey
Rummakko, April-Ann (2024)
2024
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024112730621
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024112730621
Tiivistelmä
In any industry, customers are important for the success of the businesses. It is necessary for business to understand the importance of engaging with customers to establish trust and loyalty. The aim of this study is to identify and evaluate the influence of customer/fan engagement in building trust to JYP Jyväskylä Oy. The author analysed how JYP fans show their support and engage with the team and assessed customers’ perception of JYP Jyväskylä Oy to identify the factors that develop consumer/fan trust.
Before the research period, the author gathered literatures about customer engagement in different industries. In addition, a variety of research about sports, ice hockey and fan engagement has been studied to evaluate if customers’ engagement in different industries and fan engagement in ice hockey are different, or do they express similar behaviours in demonstrating loyalty to the company and contributing factors in building trust.
This thesis was completed in an inductive qualitative approach where the author used a combination of one-to-one interviews and a survey in the form of a questionnaire as the research method. The interviews were conducted with two JYP fans from one of their fanclubs (Rumpuryhmä) to get insight on their experiences as a fan and learn more about their perspectives on JYP players, the team, and the organisation. The data from the survey was collected in a period of seven days, with 39 respondents from non-JYP fans and 61 respondents from JYP fans. The survey helped the author to gather more participants and study the results in real time.
Based on the result of this study, the ice hockey team must communicate effectively with the fans to establish a good relationship with them. Fans are looking for honesty and transparency and they appreciate if the organisation will listen to them and let them be part of the resolution. The result also show that the team’s performance is a big factor for fans in order to be satisfied. They lose interest if the team is constantly underperforming. Fans’ satisfaction leads them to engage more, and when they are always involved it develops loyalty to the team and builds trust in the long run.
Before the research period, the author gathered literatures about customer engagement in different industries. In addition, a variety of research about sports, ice hockey and fan engagement has been studied to evaluate if customers’ engagement in different industries and fan engagement in ice hockey are different, or do they express similar behaviours in demonstrating loyalty to the company and contributing factors in building trust.
This thesis was completed in an inductive qualitative approach where the author used a combination of one-to-one interviews and a survey in the form of a questionnaire as the research method. The interviews were conducted with two JYP fans from one of their fanclubs (Rumpuryhmä) to get insight on their experiences as a fan and learn more about their perspectives on JYP players, the team, and the organisation. The data from the survey was collected in a period of seven days, with 39 respondents from non-JYP fans and 61 respondents from JYP fans. The survey helped the author to gather more participants and study the results in real time.
Based on the result of this study, the ice hockey team must communicate effectively with the fans to establish a good relationship with them. Fans are looking for honesty and transparency and they appreciate if the organisation will listen to them and let them be part of the resolution. The result also show that the team’s performance is a big factor for fans in order to be satisfied. They lose interest if the team is constantly underperforming. Fans’ satisfaction leads them to engage more, and when they are always involved it develops loyalty to the team and builds trust in the long run.