Residents and Sport City Branding Processes of Finnish Municipalities: Current perceptions and Roles
Turunen, Sara (2025)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025060319593
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025060319593
Tiivistelmä
Sport city branding is a sub-category of city branding that is an important part of city strategies due to the role of branding in attracting residents, tourists, enterprises, and funding. Sport can act as a unique and versatile method to brand a city. Most of the framework around sport city branding considers destination branding. However, residents can be seen as an integral part of the city and all its processes.
There is a lack of research on the roles and influence of residents in sport city branding processes. In Finland, the responsibility of sport is increasingly more in the hands of municipalities. Finnish municipalities are also facing challenges with migration from smaller to larger cities. 18 municipalities in Finland called for data on the perceptions of their residents regarding the current state of their municipality’s sport city brand. The objective of the study was to discover the residents’ perceptions and discuss them in relation to their roles in sport branding processes in Finnish municipalities.
The data was collected through a Webropol survey that was completed together with the thesis commissioner North Sport Consulting Co. (NSC). The survey included quantitative and qualitative questions. Each participating municipality oversaw distributing the survey themselves. There were 2019 answers in total.
The data was analyzed using mixed methods. Quantitative data was analyzed using the Webropol tool as well as statistical testing. Qualitative data was analyzed with text mining and Thematic Analysis (TA).
The results reported that the residents recognize importance in sport within their municipality. The residents’ perceptions were connected to how appealing they rated their municipality. The residents also recognized the importance of accurate and representative branding that was often seen as misrepresented. Additionally, the residents recognized the local efforts. Successes in sport branding were seen when the brand was perceived as accurate, visible, and inclusive. The results were discussed in relation to the existing body of research to justify and create suggestions for municipality leaders to build sport city brands in the future.
There were possible limitations considering the reliability of an online survey or misinterpretations of the terms branding and image. It could not be ensured that each participant understood the concepts similar-ly or that the survey reached a sufficient audience. There is a need for further municipality- or city-specific case research on the topic to build a solid framework around the topic.
There is a lack of research on the roles and influence of residents in sport city branding processes. In Finland, the responsibility of sport is increasingly more in the hands of municipalities. Finnish municipalities are also facing challenges with migration from smaller to larger cities. 18 municipalities in Finland called for data on the perceptions of their residents regarding the current state of their municipality’s sport city brand. The objective of the study was to discover the residents’ perceptions and discuss them in relation to their roles in sport branding processes in Finnish municipalities.
The data was collected through a Webropol survey that was completed together with the thesis commissioner North Sport Consulting Co. (NSC). The survey included quantitative and qualitative questions. Each participating municipality oversaw distributing the survey themselves. There were 2019 answers in total.
The data was analyzed using mixed methods. Quantitative data was analyzed using the Webropol tool as well as statistical testing. Qualitative data was analyzed with text mining and Thematic Analysis (TA).
The results reported that the residents recognize importance in sport within their municipality. The residents’ perceptions were connected to how appealing they rated their municipality. The residents also recognized the importance of accurate and representative branding that was often seen as misrepresented. Additionally, the residents recognized the local efforts. Successes in sport branding were seen when the brand was perceived as accurate, visible, and inclusive. The results were discussed in relation to the existing body of research to justify and create suggestions for municipality leaders to build sport city brands in the future.
There were possible limitations considering the reliability of an online survey or misinterpretations of the terms branding and image. It could not be ensured that each participant understood the concepts similar-ly or that the survey reached a sufficient audience. There is a need for further municipality- or city-specific case research on the topic to build a solid framework around the topic.