Nkosinamandla Erasmus SHEZI

Validating Brand Personality Dimensions to South African Professional Sport Teams: A Study of Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs Football Clubs

Expert Journal of Marketing
11(2)
pp. 167-180
The Author(s). 2023

Received: February 16, 2023
Accepted: August 29, 2023
Published: October 21, 2023
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is a prominent league in Africa. The best South African soccer teams that play in the domestic Premier Soccer League are from Soweto, namely Kaizer Chiefs F.C. and Orlando Pirates F.C. Both teams have a rich history in their domestic league and have become the most successful and recognisable brands in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to validate the dimensions of brand personality of South African professional sport teams, by using Kaizer Chiefs F.C and Orlando Pirates F.C. as examples. The study employed a quantitative research method. The results of this study produced four factor structures, which include Trustworthiness, Competitiveness, Friendliness and Trendiness. In addition, convergent and discriminant validities were assessed. The model fit indices SRMR, RMSEA, GFI, CFI, IFI, and TLI of the measurement model showed a good fit. Therefore, this instrument is valid and reliable to measure the dimensions of professional sport teams in South Africa. Managers of professional sport teams in South Africa, including all other managers in the PSL, can use this instrument to assess how their teams are perceived by fans and how it differs from other teams. Furthermore, managers from corporate companies interested in offering sponsorships can use this instrument to assess whether a sport team shares similar personality traits. This is the first study undertaken to validate brand personality instruments in order to measure the dimensions of brand personality of professional sport teams for soccer or football in South Africa.
Keywords
JEL Classification M30, M31
Full Article

1. Introduction

South Africa is one of the largest and most popular countries in the world featuring citizens with various cultural backgrounds where the citizens unite through sport (Topend Sports, 2022). The most played and followed sport in South Africa is soccer, rugby, and cricket (Yeros, 2022). Among the big three, football – popularly known as soccer – is the most supported sport in South Africa (Potchefstroom Herald, 2022). In other words, soccer surpasses the other sporting codes when it comes to popularity, viewership, and love for the sport (Africa Trade and Investment Global Summit, 2018).

South Africa has hosted major global events such as the Rugby World Cup in 1995, the African Cup of Nation in 1996 and the FIFA World Cup in 2010 (Topend Sport, 2022). One of the proudest moments of the country was when the Springboks won against the All Blacks in 1995 and when former President Nelson Mandela presented the World Cup to captain Francois Pienaar and the South African Springbok team. With this gesture, South Africans were united in a joyful celebration and racial reconciliation, which melted many hearts around the country (South Africa Tours and travel.com, 2022). Another great moment was when Bafana Bafana defeated Tunisia and won the African Cup of Nations in 1996 (Strydom, 2021). Bafana Bafana made the country proud when the team lifted the African Cup of Nations trophy as the continental champions (Wine II, 2020). In 2010, South Africa was the first country to host a FIFA Soccer World Cup on African soil. The country was painted in different colours from different nations for the love of football. Unfortunately, things did not go well for Bafana Bafana as the team was eliminated early in the tournament. However, this defeat did not dampen the love of football among South African soccer fans as soccer is still the most popular sport in South Africa (Africa Trade and Investment Global Summit, 2018; Yeros, 2022). After the 2010 FIFA World Cup, football continued to be strongly supported by soccer lovers in South Africa, thanks to the Premier Soccer League. The PSL has been responsible for managing the domestic league in the country till date and plays a huge role in keeping soccer alive in South Africa. In addition, the PSL strives to improve soccer conditions in South Africa by offering their services in a modern and entertaining manner.

The business of sport specifically soccer in South Africa has been growing and attracted many companies with lucrative sponsorship deals amounting to R 56 000 000 in 2023 (Sportplus, 2023; Ntloko, 2008; Kwinika, 2014;Soccer Laduma, 2016 and Nkabinde, 2022). The Premier soccer league has been with different sponsors for many years. Previous sponsorship included renowned companies such as Castle, Absa, Coca-Cola, SAA and Telkom (PSL-8, 2023). In PSL, there is a main sponsor for a Premier league such and mini sponsors per season. Having said that, this season of 2023 DSTV is the main sponsor of premier league, while MTN, Nedbank and Carling black label are sub sponsors for mini competitions. Similarly, individuals’ soccer teams competing under PSL have sponsorships injecting financial support in running sport teams operating expenses. Vodacom is a sponsors for both Kaizer chiefs F.C and Orlando pirate F.C (Laduma, 2020). AS mentioned, that many companies have been injecting heavy sponsorship deals to PSL teams and the problem about this sponsorship is that companies are not sure if they sponsor a right team. In other words, is the sponsored sport team sharing similar personality as the company that offered sponsorship. This problem is out of companies control as there is no available and validated scale to measure brand personality dimensions for PSL teams in South Africa. Therefore, this study aims to validate brand personality dimensions to South African professional sport teams. The study will feature only two PSL teams namely: Kaizer Chiefs F.C and Orlando Pirates F.C are because of higher level of team identification in the study. Furthermore, Kaizer Chiefs F.C and Orlando Pirates F.C are the most popular sport team brands with many supporters in PSL (BraggsSport, 2022; The Herald, 2023).

2. The Premier Soccer League (PSL)

The Premier Soccer League (abbreviated as PSL) is the domestic soccer league in South Africa. The league was found in 1996 (Premier Soccer League, 2022) with altogether 18 sport teams as the founding members of the PSL, namely: AmaZulu; Bloemfontein Celtic; Cape Town Spurs; Hellenic; Jomo Cosmos; Kaizer Chiefs; Manning Rangers; Michau Warriors; Moroka Swallows; Orlando Pirates; QwaQwa Stars; Real Rovers; Mamelodi Sundowns; Super Sport United; Umtata Bush Bucks; Vaal Professionals; Witbank Aces; and Wits University (Naik, 2008). The first team to win the PSL title was Mining Rangers in 1997 (Hadebe, 2021). Afterwards, the PSL teams were reduced from 18 to 16 teams by removing Ria Stars and Free State Stars to avoid fixture congestion (PSL, 2022). Since then, the League consists of 16 teams in any given season.

South African teams in the PSL play 30 games (Shezi, 2022) and all PSL teams meet twice per season during home and away games (Mofokeng and Bevan-Dye, 2014). In the PSL, a team is awarded three points for winning a game and one point is given to both teams for a draw (The National Soccer League Handbook, 2022). The PSL is named after the title sponsor DStv and branded as the DStv Premier Soccer League. At the end of the season, one team is awarded with a PSL Title and R15 000 000 for collecting more points than any other PSL team in a season (Soccer Laduma-2, 2022). The other teams receive cash prices allocated per finishing position as presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Prices of DStv premiership in South Africa

Finishing status Price
Runner-up R7,5 million
3rd R3,75 million
4th R2,5 million
5th R1,8 million
6th R1,56 million
7th R1,32 million
8th R1,2 million
9th R885 000
10th R825 000
11th R750 000
12th R690 000
13th R620 000
14th R565 000
15th R495 000
16th R440 000

Source (Gordon, 2021; Lambley, 2021; News24, 2020)

Apart from the main Premier League championship title, PSL teams competes in other domestic competitions during a season, namely: the MTN 8; Nedbank Cup; DStv Compact Cup; and Carling Black Label Cup. MTN 8 offers the biggest price in the domestic cup competition launched in 2008 with a price of R8 000 000 (Ntloko, 2008; Kwinika, 2014). This tournament features eight PSL teams – the top eight from the previous season – and the winner wins the big price (PSL-2, 2022) while the other teams get R800 000 for participating in the competition (SuperSport, 2022). The Nedbank Cup started in 2008, featuring teams from the SAFA Regional League; National First Division; and the Premier Soccer League (Nedbank, 2015; PSL-3, 2022). The winner of the Nedbank Cup receives R7 000 000, while the other teams receive R2500 000 for finishing second, R1000 000 for finishing third; R400 000 for finishing fifth and seventh; R200 000 for finishing eight and sixteenth; R700 000 for finishing seventeenth and thirty-second – all PSL teams receive R250 000 for just participating (Soccer Laduma, 2016). The DStv Compact Cup was launched by the PSL, featuring four regional teams made up of players selected by fans (Piek, 2021). In other words, fans select their favourite players from all 16 PSL teams to be included in their teams. Team participating in the DStv Compact Cup are Coastal United; the Warriors; Dinaledi; and Amabutho (PSL-4, 2022). The winner of the DStv Compact Cup receives R1000 000 (Gleeson, 2021). In 2022,Carling Black Label in partnership with the PSL, announced the Carling Knockout Cup. The Carling Knockout features all 16 PSL teams and each team receive R100 000 per season for participating (Super Sport-2, 2022; Nkabinde, 2022). Among the 16 PSL teams, fans vote for four teams to participate in the semi-finals during a one-day competition of the Carling Knockout Cup and the winner receives R2000 000 (Nkabinde, 2022). The best South African soccer teams that play in the domestic Premier Soccer League are from Soweto, namely is Kaizer Chiefs F.C and Orlando Pirates F.C (Yaros, 2022). These two sport team brands are the biggest rival teams and they attract huge crowds to their matches.

3. Branding

Branding has become a very important activity today and we hardly see anything unbranded (Kolter and Amstrong, 2017). Branding refers to all the activities performed to differentiate a product or a service from its competitors by giving it a recognisable identity and building the right associations with the brand so that it is relevant and different from competing products in the mind of consumers (Wiid et al., 2020). The purpose of branding is to identify a brand and to differentiate it from other similar competing brands (Wiid et al., 2020). Branding is defined as a name, term, symbol, design, or a combination of these that identifies a seller’s product and differentiates them from competitors (Lamb et al., 2015:280). A brand name or term is the part that can be vocalised, such as Vodacom, while a brand mark, symbol or design is the part that can be recognised by customers (Cunningham, 2018).

A professional sport team’s name and logo differentiate the team from other teams. For example, Orland pirates F.C. is the name of the team and the crossed wrist bones with a skulk on top is the symbol or a logo of the team. Similarly, Kaizer Chiefs F.C. is the name of the brand with the face of a person with dreadlocks as the logo of the team – the name and logo are combined. Therefore, any professional sport team is a brand and must be managed like any other brand. Branding allows marketers to differentiate a product/team from another competing brands, and it increases preferences among consumers and ensures easy identification (Lamb et al., 2013; Lamb et al., 2015). Jooste et al. (2012) emphasised that branding has the ability to give a brand a personality.

4. Brand Personality

Brand personality refers to brand characters in the mind of consumers (Cunningham, 2021). Aaker (1997) formally defined “brand personality as a set of human characteristics assigned to a brand”. In other words, a brand is treated like a human being and given human characteristics. For example, Jeep is perceived as a tough and outdoorsy automotive brand (Carlson et al., 2009). This could be because of individuals’ experience of Jeep – to enjoy outdoor activities such as camping – and general brand perceptions based on the structure of the brand, while BMW is perceived as sophisticated and charming (Carlson et al., 2009). Again, this could be individuals’ experience of the brand status and perceiving it as an attractive brand in their society. A brand with a strong personality has a better chance of surviving in the market. Clearly, brand personality plays a huge role in marketing communication activities and the positioning of a brand. It is therefore important for marketers to understand the concept of brand personality.

Braustein and Ross (2010) emphasized that brand personality is an important idea for business managers to comprehend in order to successfully market and position their brands in the market. This message is also applicable to sports team manager including PSL managers. Using brand personality to position a brand may create a good relationship between the brand and targeted consumers (Louis and Lombart, 2010). Positioning a brand using its brand personality can be useful to enter a new market easily (Akin, 2011). As such, managers of the business must always strive to create and maintain brand personality that is relevant to the market. Diamantopoulos et al., (2005) highlighted that brand personality has power to allows brand managers to introduce brand extensions. Correspondingly, consumers use brand personality to assess new products of the brand to judge the quality and dependability (Ferguson et al., 2016:344). Subsequently, consumers will be convinced to try a new brand extension and willing to pay premium prices (Farhat and Khan, 2011). This will be welcomed by brand managers planning to introduce brand extension as part of the growth strategy for their businesses (Diamantopoulos et al., 2005).

Establishing a positive brand personality will enhance brand preferences and influence purchasing behavior among customers (Punyatoya, 2012:4). This emphasizes that a brand must pose a personality. Brand personality may play an instrumental role to shape consumers’ brand preferences (Banerjee, 2016). As a results, brand personality influences consumers positively regarding brand preference (Kim et al., 2015). Vahdati et al. (2016) highlighted that when brand personality is in accordance with consumers’ desire, then consumer’s intention to buy the brand will increase. In similar way, consumers’ purchasing intentions are higher on brands that reflect a favourable brand personality compared to other brands (Wang et al., 2009). Brand personality boosts the communication strategies of a business to the targeted market (Su and Tong (2015). Consequently, brand personality has power to differentiate a brand from major competitors. Lada and Sidin (2012:2) emphasise that each brand has its own brand personality characteristics and makes it unique in the market. For example, a sport brand such as Nike is perceived by consumers to be more competitive, trendy, sincere and exciting than its major competitor sport brand Adidas perceived by consumers as intelligent, friendly, charming and spirited (Chandel and Tewari, 2015; Su and Tong, 2015). Therefore, it is important for all sport team brands to use the concept of brand personality to gain more understanding on how fans perceive their brand (Heere, 2010).

4.1. Brand Personality in Sport

A professional sport team’s brand should have a distinct personality (Tsiostou, 2012). For example, PSL teams create their own personality – Kaizer Chiefs is perceived as a hard-working, successful and reliable team (PSL-7, 2015; Fletcher, 2010). These perceptions are derived from the competitiveness of a sport team such as the skill to win and achieve its goals (Tsiostou, 2012). A brand personality can be very useful for a sport team in order to differentiate them from other teams (Carlson and Donavan, 2009; Braunstein and Ross, 2010; Schade et al., 2014). Roudbari et al. (2016) highlighted that the brand personality of a sport team has the ability to increase trust among fans. Furthermore, brand personality of a sport team attracts sponsors (Tsiotsou, 2012). The marketers of the PSL sport teams are advised to use brand personality to measure perceptions to differentiate and position their sport teams better than other competing sport teams. Therefore, the objective of this study is to validate brand personality dimensions of South African professional sport teams, with a specific focus on Kaizer Chiefs F.C. and Orlando Pirated F.C.

5. Methodology

In this study, a descriptive research design and quantitative research method were employed to achieve its objectives to validate the brand personality dimensions of professional South African sport teams, that is, Orlando Pirates F.C and Kaizer Chiefs F.C.

5.1. Research Context

Orlando Pirates F.C. Orlando Pirates is a South African professional football club competing in the Premier Soccer League in South Africa. The club was established in 1937 in Orlando, Soweto in Gauteng (Itolondo, 2022; Yates, 2020). Currently, the headquarters of the team is based in Houghton, Johannesburg (Lusha, 2022). The Orlando Stadium is Orlando Pirates F.C.’s home ground stadium (Itolondo, 2022). The team is popularly known as Pirates, Amabhakabhaka, The Sea Robbers, Bucs, Happy People, Buccaneers, Ezikamagebhula Ezagebhula Umhlaba Kamaspala Zawubhekisa Phezulu and Ezimnyama Ngenkani (Itolondo, 2022).The team has become one of the most recognisable and successful brands in the country. The most prominent achievement of the team was when they won the CAF Champions League in 1995 (Sehloho, 2021). The following year, the team won the CAF Super Cup (CAF, 2022; Lagger, 2022). Orlando Pirates managed to win its first domestic title in 2000 after the introduction of the professional domestic league as PSL in 1996 (SoccerWay, 2022). The team has been consistent in competing in the PSL and managed to register its name to PSL titles four times – 2003; 2011 and 2012 after the first title in 2000 (SoccerWay, 2022; Orlando Pirates, 2022). The successes of the team include other domestic competitions such the Nedbank CUP; the MTN 8; and the Telkom Knockout. The football history of the PSL indicates that the team won the Nedbank Cup twice – in 2011 and 2014 (PSL-5, 2022). The trophy cabinet of Orlando Pirates shows that the team managed to register its name at the MTN 8 for four times and once for the Telkom Knockout (Orlando Pirates, 2022). The team has striven to make a mark in the PSL and on the African continent for football recognitions. Therefore, Orlando Pirates F.C. can be declared as one of the most successful teams in South Africa and on the African continent.

Kaizer Chiefs F.C. Kaizer Chiefs F.C. is a South African professional football club competing in the domestic premier league in South Africa. The team was established in 1970 and is the most popular team among the biggest teams in South Africa (Ditlhobolo, 2021). Soccer fans call the team Amakhosi; Pefeni Boys; The Glamour Boys; Abafana Bokthula Noxolo; Love and Peace; and Impofu. The Amakhosi team is located in Johannesburg South in Naturena (Blignaut and Mueni, 2022). Kaizer Chiefs is using Soccer City or the FNB stadium as their home ground stadium (Khairi, 2022). Kaizer Chiefs is known for its status as the most successful team in South Africa because of their trophy collection of 55 trophies (Lagger, 2022). The collection of titles includes four PSL titles (Morgan, 2015). The team won their first PSL title in 2004, and a second time in 2005 as a back-to-back game (SoccerWay, 2022). Their other PSL victories were in 2012 and 2015 (Morgan, 2015; SoccerWay, 2022). Kaizer Chiefs competed successfully in domestic competitions as the team managed to win the Nedbank Cup; the MTN 8 and the Telkom Knockout. The Nedbank Cup has been registered once under the name of the team in the 2013 season, while they recorded two victories for MNT 8 (PSL-6, 2022). Three victories were recorded for the Telkom Knockout under the name of Kaizer Chiefs (Goal, 2022). The records speak for themselves. Therefore, the success of the team is very colourful and proves that Kaizer Chiefs is one of the biggest and most successful brands in the country (Ditlhobolo, 2021).

5.2 Research Design and Method

Considering the descriptive research design and quantitative research method,to achieve objectives of this study followings steps were followed.

Step 1: Focus group: Identifying personality traits. 12 students were invited from the target population.

Step 2: Secondary data: reviewing literature and analysing website to identify additional trait relevant to sport teams. Existing scales and sport team websites were used as secondary data to generate more traits.

Step 3: Focus group; reducing traits identified from Step 1 and Step 2. Six panel of experts from marketing; Psychology; business management, sport management and Languages were invited to reduce generated traits from (Step 1 and Step 2) to a manageable number. Their task was to remove irrelevant, redundant, and ambiguous traits.

Step 4: Survey developing a scale. During this stage participants were asked to evaluate how descriptive each brand personality traits are for their favorite South African professional sport team brands. There were 15 items from the scale namely: Adaptable; Creative; Fun; Outdoorsy; Stylish; Adventurous; Determined; Genuine; Passionate; Successful; Ambitious; Energetic; Humble; Professional; Talented; Athletic; Entertaining; Independent; Progressive; Tough; Attractive; Ethical; Innovative; Reliable; Trendy; Bold; Exciting; Inspirational; Respectful; Trustworthy; Cheerful; Extrovert; Intelligent; Self-motivated; Unique; Competitive; Family oriented; Masculine; Sincere; Up-to-date; Confident; Famous; Open-minded; Sociable; Winners; Cool; Fighting spirit; Opportunistic; Solid; Young; Corporate; Friendly; Original and Strategic. A non-probability and convenience sampling technique was used in Step 4. Participants in this study were 600 in total. Such population is adequate for the type of data analysis conducted in this Step to achieve the objective of developing brand personality trait scale for South African professional sport teams. The participants of the study were Generation Y students enrolled at one traditional university as well as a university of technology in South Africa within the Gauteng Province. After the survey only 15 items were retained in the list namely: Trustworthy; Respectful; Sincere; reliable; Competitive; Confident; Ambitious; Determined; Fun; Entertaining; Friendly; Exciting; Trendy; Famous and Stylish and were presented in Step 5 for scale validation.

Step 5: Validating a scale to South African professional sport teams (Soccer). A non-probability and convenience sampling technique was used in this study. During this stage participants were asked to evaluate how descriptive each of the brand personality traits are for their favorite South African professional sport team brands. There were 15 items from the scale namely: Trustworthy; Respectful; Sincere; reliable; Competitive; Confident; Ambitious; Determined; Fun; Entertaining; Friendly; Exciting; Trendy; Famous and Stylish. Participants in this Step were 300 in total. Such population is adequate for the type of data analysis conducted in this Step to achieve objective of the study validating brand personality dimensions to the South African professional sport teams (Soccer). The participants of the study were Generation Y students enrolled at one traditional university as well as a university of technology in South Africa within the Gauteng Province.

A questionnaire of self-administered questions was used in (Step 4 and Step 5) to collect the required data to achieve the objectives of the study. The questionnaire contained three sections, namely section A, section B and section C. Section A covered the demographic information of the participants, section B covered questions about sports interest and section C included brand personality traits to be used in rating the Professional sport team (Step 4) and Soccer sport team (Step 5) identified as a favourite sport teams by participants. Items for scale measurement in the questionnaire had four constructs (Trustworthiness, Competitiveness, Friendliness and Trendiness). Participants rated each item within all constructs using a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 7 (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). The statistical program of IBM SPSS version 27 for Microsoft Windows and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) Version 27 was employed to analyse the collected data for this study. Profile respondents for this study is presented in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Presentation of Profile respondents.

Profile of respondents Step 4 (N=600) Step 5 (N=300)
Province of origin:
Gender:
Ethnic group:
Mother tongue language
Age

The table above presented information about respondents’ demographics. In step 4: respondents were asked to evaluate how descriptive each brand personality traits are for their favorite South African professional sport team brands. There were 54 items from the scale namely: Adaptable; Creative; Fun; Outdoorsy; Stylish; Adventurous; Determined; Genuine; Passionate; Successful; Ambitious; Energetic; Humble; Professional; Talented; Athletic; Entertaining; Independent; Progressive; Tough; Attractive; Ethical; Innovative; Reliable; Trendy; Bold; Exciting; Inspirational; Respectful; Trustworthy; Cheerful; Extrovert; Intelligent; Self-motivated; Unique; Competitive; Family oriented; Masculine; Sincere; Up-to-date; Confident; Famous; Open-minded; Sociable; Winners; Cool; Fighting spirit; Opportunistic; Solid; Young; Corporate; Friendly; Original and Strategic. The 54 items were reduced to 15 items (Trustworthy; Respectful; Sincere; reliable; Competitive; Confident; Ambitious; Determined; Fun; Entertaining; Friendly; Exciting; Trendy; Famous and Stylish) to be used in Step 5 for scale validation. Thereafter, Step 5 followed: during this stage participants were asked to evaluate how descriptive each brand personality traits are for their favorite South African professional sport team brands. There were 15 items from the scale namely: Trustworthy; Respectful; Sincere; reliable; Competitive; Confident; Ambitious; Determined; Fun; Entertaining; Friendly; Exciting; Trendy; Famous and Stylish.

6. Results

A Structure of four factors which include Trustworthiness-4 items (Trustworthy, Sincere, Respectful and Reliable); Tompetitiveness-4items (Competitive, Confident, Ambitious and Determined); Friendliness-3 items (Fun, Friendly and Entertaining); and Trendiness-3 items (Trendy, Famous and Stylish)was extracted based on an assessment of the scree plot that explained 65.189% of the variance. Some items exhibited a factor loading below 0.6. and cross-loading were deleted. A correlation analysis was conducted to measure the linear relationship between variables before testing causality through multivariate regression analysis. As shown in the correlation matrix table (Table 3), a positive relationship exists between each pair of variables after determining direction tested in this study, providing support to the measurement theory's nomological validity (Hair et al., 2010; Malhotra, 2010). Therefore, there is no multicollinearity because none of the coefficients were greater than 0.90.

Table 3: Reliability and validity for Kaizer Chiefs F.C.

Factors Cronbach’s alpha (>0.7) CR (>0.7) AVE AVE squared F1 F2 F3 F4
F1 – Trustworthiness 0.84 0.80 0.50 0.71 1      
F2 - Competitiveness 0.85 0.80 0.50 0.71 0.68 1    
F3 – Friendliness 0.84 0.75 0.50 0.71 0.64 0.68 1  
F4 – Trendiness 0.76 0.75 0.50 0.71 0.52 0.71 0.72 1

The Cronbach’s alpha values were calculated to assess the reliability of internal consistency for Kaizer Chiefs. All constructs met the minimum threshold above 0.6, (trustworthiness: 0.84; competitiveness: 0.85; friendliness: 0.84; and trendiness: 0.76), which suggested a reliable internal consistency (Malhotra, 2010) as presented in Table 2. In addition, Table 3 provides evidence that the dimensions of brand personality are reliable as all the CR values are above the 0.70 threshold (Hair et al., 2011).

The convergent validity can be declared as all the AVE values are above the recommended 0.50 thresholds as suggested by Malhotra (2010). The correlation coefficients suggest discriminant validity if the values are smaller than the square root of the AVE per construct. There are minor discriminant validity concerns between the trendiness and friendliness dimensions for Kaizer Chiefs. However, all the other dimensions show acceptable results and discriminant validity could be assumed. Furthermore, all these dimensions showed acceptable factor loadings presented in Table 3. Therefore, the conclusion was made that the dimensions of brand personality show acceptable reliability, convergent validity, and sufficient discriminant validity for Kaizer Chiefs.

Table 4: Reliability and validity for Orlando Pirates F.C.

Factors Cronbach’s alpha CR AVE AVE squared F1 F2 F3 F4
F1 – Trustworthiness 0.90 0.80 0.50 0.71 1      
F2 – Competitiveness 0.92 0.80 0.50 0.71 0.69 1    
F3 – Friendliness 0.86 0.75 0.50 0.71 0.79 0.70 1  
F4 – Trendiness 0.82 0.75 0.50 0.71 0.57 0.60 0.78 1

The Cronbach’s alpha values were calculated to assess the reliability of internal consistency. All constructs met the minimum threshold above 0.6, (trustworthiness: 0.90; competitiveness: 0.92; friendliness: 0.86; and trendiness: 0.82). which suggested a reliable internal consistency (Malhotra, 2010, p.319) as presented in Table 3. In addition, Table 4 provides evidence that the STBP-trait scale is reliable as all the CR values are above the 0.70 threshold (Hair et al., 2011). The convergent validity can be declared as all the AVE values are above the recommended 0.50 thresholds as suggested by Malhotra (2010). The correlation coefficients suggest discriminant validity if the values are smaller than the square root of the AVE per construct. There are minor discriminant validity concerns with friendliness and trustworthiness for Orlando Pirates. However, all the other dimensions show acceptable results and discriminant validity could be assumed. In addition, all these dimensions exhibited acceptable factor loadings presented in Table 5. Therefore, the conclusion was made that the dimensions of brand personality display acceptable reliability, convergent validity, and sufficient discriminant validity for Orlando Pirates.

Table 5: Standardised coefficients of the measurement model

Latent factors     Kaizer Chiefs Orlando Pirates
Constructs Indicators Factor loadings Error variance Factor loadings Error variance
F1 Trustworthiness Trustworthy 0.762 0.581 0.756 0.571
Respectful 0.745 0.554 0.771 0.594
Reliable 0.748 0.559 0.781 0.609
Sincere 0.741 0.549 0.805 0.648
F2 Competitiveness Ambitious 0.793 0.629 0.822 0.676
Competitive 0.731 0.534 0.748 0.56
Confident 0.702 0.493 0.867 0.752
Determined 0.766 0.587 0.847 0.717
F3 Friendliness Fun 0.833 0.694 0.656 0.431
Entertaining 0.854 0.73 0.733 0.537
Friendly 0.715 0.511 0.694 0.482
F4 Trendiness Trendy 0.768 0.59 0.732 0.537
Famous 0.658 0.433 0.708 0.502
Stylish 0.674 0.454 0.533 0.284

To evaluate the model the researcher can use many goodness of fit indices. Hair et al. (2014) categorised goodness-of-fit into three categories namely: absolute fit indices; incremental fit indices and parsimony fit indices. The fist category absolute fit indices include the goodness-of-fit index (GFI), Absolute fit indices (Badness-of-fit/Chi Square), Standardise root mean residual (SRMR) and Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Secondly, incremental fit indices which include normed fit index (NFI), Tucker Lewis index (TLI), Comparative fit index (CFI) and relative non-centrality index (RNI). The last category is parsimony fit indices, which include adjusted goodness-of-fit (AGFI) and parsimony normed fit index (PFNI). Malhotra (2010:732-733) suggested threshold values required during the assessing of the goodness of-fit-indices as presented in Table 6.

Table 6: Goodness-of-fit indices and recommended values

  Measure Description Recommended value
Absolute fit indices
(Goodness-of-fit) 		GFI Goodness-of-fit ≥ 0.90
Absolute fit indices
(Badness-of-fit) 		X2 Chi-square p ≥ 0.05
SRMR Standardise root mean residual ≤ 0.08
RMSEA Root mean square error of approximation ≤ 0.08
Incremental fit indices
(Goodness-of-fit) 		CFI Comparative fit index ≥ 0.90
TLI Tucker Lewis index ≥ 0.90
RNI Relative non-centrality index ≥ 0.90
Source: Malhotra (2010)

As mentioned, that there are many goodness of fit indices that a researcher can use to evaluate the model. For the purpose of this study, the model was evaluated by root mean square residual (RMSR); root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA); goodness-of-fit (GFI); comparative fit index (CFI); incremental Fit index (IFI) and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI). The results are presented in Table 7.

Table 7: Model fit indices

  Kaizer Chiefs Orlando Pirates
SRMR 0.0525 0.0577
RMSEA 0.073 0.079
GFI 0.914 0.907
CFI 0.943 0.941
IFI 0.944 0.942
TLI 0.926 0.921

After the model fit was assessed, all the model fit indices revealed a satisfactory fit in the measurement model for both professional sport teams namely, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates – as presented in Table 6. Therefore, the conclusion can be made that the brand personality dimensions show acceptable reliability and acceptable model fit for Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.

7. Discussion and Conclusions

7.1. Results discussions

The objective of the study was to validate brand personality dimensions to South African professional sport teams. The brand personality7 dimensions were validated to two PSL teams namely Kaizer Chiefs F.C and Orlando Pirates F.C. These two teams were selected based on higher level of team identification in the study. In addition, Kaizer Chiefs F.C and Orlando Pirates F.C are the most sport team brands with many supporters in PSL (BraggsSport, 2022; The Herald, 2023).

A model fit was carried out again to determine the reliability and validity of the brand personality dimensions. The model fit indices demonstrated to be satisfactory both sport team brands as presented in Table. In addition, there was evidence of composite reliability, convergent reliability and discriminant validity. Therefore, the conclusion was made that the brand personality dimensions to measure PSL teams are acceptable, reliable and valid as presented in Figure 1.

This study contributes to the death literature in South Africa regarding brand personality specifically on professional sport team brands. This was achieved by validating the dimensions of brand personality for PSL teams in South Africa successfully. The study produced four brand personality dimensions namely Trustworthiness, Competitiveness, Friendliness and Trendiness as presented in Figure 1. This study is useful for general marketers and sport marketers to understand consumer perceptions regarding brand personality of sport teams in South Africa. Trustworthiness of a sport team is created by expressing trust, obeying sport ethics of fair play, sticking to its code of conduct and confidence of the team in the field of play. The competitiveness of a sport team is created by winning many games over its competitors’ and being successful by winning Championship in a season. The friendliness of a sport team is created by a team’s willingness to engage with its fans more frequently. The trendiness of a sport team is created by means of a stylish team jersey and creative skills in the field.

Figure 1: PSL Brand Personality (BP) Dimensions

7.2. Recommendations and Managerial Implications. Limitations

The validated brand personality dimensions can be used by PSL teams to measure consumer perceptions regarding the brand personality of sport team brands by fans. The results may then be used to guide and alter future marketing strategies of sport team brands. As a result, sport team managers will be able to differentiate and position sport teams better than major competitors. Thereafter, the efforts of sport team marketing will increase more accurately. In the same way, the validated brand personality dimensions can be used by sponsors to identify sport teams sharing a similar brand personality with their brands. In other words, these four dimensions of brand personality are not only beneficial for PSL sport teams, but also for companies proposing to offer sponsorship deals to specific PSL sport teams.

Companies are interested in sports teams sharing the same personality for sponsorship deals. Therefore, companies interested in sponsorship to PSL teams, specifically Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, must compare their personality traits with the perceived brand personality traits of each sport team. If there is match of personality for a company as a sponsor and the team, then there may be a perfect match for sponsorship. It is important for the current sponsors of the Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates such as Vodacom; Carling Black Label; Nike, and Adidas to evaluate the identified personality traits of both PSL teams to see if they fit or match the personality traits of their companies.

A quantitative method was used in this study. Other methods like a qualitative or mixed method can be used as well. In addition, this study used professional sport teams within the category of soccer only. Other sporting codes such as rugby, cricket, basketball, and netball must be included in future studies. In addition, the population from other provinces must be included or South Africa as whole.

7.3. Conclusion

The aim of this study was to validate the dimensions of brand personality amongst two South African professional sport teams, also called the “Soweto Giants”, namely Orlando Pirates F.C. and Kaizer Chiefs F.C. The dimensions trustworthiness, competitiveness, friendliness, and trendiness were assessed for reliability, nomological validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity and they produced acceptable results. In addition, SEM for CFA was assessed for model fit and all fit indices, SRMR, RMSEA, GFI, CFI, IFI, and TLI, produced positive results indicting an acceptable and good model fit for the study. Therefore, the results of this study confirmed that dimensions of brand personality are valid to measure brand personality of two South African professional sport teams, which were Orlando Pirates F.C. and Kaizer Chiefs F.C. Sport team managers of both sport teams are advised to use these dimensions of brand personality perceptions of their teams. In doing so, they will be able to improve the marketing activities of their sport teams. Eventually, team identification will increase and they will be able to attract lucrative sponsorship deals. Companies who have sponsorship deals are interested in professional sport teams showing similar personality traits to their companies. Companies interested in sponsorship deals are advised to assess the brand personality of the sport team they are interested in to see if it matches the brand personality of the company before finalising a sponsorship deal. This will prevent damages to the company’s image if the brand personality of the team does not match the brand personality of the company. Even other professional soccer teams that are not part of this study can use these dimensions to assess the brand personality of their sport teams. In doing so, they will understand how their teams are perceived by their fans and will be able to identify traits applicable for the marketing strategies of their professional sport teams. In addition, they will be able to build strong team character for better perception to increase team identification and attract sponsors.

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Acknowledgements: The author acknowledge all the supports received from participants and colleagues.

Funding: There was no external funding received for this research.

Conflicts of Interest: None.

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Nkosinamandla Erasmus SHEZI, University of South Africa, - Department of Marketing and Retail Management, South Africa, ORCID: 0000-0003-3070-8969
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Nkosinamandla Erasmus SHEZI
University of South Africa, South Africa, ORCID: 0000-0003-3070-8969
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