A Post-Pandemic Exploration of International Student-Athlete Personal Branding and Fan Interaction via Social Media

The population of international student-athletes (ISAs) at the collegiate level has dramatically impacted the sporting landscape in North America. Whereas a passionate group of fans is vital to the success of a sports team, the development of that athlete–fan relationship has grown due to the increa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe American behavioral scientist (Beverly Hills) Vol. 67; no. 11; pp. 1322 - 1339
Main Authors Jara Pazmino, E. Su, Pack, Simon M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2023
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Athletes
Brands
Foreign students
Mass media effects
Mass media images
Pandemics
Personal brand
Regulation
Social media
Social networks
Social perception
Sports
Sports fans
international student-athletes
social media
intercollegiate athletics
branding
fan interaction
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Summary:The population of international student-athletes (ISAs) at the collegiate level has dramatically impacted the sporting landscape in North America. Whereas a passionate group of fans is vital to the success of a sports team, the development of that athlete–fan relationship has grown due to the increased media attention on athlete personal branding and social media presence. The present study explores ISAs’ perceptions of social media use for personal branding, the challenges they face, and the extent to which they interact with fans through social media in a post-pandemic context. Athletes have pivoted more recently from personal appearances and other face-to-face interactions to more virtual means of interacting with fans. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with ISAs from various sports within Divisions I and II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Four main themes emerged: (1) social media consumption versus content creation, (2) effects of name, image, and likeness regulations, (3) personal brand building on social media, and (4) fan interaction on social media for ISAs. The study aims to inform various collegiate athletics stakeholders on the potential value of ISAs’ personal branding for fan interaction and how this has been impacted by current name, image, and likeness restrictions.
ISSN:0002-7642
1552-3381
DOI:10.1177/00027642221118289