Designing a Qualitative Model of Doping Phenomenon Effect on Sport Marketing in Iran

Abstract

There a number of factors effecting consumers' purchase behavior. It is believed that celebrities can effect selling positively by transferring their popular image to the endorsed product. But, it is heard lots about excommunicate behaviors in the sport world today. Disclosure of the recent doping affairs relating to Lance Armstrong's seven wins in Tour De France is just one among many spectacular and also negative cases. The main aim of the present paper was to explore the effect of doping phenomenon on sport marketing. Depth interviews data were analyzed in three phases: open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. 297 open codes were achieved by 18 interviews. Grouping axial codes in each case and comparing, all gained codes can be divided in five groups: brand image (athlete and endorsed product brands images), moral reasoning (moral coupling, moral decoupling, and moral rationalization), consumer behavioral consequences (word of mouth, purchasing intention, and brand loyalty), attitude change (attitudes change toward athlete and brand), and moral emotions (moral evaluation, contempt, anger, disgust, and sympathy). The proposed qualitative model for the effect of doping phenomenon on sport marketing in Iran illustrated that moral emotions and product brand image affected by the doped athlete brand image and it resulted in attitudes change toward endorser athlete and endorsed brand and negative consumer behavioral consequences, however, moral reasoning strategies emerged by cognitive dissonance might protect consumers behavior from negative effects.