Social Media and Fan Base: An Evaluation into the Effectiveness of Social Media in Cricket

Social media is not only used for chatting or interacting with friends and family members from the different parts of the world but in the present times it is seen that the platform of social media is also used by the various organizations related to the genre of business for the process of communication, promotion, marketing and others (Vann, Woodford and Bruns 2015).

Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW
“An evaluation into the effectiveness of social media and whether it can be used by cricket
clubs/teams to improve engagement with their fan base”
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1LITERATURE REVIEW
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Social Media and Branding........................................................................................................3
Social media and communication..............................................................................................4
Sports and Fans..........................................................................................................................5
Social Media and Fan base.........................................................................................................6
Literature Gap............................................................................................................................9
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................11

2LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
The platform of social media has emerged as one of the most important ones in the
present times and there are billions of users from all over the world who take the help of this
particular innovation on a regular basis (Vann, Woodford and Bruns 2015). Social media is
not only used for chatting or interacting with friends and family members from the different
parts of the world but in the present times it is seen that the platform of social media is also
used by the various organizations related to the genre of business for the process of
communication, promotion, marketing and others (Vann, Woodford and Bruns 2015).
Therefore, it can be said that the innovation of social media within a very short time has
become an indispensible part of the modern world (Vromen, Xenos and Loader 2015). One of
the most common as well as interesting usage of this particular tool is seen within the
framework of the sports industry (Vromen, Xenos and Loader 2015). In the present times it is
seen that the various sports organizations, teams and even the individual players are taking
the help of the tool of social media in order to interact as well as connect in a much better
manner with their fans (Vromen, Xenos and Loader 2015). Many scholars are of the opinion
that the tool of social media can be utilized by the various sports teams as well as clubs not
only to enhance the fan base which they have but also to interact in a much better manner
with the fans from different regions (Abeza, O’Reilly and Reid 2013). Therefore, it can be
said that the tool of social media is a game changer and if effectively utilized by a particular
cricketing team can help them in a significant manner to grow a strong fan base (Vann,
Woodford and Bruns 2015). This Literature Review will try to analyze the effectiveness of
the innovation of social media and at the same time will also try to find out whether it can be
used by the various cricketing teams to develop a strong fan base.

3LITERATURE REVIEW
Social Media and Branding
Branding forms a very important aspect of the business world and the various
organizations try to take the help of innovative means to create a brand name for themselves
(Hambrick, Frederick and Sanderson 2015). The concept of branding helps the organizations
to establish a name for themselves and thereby earn the loyalty of the customers. In the
earlier times the various organizations used to take the help of traditional methods for the
purpose of enhancing the brand of their organization (Hambrick, Frederick and Sanderson
2015). These traditional methods generally required the individuals related to the
organizations to manually advertise the services or the products offered by the organization.
In addition to this, the organizations also used to take the help of various kinds of traditional
methods like advertising on television and radios to attract the attention of the customers
(Hollebeek, Glynn and Brodie 2014). However, it is significant to note that the recent
innovations like social media and others have in a way made the use of these strategies for
promotional and branding purposes completely obsolete (Hollebeek, Glynn and Brodie
2014). Therefore, the various organizations are increasingly taking the help of the recent
innovations like social media and others not only for the process of promotion but also for the
process of branding as well (Stavros et al. 2014). Many scholars are of the opinion that the
same pattern which is being used by the various organizations for the process of promotion as
well as branding can be used by the various sporting clubs and teams for the process of the
enhancement of their brand image, which in turn is likely to help them to get a greater
number of sponsors (Hambrick, Frederick and Sanderson 2015).
Social media and communication
Scholars like Vann, Woodford and Bruns (2015), are of the opinion that perhaps the
major benefit which social media provides to the people from the different parts of the world

4LITERATURE REVIEW
is that is has much simplified the way they communicate with each other. Traditionally, the
people had to take the help of the telegraphs or the telephones to communicate with the other
people who were living far away (Stavros et al. 2014). It is significant to note this particular
process used to take months and at the same time was very expensive (Sherwood, Nicholson
and Marjoribanks 2017). Many scholars are of the opinion that globalization has transformed
the entire world into a small village where organizations from the different parts of the world
can trade with each other irrespective of their nationality (Sherwood, Nicholson and
Marjoribanks 2017). The same concept can be applied to the various platforms of social
media. The innovation of social media has transformed the entire world into a small
community where people from the different parts of the world can interact with each other
(Sherwood, Nicholson and Marjoribanks 2017). This is one of the key reasons for the
enormous amount of popularity which the various platforms related to the social media has
gained in the recent times. Furthermore, the two major advantages of social media is the
fastness with which a particular message can be transferred from one part of the world to
another and also its economical nature (Abeza, O’Reilly and Reid 2013). It is primary
because of these two benefits that the majority of the business organizations are taking the
help of this particular innovation for the process of their business (Abeza, O’Reilly and Reid
2013). Social media allows the business organizations to convey the important as well as the
relevant information to the members of the organization (Abeza, O’Reilly and Reid 2013).
Furthermore, social media has also much simplified the way the different organizations
communicate with the shareholders, stakeholders, customers and the other important entities
who are related to the organization (Vann, Woodford and Bruns 2015). The various sports
organizations as well as the teams can take the help of same policies as well as principles to
communicate in an effective manner with their fans not only from their own country but also
from the other parts of the world (Vann, Woodford and Bruns 2015). Perhaps this is one of

5LITERATURE REVIEW
the key reasons for the increasing use of the innovation of social media by the different
cricketing teams and also their individual team members.
Sports and Fans
Presently, it is seen that a large number of sports have emerged which are primarily
meant to help the people to pass their leisure time and at the same time also to entertain them
(Farrington et al. 2017). Many scholars are of the opinion that one of the major roles of the
various kinds of sports which have emerged and at the same time gained popularity within
the framework of the modern day world is to unite the different people of the community who
are from diverse social as well as cultural backgrounds into one group of people (Farrington
et al. 2017). Therefore, it is generally seen that the fans which a particular cricketing team
has, like England or others are not only from the different nations of the world but also from
diverse cultural as well as social backgrounds (Farrington et al. 2017). The fans have become
a very significant part of the entire team itself and the popularity as well as the success
attained by a particular team is generally measured in terms of its fan strength (Shank and
Lyberger 2014). Thus, one of the primary focuses of the various sports teams of the present
times is on enhancing their fan base (Shahzad et al. 2017). The size of the fan base is of
paramount importance to the concerned sports team since they not only motivate the
concerned team to perform in a much better by cheering them but also contributes in a
significant manner towards the revenue earned by them (Shank and Lyberger 2014). For
example, the more number of fans a particular team has and the more number of these fans
goes to watch the matches of this particular team to the stadiums the more will be the money
earned by the team as the major source of income of these teams is from the amount of
money which they get from the price of the tickets which the fans need to buy in order to get
to see their favorite team in action (Kane et al. 2012). There is another significant manner in

6LITERATURE REVIEW
which the fans help to improve the financial prospects of their favorite teams in a significant
manner (Kane et al. 2012). In the present times it is seen that private sponsor attach
themselves with the sports teams with the inherent desire to use the fans who are related to
the team as their customer base (Hollebeek, Glynn and Brodie 2014). Therefore, it is seen
that the various popular as well as the top performing players related to a particular team need
to act in the advertisements of the products or the services which are being offered by the
concerned company which is sponsoring their team (Hollebeek, Glynn and Brodie 2014).
These in short are some of the main reasons why a particular sports team needs a strong fan
base.
Social Media and Fan base
Sports and society share an intimate relation with each other and in a way it can be
said that just as in the world of business the customers are end users of the products or the
services offered by a particular organization therefore in a similar manner the fans can also be
seen as the end users of the entertainment provided a particular team (Pronschinske, Groza
and Walker 2012). Furthermore, the commercialization of sports has made it even more
imperative for the players and the teams to depend on the fan base which they have for the
sake of the revenue gained by them (Pronschinske, Groza and Walker 2012). Therefore, it is
generally seen that the top priority of the various sports teams is on the enhancement of the
fan base which they have (Kaplan 2012). There are various factors which affects the
popularity gained by a particular team or the number of fans which they have. The
performance of the team and the kind of players which that particular team has plays a
significant role in deciding the fan following of that particular team (Kaplan 2012).
In the earlier times before the innovation of the social media came into existence, the
various players related to a particular team used to take the help of various kinds of fan

7LITERATURE REVIEW
letters, interview, autographs and others in order to make their fans happy (Hambrick,
Frederick and Sanderson 2015). In addition to these, another commonly used method by the
various players was to wave at the audience from time to time and also to acknowledge the
audience after taking a catch or getting a wicket or reaching a half century or a century or any
other achievement for that matter (Hambrick, Frederick and Sanderson 2015). The idea
behind this particular gesture was to gain extra screen time. Many psychologists are of the
opinion that the more a particular player is being shown on the television and indulges in
good kind of behavior with the audiences the more are his or her chances of becoming the
favorite of the fans (Sherwood, Nicholson and Marjoribanks 2017). However, in the recent
times with the availability of the various kinds of innovations the situation has changed
drastically (Shahzad et al. 2017). Therefore, in the present times the various players no longer
need to depend on the various traditional tools for the process of enhancing their engagement
with their fans (Shahzad et al. 2017). Social media is this particular context has emerged as
one of the most important platforms which is being used by the various players as well as
teams to effectively communicate with the fans and also to enhance the amount of
engagement with the fans (Sherwood, Nicholson and Marjoribanks 2017).
According to a report there were more than 2.5 billion social media users from all
over the work for the year 2017 and this particular figure is expected to increase and reach
more than 2.9 billion by the year 2019 (Farrington et al. 2017). Therefore, it would be apt to
say that social media is not only a very fast as well as cheap source but at the same time it
allows a particular individual to reach out to a large number of people (Farrington et al.
2017). Thus, the various individual players related to a particular team and especially the
ones who are popular and top performing ones are encouraged to interact with their fans over
the social media on a regular basis (Vann, Woodford and Bruns 2015). In addition to this, the
various sports teams also take the help of various kinds of agencies as well as professionals to

8LITERATURE REVIEW
handle their online media profile so that only the positive side of their character and the side
which appeals the most to the audience are being shown to them (Vann, Woodford and Bruns
2015). Furthermore, these professionals also help the players to create fan pages as well as
profile pages where the audiences or the fans will be able to know about the recent events in
the lives of their favorite players and would also be able to express their opinion about that
particular thing on the web page (Vann, Woodford and Bruns 2015). However, as already
mentioned most of these pages as well as the information which is being provided to the
audiences are being strategically managed by the various media image professionals who are
imbued with the role of managing the image of the team among the fans from the different
parts of the world (Shank and Lyberger 2014).
The use of social media provides another benefit to the individual players as well as
the teams to which they are related. It is significant to note that most of the organizations in
the genre of business utilize social media not only for the process of communication but also
for the process of promotion as well (Vromen, Xenos and Loader 2015). Thus, taking the
help of this particular concept they try to covey the relevant details about the products which
they are already offering and also about the ones which they would be launching in the future
times (Vromen, Xenos and Loader 2015). Therefore, the various sports teams can also use the
platform of social media for conveying the information about the upcoming sports events or
matches in which they and their players would be involved in the near future (Vromen, Xenos
and Loader 2015). Thus, it can be said that the medium of social media can be used not only
for the purposing of interacting with the various fans who are related to a particular team but
also for the above mentioned benefits as well (Shahzad et al. 2017).

9LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature Gap
The advantages as well as the disadvantages of the usage of the platform of social
media for the process of business and other walks of life have found adequate representation
in various previous researches and are the kinds of topics which have been much explored in
the recent times. However, the effective of the use of social media particularly for the
purpose of enhancing the engagement with the various fans who are related to a particular
team is a topic which has not being much explored in the recent times. Therefore, it can be
said that this particular research will be unique in its own way and will provide a lot of
valuable information which could not only be used for future researches but also by the
various sports teams for the purpose of improving the kind of engagement which they have
with the fans who are related to them. Furthermore, the research will also try to find out the
most effective ways in which the teams as well as the individuals players related to them can
take the help of the medium of social media for the purpose of enhancing the engagement
level among them.
Conclusion
To conclude, the technological advancements of the recent times has much improved
the communication facilities which the people are getting in the present times and it is a
reflection of this particular fact that not only the individuals but also the various organizations
belonging to the various genres of business are taking the help of this innovation. Social
media therefore has become one of the most commonly used mediums of communication
which is being used by the various organizations of the present times. Furthermore, it is also
seen that the various sports teams and also the individuals related to the team are increasingly
taking the help of the platform of social media for the process of effectively communicating
with the fans who are related to the team. Therefore, in a way it can be said that the fans are

10LITERATURE REVIEW
the equivalent of the customers in the world of business. The fans are the one of the most
important part of a particular team just like the way the customers are of the business
organizations. Therefore, it becomes very important for the various teams as well as the
players related to the team to use the medium of social media in order to have effective
communication with the fans and also to enhance their level of engagement with the fans.
Effective engagement with the fans also becomes very important as they are the major source
from which the teams as well as the players get their revenue and therefore it is seen that the
various teams and the players take the help of the various mediums of social media for the
process of interacting with the fans.

11LITERATURE REVIEW
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