Factors Influencing Formula One Fans' Team Support Decisions

This essay delves into the multifaceted reasons behind Formula One fans' team allegiances. It examines factors such as the influence of money, the thrill of the sport, glamour and brand popularity, and the performance history of teams. The role of innovation and creativity in car design, social media's impact on fan perception, and the importance of brand personality traits like sincerity, excitement, ruggedness, competence, and sophistication are also explored. The essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the elements that shape fan decisions in the highly competitive world of Formula One racing, highlighting how both tangible and intangible aspects contribute to a team's popularity and fan base.

The formula one industry How Do Formula
One Fans choose which F1 Team to support
Table of Contents:
Literature Review

Money
Thrill
Glamour and Brand Personality
Performance History of Teams
Innovation and Creativity
Social Media Popularity
Sincerity
Excitement
Ruggedness
Competence
Sophistication

LITERATURE REVIEW
Formula one racing (F1) is known as the highest class and the most famous
international auto racing. The popularity of the sport has made it an international
championship and different individuals have different opinions in attracting towards this
sport. This premium racing battle has definite rules which all participants need to conform
and thus making it completely unique championship. The race also witnesses the world’s
leading automobile manufacturers such as Mercedes, Renault, Ferrari, Alpha Tauri and
McLaren which gain the insight and attention of not only sports lovers but also automobile
stakeholders. It is challenging for teams to compete with each other as each of the teams has
unique position in the market and is champion in the associated market. However, it is
equally difficult for the fans to choose any particular team for providing their support during
sports competition. As per Kang, Bennett and Peachey, (2016) formula one is among one of
the most popular racing sports which shows the extreme limit of machine and man. In
addition to, the sport elements the remarkable competition between teams as well as
teammates is the force which excites every individual. The dramatic victories, speeding cars,
danger paths in race are key spectacles for the audience. While providing support to team,
sport fans used to consider a lot of factors which affect their decision to support a particular
team because each of the available option is best one. Thus, it is very hard for fans to choose
any one team for providing support. Some of these factors which are considered by fans are:
Money: According to Hohenberger and Grohs, (2020) like any other successful event,
formula one racing is also loaded with excessive money. The international popularity and
integration of business in sports events make event a good choice for business activities and
earning money. In addition to fan base punters are also interested in picking the winners for
season. Thus, for many fans’ selection and support to any particular team is associated with
the earning. The individuals may choose teams which they find more compatible in terms of
earning through betting. This can simply depend upon winning or losing probability of
particular team or particular driver. Many successful brands also use popular team or players
to promote their brands by sponsorship.
Thrill: For the fans who truly respect the racing game only from the game perspective thrill is
one of the key reasons for choosing any team. As per Greenhalgh, Dwyer and LeCrom,
( 2017) it is human tendency to get thrill and impress with the brave individuals who can do
extra ordinary efforts for crossing hurdles. F1 racing not only sets new limitations for the cars

but also for the drivers. The regularly changing track keeps the racing exciting and thrilling.
Thus, many people used to pick a team which is led by a driver capable of crossing all racing
barriers with excellence. The individual support to any particular racing star can also be one
of the crucial reasons of supporting any particular team.
Glamour and brand popularity: Each of the participating team in F1 racing is well known
and does not need any introduction in automobile industry. Thus, apart from the racing
platform the event is also a hotspot of demonstrating the popularity of brand. Papadimitriou
and et.al., (2019) stated that, association of glamorous or renowned personality, makes brand
more appealing among consumer. Thus, many people choose any particular team simply due
to the integration of any other famous personality or brand ambassador with the team. The
emotional appealing can be one of the reasons for any individual to connect with any F1
team.
Performance history of teams: A successful team is built by an impressive budget, creative
team members and proper coordination. The efficiency of teams is evaluated by their
performance and winning. Thus, the performance track of teams is also one of the reasons
which are considered by individuals when giving support to any team. Alexandris, (2016)
elucidated that if a team surprises audience with its exceptional performance then it naturally
gains the attention and support from people. In such situation’s fans will naturally began to
appreciate team which surprises everyone with exceptional change and improved
performance. The teams which show repeated history of losing race used to have less support
from fans as compare to other teams.
Contrary to this Keshtidar and et.al., (2018) stated that performance element in single
race cannot defined the decision of customers towards a brand. There are people who are
emotionally connected with a particular brand and thus even if their team loses any match it
will only have temporary disappointment among fans. However, this will not lead to
complete dissociation of fans with the teams (Jayswal and Vora, 2017). Instead in the next
events fans show more enthusiasm, support and interest so that their favorite team can win.
Innovation and creativity: In the opinion of Hosseini and et.al., (2017) automobile sector
shows huge interest in F1 racing because engineers, drivers and participating industry makes
huge investment to introduce a technology which can meet the high speeding needs of
drivers. Many team members used to consider this platform for show casting their
innovations such as anti-lock braking, casting methods, eco-friendly materials and kinetic

energy recovery system. The fans which have keen interest in understanding the advancing
technologies in automobile industry used to support teams which participate in race with new
and efficient technology. In similar context Zhou and et.al.,(2020) stated that though number
of such consumers is considerably low, but it cannot be denied that F1 racing is not only
battle between racers but also between speeding car technologies with highly efficient
engines or designs. Such types of fans are more interested in the technicalities of any specific
team instead of the race result or the drivers. Thus, for them reason of supporting any team is
completely based on the creativity in car design.
Social media popularity: According to Giroux, Pons and Maltese, (2017) social media is
becoming an inevitable part of the life and many of the consumer decisions are influenced by
this. Social media can easily influence the decision of fans or supporters. Each of the F1
teams has huge fan base on digital platforms. Each of the team has to face both praises and
criticism from different people all over the world. The team which has greater brand value
and public perception attracts more fans. In this era of social media and digital networks
social media popularity of any team can act as one of the critical criteria for providing
support. Thus, when people take decision for supporting any team, they also monitor the
brand value of team.
According to Pashaie and et.al., (2016) there are fans who used to just enjoy sports
from entertainment perspective and thus for them only winner’s matter. Such segment of fans
usually supports teams which have extraordinary performance from game perspective and
thus technical aspects of F1 racing or brand value matters very little for them. In this same
context Weller, Streller and Purinton, (2019) also state that selection of the team in F1 race
also depends upon the perception of brand. For instance, Mercedes used to have more
winning in the race as compare to Red Bull racing or Ferrari. This aspect along with the
brand value of Mercedes used to create strong impact on the consumer perspective and thus
affect their selection choices. Lee and et.al., (2016) defined brand value as the human
characteristic which is attributed to form a brand name. Thus, each brand must have set of
attribute or constant traits which attract and retain customers and with which people can
relate. It adds value to the brand equity of the organization. Formula one fan is also
influenced by this personality aspect. According to Lucas, (2018) while choosing team F1
fans consider following brand personality traits:

Sincerity: It is general tendency of humans that they are attracted towards thoughtfulness and
orientation towards value. Thus, if any F1 team came up with an idea, unique design or
environment friendly car with unexceptional speed, then it definitely attracts people. As a
result of this people used to wait for the team to observe that what unique of thoughtful
approach will be introduced by the team. F1 teams used to show sincerity in terms of
complicated rule book which are respected and followed by all teams. Sincerity of teams
shows their honesty, generosity and genuine nature. Kim and et.al., (2019) stated that the
sincere attitude and brand personality used to create a positive impression on customers
creating a loyal and satisfactory team perception. Fans used to prefer teams which accept
challenges and are capable to fulfill and win those challenges on the basis of sincerity instead
of adopting fake or misleading approaches.
Excitement: Esmaeilpour and Hoseini, (2017) elucidated that excitement is one of the most
important personality traits of any brand. If customers do not feel any excitement or
happiness with the brand, then they may soon lose their interest in the team. The same
element also acts as driving force for individuals to support any team. While supporting any
team people used to find out the thrill or exciting factors which make any team unique and
superior from the other teams. The brands which are capable to appeal people with energetic
promotion approaches, celebrity endorsements present their imaginative, daring, anti-
establishment and contemporary image (Alnsour and Subbah, 2018). Sports fan used to
choose team which is fill with the excitement and is capable to deliver the thrill and fun.
Ruggedness: Formula one racing is all about speed, roughness and athletic. The same is
related with the brand personality. People used to choose a brand which aligns with the key
essence of F1 popularity and standard (Hu and et.al., 2019) . The teams which perform
excellent and are capable to overcome all difficulties with regular improvement in car designs
and performance are successful in gaining support from the fans.
Competence: Contrary to the above traits Gutiérrez and Lozano, (2018) stated that consumer
decisions are affected by the leadership. Thus, if brand is successful and their leaders are in
broader picture then it makes brand more visible and preferred. Some individuals used to
have loyalty towards any particular brand only in terms of service quality and products. Thus,
if those brands participate in formula racing then also the preference of people remain same
which is completely based on service quality offered by brand to its customers (Baharun,
2017). Fans show their trust among teams which are trustworthy, successful, reliable and

more intelligent. It gives people the impression that competent teams will never disappoint
them and thus they find it more comfortable to support such teams.
Sophistication: According to Chakraborty and Bhat, (2018) prestigious and elegant brands
are much more convenient to attract customers in long term. The teams which have good
image and prestige in terms of racing performance and audience perspective influence people
very easily. Some fans are influenced by existing popularity and vast support from other
people. It makes them believe that large fan base guarantee best team and thus they quickly
provide their support to elegant teams.
Wakefield, Wakefield and Lane Keller, (2020) state that, F1 fans possesses fanatical
behavior of consumption including brand loyalty towards products and participating in games
or sports events as well. Winning is considered as one of the crucial aspects of brand
personality. Thus, winning probability and frequency of any particular tea can also influence
the association of supporters (Keong and Baharun, 2017). The teams which have higher wins
find it very easy to retain its customers for long term because it also gives a sense of pride to
consumers to have relation with the winning brand. The positive image transfer of brand is
also affected by the fan identification initiatives taken by organization. When people feel
personal commitment and emotional involvement with the brand, they used to have more
loyalty towards team and thus even if it as game or sports event their loyalty remains same
towards brand. In the same context Apostolopoulou, (2018) elucidate that brand personality is
of utmost importance for the organizations and thus it can help companies to achieve
competitive benefits. Strong personality of brand will also develop emotional connectivity of
people with brand and thus in such situation sport sponsorship will act as only
communication tool for brand association. Thus, if people find it easy to connect or related
themselves with the brand then it becomes much more convenient for them to select any
particular brand.
According to Tsordia, Papadimitriou and Kaur and Kaur, (2019) brand value and
consumer requirements are also integral factors which affect the selection criteria for F1 fans.
The brands which used to have clear strategy in meeting and understanding customer
requirements are able to provide more satisfactory services and product. For instance,
attractive logo, brand symbol makes it easy for the fans to recognize the particular brand (Liu
and Schwarz, 2020). Thus, customers can easily relate themselves with the services provided

by organization and the values with which brand is participating as team in formula one race.
On this basis each fan can choose the perfect team for providing support.
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