Applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs to understand why sport marketing is so unique.

Applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs to understand why sport marketing is so unique.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs suggests that humans need love and a sense of belonging to thrive. He presents to us a 5 tier model of human needs. The first level is basic needs like air, food, water and sleep. The Second level would be safety and security. The third level is the sense of belonging and love or also known as psychological needs. The fourth tier would be self-esteem. If all four tiers of needs are attained, the person could finally reach the last tier, self-actualization and reach their full potential.

source:http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow-pyramid.jpg

The third tier allows sport to fit in perfectly. Sport provides us the sense of belonging needed to thrive.

Sporting teams provide fans a sense of belonging. Supporting your favourite team allows you to interact with other fans, with similar passion. This allows you to be a part of a community. No other industry sparks a huge amount of loyalty and devotion from its consumers. Therefore, the sport industry has a unique group of consumers. This provides the sport marketing a comparative age over other marketing and therefore becomes a unique feature of sport marketing

On top of that, Maslow’s theory can explain why sports marketing has higher levels of Fan engagement and media involvement than other industries. Once again, everyone needs a sense of belonging. Therefore, sport fans will always keep up with their sporting teams in order to be up to date and prevent feeling left out. This translates to a high level of fan engagement. Since there is a high level of interest by sporting fans to be involved, the media is constantly active in sports as compared to other industries.

Lastly, Sport products and services, especially team-related, can continue to be of interest to consumers and have relatively no ceiling. Many products and services from other industries has a maximum level of frequency that when reached, no further consumer of that product or service is needed for a while. However, due sporting fans would constantly want to be updated about their sporting team, attend their games and also have their sporting goods. They would want to be constantly in the loop. For example, if Liverpool releases a new season kit, it is undeniable that fans would rush and join long queues for it despite having already a Liverpool jersey. On top of that, when it comes to merchandises, many sport fans would buy the merchandises according to different seasons. All of this in order to belong in the community and support their team.

Therefore, a psychological theory, in this case, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can explain the unique features of sports marketing. The sport industry provides us this sense of belonging. Other industry falls short in meeting this need. Therefore, sport marketing have unique features that gives it an edge over the other industries.

References:

1. Hoye, R., Smith, A., & Westerbeek, H. (2005). Sport Management: Principles and Application. Burlington: Elsevier.