O Atleta Como Marca: A Importância Da Participação Em Jogos Olímpicos No Engagement Nas Redes Sociais Dos Atletas Estreantes.

Abstract

The Olympic Games attract a great deal of public attention, and social networks are channels that maximise sports fans relationships beyond the moments of competition. Based on this perspective, this masters thesis investigated how participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games impacted on the visibility and brand image building in the digital environment of Brazilian rookies athletes. To answer the question, the Scandinavian model was used in the form of two articles. The first stage, Article 1, collected secondary data directly from the athletes Instagram accounts. After descriptive and inferential analyses, the results show that participation in the Olympic Games contributed significantly to the growth in followers and engagement rates. It should be emphasised that the athletes who won awards had a significant association with gains in followers when compared to the others. The aim of article 2 was to analyse the impact of athletes perception of their brand image on their engagement behaviour. Data was collected using an online questionnaire and analysed using Structural Equation Modeling. After the pre-test, the 303 Brazilian fans who made up the sample indicated that the perception of the brand image of the rookie athletes explained 44% of the variation in engagement behaviour on social networks. From this perspective, marketable lifestyle is the construct most closely related to perceived brand image. This reinforces the importance of increasingly authentic communication strategies between athletes and fans. This research dialogues with theories on the athlete as brand, self-presentation on social networks, the brand cycle and fan behaviour. The results found help to expand literacy in sports management, highlighting that the first experience of mega-events can strengthen the athletes brand, regardless of the performance achieved during the competition. In addition, the personal narratives of each athlete prove to be close to what fans are looking for in terms of content to consume. The research dialogues with theories about the athlete as a brand, self-presentation on social networks, the brand cycle and fan behaviour. The results expand knowledge in sports management, highlighting that the experience of mega-events can strengthen the athletes brand, regardless of their performance.