DepartmentofInformaticsandMedia

MasterProgrammeinSocialSciences,specializationDigitalMediaandSociety

OneYearMaster’sThesis

“We cannot shy away from a defeat” – Examining How Sports Organizations

and Fans Communicate on Social Media After a Defeat in the Swedish Hockey

League

Student: Teemu Pynnönen

Supervisor: Vaia Doudaki

Word count: 21 755

Spring 2018

Abstract

This dissertation aims to explore how sports organizations approach the communication of defeats

on social media from the perspective of organizational image management. Furthermore, this study

seeks to identify how sports fans react to defeats on social media and what kind of implications fan

reactions have on the organizational image management process.

The sports industry has some unique characteristics compared to other commercial

industries. The overall success of sports organizations is to a great extent dependent on the on-field

performances of the team and the coherence of the fan community. The image of sports

organizations is likewise dependent on the combination of on-field performances and the how the

fan community perceives the organization. This dissertation examines how this dynamic unfolds in

an online media environment using a customized theoretical framework that combines

organizational image management theory and social identity theory.

The research strategy in this dissertation consisted of a case study of six sports organizations

in the Swedish Hockey League and their fans. Empirical data was collected through six interviews

with communication specialists employed by the teams and by sampling comments written by fans

on the teams’ Facebook pages on posts about defeats.

The findings show that sports organizations in the SHL have a desire to appear honest in

their approach to communicating a defeat on social media. This desire encompasses a

straightforward approach to communicating a defeat on social media to their fans, making the

organization to resemble a credible disseminator of information to key stakeholders in online

environments. Furthermore, through the strong psychological connection to their favorite team, fans

were found to have a role in the image maintenance process on social media after a defeat. Fans

took mainly two different stances on social media after a defeat and were found to both hinder and

aid the image management process after a defeat.

Keywords:

Organizational image management, social identity theory, social media, sports industry, sports

organizations, sports fans, Swedish Hockey League.

TableofContents

1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................1Researchquestions..............................................................................................................................4

2. LiteratureReview................................................................................................................5Organizationalimagemanagement......................................................................................................5Organizationalimagemanagementandsocialmedia...........................................................................8Sportsandorganizationalimagemanagement.....................................................................................9Sportsfandomandteamidentification..............................................................................................10

Fansasmembersofalargercommunity................................................................................................11Sportsfansasconsumers.......................................................................................................................11Teamidentification.................................................................................................................................13

Linkingsportsfandomwithorganizationalimagemanagement.........................................................14Conclusion–literaturereview................................................................................................................16

3. Theoreticalframework......................................................................................................18Organizationalimagemanagementtheory.........................................................................................18Socialidentitytheory.........................................................................................................................19Customizedtheoreticalframework....................................................................................................20

4. Methodology.....................................................................................................................24CaseStudy:TheSwedishHockeyLeague............................................................................................24Datacollection...................................................................................................................................26

In-depthinterviews................................................................................................................................26FancommentsonFacebook...................................................................................................................27

Dataanalysis......................................................................................................................................28ContentAnalysis.....................................................................................................................................28Thecodingofinterviews........................................................................................................................29CodingoffancommentsonFacebook...................................................................................................30

Ethicalconsiderations........................................................................................................................31Limitations..............................................................................................................................................31

5. Findings.............................................................................................................................33RQ1:HowdothecommunicationprofessionalsoftheSHLcommunicateafteradefeatonsocialmedia?...............................................................................................................................................33

Strategiccommunicationgoalsinsocialmedia......................................................................................33Theimpactofadefeatoncommunicationprocessesonsocialmedia..................................................33Organizationalimagemanagementafteradefeat:Desiretoappearasacrediblesportsorganization................................................................................................................................................................36Summaryofinterviews...........................................................................................................................39

RQ2:Fromwhatstancearefanscommunicatingonsocialmediaafteradefeat(BIRForCORF)?........39BIRFing/Positivecomments....................................................................................................................40CORFing/Criticalcomments....................................................................................................................41Summary–fanreactionstodefeatsonFacebook.................................................................................43

6. Analysis.............................................................................................................................44Thedifferentrolesoffansandcommunicationprofessionalsinimagemaintenance..........................44

Communicationspecialists:Disseminatinginformationtocustomers..................................................44Fans:Aimingtomaintaincohesioninthefancommunityandcriticizingtheorganization...................46

7. Discussion..........................................................................................................................49

8. Conclusion.........................................................................................................................51Limitationofresearchandfurtherimplications..................................................................................53

9. References.........................................................................................................................55

10. AppendixA....................................................................................................................60InterviewGuide.................................................................................................................................60

11. AppendixB....................................................................................................................61Summaryofthecodingprocessoffanreactions.................................................................................61

Listoffiguresandtables Figure1Massey's(2015)theoreticalmodeloforganizationalimagemanagement.......................23Figure2Customizedtheoreticalframework....................................................................................23Table1Summaryoffindings:Theimpactofadefeatoncommunicationprocessesinsocialmedia

..................................................................................................................................................39Table2Summaryoffindings:Organizationalimagemanagementafteradefeat...........................39Table3FanreactionstoadefeatintheBIRFandCORFstances.....................................................43

1

1. Introduction

Organizational image management has found to play a significant role in the overall performances

of organizations (Massey, 2015). The recognition of the importance of a favorable organizational

image has likewise made organizational image management a widely studied topic within the field

of communication (Mumby, 2013).

Organizational image management can be viewed as a process that aims to influence the

perception of the organization among stakeholders (Massey, 2015). The stakeholder environment

can be divided into internal stakeholders and external stakeholders. The internal stakeholders are

members of the organization who are responsible for projecting the organizational image to

members in the external stakeholder environment who in turn interpret the projected image

(Massey, 2015). The external stakeholder environment consists of actors who can influence the

organizational image, such as consumers and sponsors (Massey, 2015). In this sense, the process of

organizational image management is a communication process characterized by transmission of

messages from sender to receiver (Parent & Foreman, 2007). The organization engages in strategic

communication efforts to project a specific image of the organization to their external publics with

the goal of appearing in a favorable light (Massey, 2015). However, the process cannot be

considered linear or one-way communication since the organization need to recognize the feedback

from the external stakeholder environment and adapt according to it in further communication

(Massey, 2015). This feedback-loop that unites the sender and the receiver of the message makes

the process of organizational image management dialogic in its nature (Massey, 2015). The

organizational image is vulnerable for external factors and dependent on the perception of the

external stakeholder environment. Occasionally, organizations can be in situations where their

image is damaged. In these instances, organizations need to engage in strategic communication in

order to restore their damaged image (Benoit, 1997). If the organization is not able to implement the

correct communication strategies in order to restore a damaged image, it can face severe

consequences, ranging from a weakened market position to being forced to merge with competitors

(Massey, 2015).

The emergence of social media has changed to a certain degree the dynamics of

organizational image management (Gilpin, 2010). Social media has brought both opportunities and

challenges to the context of organizational image management. The challenges are commonly

associated with organizations’ loss of control over what is discussed about the organizations in a

public environment (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Due the emergence of social media, the publics are

now more connected than ever, which means the information and messages spread on an

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accelerated pace in the public environment (Gilpin, 2010). This means that the image of an

organization become even more vulnerable to external perceptions in social media. The case of

“United Breaks Guitars” has become a benchmark case when referring to the challenges that social

media bring to organizational image management (Kerkhof & Beukeboom, 2015). US-based airline

United Airlines broke a customer’s acoustic guitar on a domestic flight and did not offer the

customer compensation for the damaged property. The customer converted the experience into a

song and uploaded it on YouTube where the video went viral. It is unquestionable that the image of

United Airlines was harmed by this incident (ibid.). This case exemplified well the connectedness

of social media and how only one dissatisfied customer can influence the perception of the image of

an established organization (ibid).

The commercial sports industry has some unique characteristics compared to other

commercial industries. First, the uncertainty of outcome of sports contests places sports

organizations in an instable environment where the overall performance of the organization is

dependent to a great extent of the on-field performances of the team (Beech & Chadwick, 2007).

The on-field success of a sports team has found to be the most significant factor when determining

purchase and attendance intentions of consumers and the quality on-field performances are usually

directly visible in the economic performance of a sports organization (Jang, Wann, & Ko, 2016).

Second, the external stakeholder environment in the sports industry is rather unique compared to

other industries (Koerber & Zabara, 2017). Consumers of sports are commonly described as sports

fans who have a strong psychological connection to their favorite sports team (Daniel L Wann,

2006). This psychological connection is often based on a regional identification, making the fans to

identify with a larger community, in which the team acts as one distinct element (James & Heere,

2007). In this sense, fans can be viewed as both consumers of a sports organization and a part of a

larger fan community consisted of like-minded individuals with similar interests (James & Heere,

2007).

The strong psychological connection between fans and sports organizations is unique,

meaning that a fan is usually committed to support one local sports organization excluding the other

competitors in the regional market (Abeza, O’Reilly, & Reid, 2013). This means that there exists

commonly a greater notion of loyalty within fans compared to consumers in other industries

(Koerber & Zabara, 2017). That is not say that organizations in other industries do not enjoy a

notion of loyalty from their consumers, it is more about the regionally dominant position of sports

organization and the psychological identification to a larger fan community lays a strong foundation

to the notion of consumer loyalty among sports fans (Koerber & Zabara, 2017). As a consequence

of a high level of identification with a sports organization, sports fans’ self-esteem is linked to the

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sports organization (Daniel L Wann, 2006). Meaning that, fans have a set of strategies when it

comes to protecting their self-esteem in association with the success and failure of the organization

(Campbell, Aiken, & Kent, 2004). These strategies, also labeled as coping strategies, become

particularly evident when the fans’ favorite team loses (Campbell et al., 2004). Previous sports

psychology literature has identified two common stances that fans take after a defeat: basking in

reflected failure (BIRF) and cutting of reflected failure (CORF). When fans are BIRFing, they are

trying to protect their self-esteem by highlighting positive aspects of the sports organization despite

the defeat (Campbell et al., 2004). When fans are CORFing, they are protecting their self-esteem by

distancing themselves from the unsuccessful sports organization and criticizing the organization

publicly (Campbell et al., 2004). The emergence of social media has put sports organizations in a

situation where they are expected to communicate with their fans at all times. Even if sports

organizations experience defeats and have not good news to communicate, fans still expect a steady

stream of posts on social media. The complex dynamics in sports organizations’ external

stakeholder environment creates an interesting setting for examining sports organizations’ image

management processes when it comes to communicating defeats on a platform that is open for fan

comments.

Organizational image management in the context of sport has not been studied widely by

means of the uniqueness of the industry. Previous studies regarding sports organizations’ image

management processes has mostly been related to how sports organizations recover from off-field

scandals, such as violations of regulation in finances and controversial athlete behavior (Brazeal,

2008; Koerber & Zabara, 2017; Richards, Wilson, Boyle, & Mower, 2017). Relating game outcome

and specifically defeats with the process of image management has not been common in academic

literature. Furthermore, there is a knowledge gap in previous literature when it comes to

understanding how a defeat is communicated on social media where fans can express their opinion

publicly.

The aim of this study is to explore how sports organizations approach the communication of

a defeat on social media where they most likely will encounter criticism from the fan community.

When examining the communication of a defeat from the perspective of image management, the

focus is on whether sport organizations’ use any specific image maintenance strategies after a

defeat on social media. Furthermore, the study seeks to identify how the two-fold role of fans as

customers and members of a larger community plays out in the image management process through

the stances of BIRG and CORF. The research problem is approached through a case study of the

Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Six teams from the league participated in the study and their social

4

media communication specialists were interviewed. Furthermore, comments posted on Facebook

posts about defeats where sampled to analyze how fans communicate after a defeat.

Research questions

1) How do the communication professionals of the SHL teams communicate after a defeat on

social media?

2) From what stance are fans communicating on social media after a defeat (BIRF and CORF)?

5

2. Literature Review

The literature review starts with a comprehensive definition of organizational image management as

a process. This will be followed by a presentation of previous literature regarding organizational

image management in the context of social media. The last part of the literature review examines

previous work regarding sports organizations in the context of image management and what kind of

role fandom and the concept of team identification plays in the process.

Organizational image management

To get a more comprehensive understanding of organizational image as a concept, it is reasonable

to examine it alongside the concepts of strategic communication, organizational communication,

organizational identity and organizational reputation, which are commonly associated with

organizational image and the process of image management (Massey, 2015).

Organizational identity differs from organizational image and reputation by being focused

on how the members of the organization perceive the organization (Jo Hatch & Schultz, 1997). The

determining factors in organizational identity are the organization members’ shared internal and

collective understandings of the distinct characteristics of the organization (Hatch and Schultz

1997). The concepts of organizational reputation and organizational image have been defined and

used in a highly similar manner throughout previous organizational image management literature.

The reason for the high interrelatedness of the concepts is that they are both focused on how

external publics perceive an organization. Gotsi and Wilson (2001) state that there are three ways to

examine the concepts of organizational image and organizational reputation: consider them as

identical, consider them as separate or consider them as interrelated. Massey (2015) argues that

both organizational reputation and organizational image are concerned about how stakeholders

perceive the organization, however, they differ in terms of stability; organizational reputation is a

more stable and long-term understanding of the organization while organizational image is more

unstable, vulnerable and dependent on external factors. Thus, time and stability are key components

in distinguishing organizational image from organizational reputation. Referring back to the three

possible alternatives of examining organizational reputation and organizational image, presented by

Gotsi and Wilson (2001), the concepts will be treated as identical in this dissertation due to the

small variation in the definition of the concepts and the limited length of the research.

Organizational communication and strategic communication has likewise quite similar

definitions due to their notion of goal-oriented action. Mumby, (2013:15) defines organizational

communication as “the process of creating and negotiating collective, coordinated systems of

6

meaning through symbolic practices oriented toward the achievement of organizational goals”. On

the other hand, strategic communication is related to organizations communicating purposefully to

advance in a specific mission (Hallahan, Holtzhausen, van Ruler, Verčič and Sriramesh, 2007).

Thus, strategic communication can be considered to fall underneath the umbrella of organizational

communication by having a more short-term focus on specific action while organizational

communication consists of a variety of actions (Hallahan et al,. 2007). Furthermore, one can state

that the process of organizational image management falls within the umbrella of strategic

communication by encompassing “the actions taken to create, maintain, and when necessary, regain

a desired image in the eyes of organizational stakeholders” Massey (2015:7). When talking about

who is involved in the image management process, Massey (2015) distinguishes between internal

and external stakeholders. Employees, managers and investors can be labeled as internal

stakeholders (Massey, 2015). The external stakeholders are individuals who are not members of the

organization, although they can have an influence on the organization (Massey, 2015). The external

stakeholder environment consists of customers, suppliers, lenders, regulators, associations and trade

unions (Massey, 2015).

Managing the image of the organization is a strategic communication process. Benoit (1997)

states that one of the main goals for organizations in their strategic communication should always

be to portray a favorable organizational image to stakeholders and external publics. Having a

favorable organizational image has been witnessed to be a significant advantage in terms of

attracting high-quality job applicants and investors and attaining a larger market share (Fombrun &

Shanley, 1990). Furthermore, the organizational image has been witnessed to influence buyer

attitudes and product evaluations (Hallier Willi, Nguyen, Melewar, & Dennis, 2014). Having a

favorable organizational image has also been witnessed to increase the motivation of employees

(Fombrun & Shanley, 1990). In short, having a favorable organizational image has the potential of

providing an advantage to existing competitors in the market (Hallier et al., 2014).

Managing the organizational image is a constant process, where dialogical communication

with stakeholders is one of the core elements because “an organizational image is the product of

discourse between an organization and stakeholders” (Massey 2015:9). Here, it is important to

clarify what is meant by dialogue between organizations and external stakeholders in the context of

image management. The notion of dialogue in the context of image management should not be

confused with a conversation occurring between an organization and a customer. Rather, it is a dual

process where the organization projects a desired image to the external stakeholder environment

who in turn, interprets the projected image (Massey, 2015). The way this process becomes

dialogical is when the organization reacts to the feedback from the external stakeholder

7

environment and adjusts their further strategic communication accordingly (Massey, 2015). The

organizational image itself is the product of the projection of the image and the interpretation of it

(Massey, 2015). In this sense, the organizational image can be argued to be a product of negotiation

and fit a constitutive view of communication. In the constitutive view of communication,

communication is considered as meaning creation (Craig, 2006). On the other hand, the actual

strategic process of organizational image management is communication as transmission where the

messages are passed from a sender to a receiver (Parent & Foreman, 2007). The process becomes

cyclical when the messages are filtered through a feedback loop before being sent out by the sender

again (Parent & Foreman, 2007). To clarify, an organizational image is created through negotiation

and meaning-making while managing the organizational image is a process where the internal

stakeholders aim to project a certain image to the external stakeholder environment, making the

communication a transmission of messages. In this study, the communication related to

organizational image management will be viewed as communication as transmission of messages

from sender to receiver.

A big proportion of the literature regarding organizational image management is focused on

maintaining a favorable image and restoring a damaged image. The external stakeholder

environment is in a constant flux. Several variables, including market dynamics, social issues,

political issues and technological issues have the potential of affecting the organizational image

(Massey, 2015). Due to the dynamic nature of the stakeholder environment, organizations can find

themselves in a situation where their organizational image has been tarnished. In order to recover

from an event that threatens organizational image, the organization needs to engage in strategic

communication in order to re-establish a favorable organizational image (Benoit, 1997). These

communication efforts that are aimed to restore the organizational image are labeled as image repair

strategies (Benoit, 1997). When an organization’s image is threatened it “can seriously impact an

organization’s performance and generate negative outcomes” (Coombs 2015:21). In the past

decade, organizations have found themselves in an even more dynamic environment when it comes

to image management. The emergence of new communication tools, which allow the vast spread of

messages to large audiences has proposed new opportunities for communicating a favorable image

to stakeholders but also a fair amount of challenges in terms of image management (Gilpin, 2010;

Husain, Abdullah, Ishak, Kamarudin, Robani, Mohin, Hassan, 2014; Roshan, Warren, & Carr,

2016).

8

Organizational image management and social media

The emergence of digital media and, in particular, social media has changed the way we

communicate (Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy and Silvestre 2011).

For organizations, it is fair to argue that social media have brought new possibilities for their

communication. First, organizations have now a platform where they have a wide range of

opportunities for establishing an identity in a cost-effective manner (Gilpin, 2010). Second, for

organizations that already have an established identity and customer base, they have the ability to

project a favorable image to external stakeholders through social media and obtain feedback in a

cost-effective manner. When addressing the challenges that social media has brought to the context

of image management, a loss of control in organizational communication is commonly mentioned

(Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). What is meant by a loss of control in organizational communication is

that now with social media, organizations cannot be considered to be fully in charge of the public

conversations regarding the organization (Kietzmann et al., 2011). A quote from former BBC

Business editor Tim Weber, cited by Kietzmann et al. (2011:242), exemplifies well the new

challenges social media brings to organizational communication: “These days, one witty tweet, one

clever blog post, one devastating video—forwarded to hundreds of friends at the click of a mouse—

can snowball and kill a product or damage a company’s share price”. One can likewise pose a

question about whether organizations ever had any control when it comes to public conversations.

What the emergence of social media has mainly changed in the context of image management is

that it has expanded and made the publics more connected (Gilpin, 2010). In social media, where

one individual has the opportunity of reaching out with a message to an undetermined group of

individuals with a speed unmatched by any pre-existing media, the external stakeholders perception

of the organizational image can take quick turns for the worse (Jin, Liu, & Austin, 2014). Studies

have already found a connection between frequent negative comments on an organization’s social

media site and a lower score on Forbes’ annual organizational reputation scores (Ji, Li, North and

Liu 2017).

The existing literature provides a comprehensive understanding of how the nature of image

management has changed alongside the emergence of social media. In the next section, the

dynamics of the sports industry will be related with the image management process of sports

organizations.

9

Sports and organizational image management

From a business perspective, the commercial sports field is a highly turbulent environment. A big

proportion of the unstableness of the field is vested in the uncertainty of outcome related to sports

(Chadwick & Beech, 2007). Never knowing how a sports event or a contest will play out causes a

range of emotions starting from excitement and anxiety, and possibly ending in overwhelming joy

or devastating sadness for fans, team staff and athletes (Daniel L Wann, 2006). Uncertainty of

outcome is the foundation of the entertainment value of sports and what makes sports appealing for

large publics (Chadwick & Beech, 2007). Commercial sports organizations have a twofold

relationship with uncertainty of outcome: uncertainty of outcome is the fundamental opportunity

and challenge for a sports organization’s existence (Chadwick & Beech, 2007).

The success of a sports team’s on-field performances is vital when determining the

organization’s image and overall performance (Dalakas, Anderson, & Madrigal, 2004). In addition,

for fans that are not fanatic supporters of a team, the team’s performance and success have been

proved to be the biggest factor in willingness to attend further games and purchasing fan

merchandise (Jang, Wann & Ko, 2016). Sports organizations are usually able to present impressive

economic results after seasons where the team performance has been on a high level. This is the

result of fans, who usually do not actively follow the team, starting to attend games and expresses a

high overall interest towards the team once it is successful (Dalakas et al., 2004). The fans are said

to “jump on the bandwagon” when they start to display an interest in the team once it is winning

(Dalakas et al., 2004). However, this is to a great extent only a temporary trend. For how long a

sports organization is able to maintain the trend is mainly dictated by the team’s performance. The

US-based baseball team Arizona Diamondbacks won the Baseball World Series back in 2001 and

the organization’s senior vice president of marketing and sales, Scott Brubaker, explained that they

have comprehended the temporary nature of their success: “We’re trying to maximize what we did

in November and strike while it’s hot. You are only world champions a few weeks after the season

starts. After that you are whatever it says you are in the standings” (Dalakas et al., 2004:71).

Even if academic literature has not examined a defeat as a threat to sports organizations’

image, it is starting to become more common for sports organizations to engage in image

restoration strategies after poor team performances. Llewellyn (2003) studied college basketball

coaches’ appearance in post-game press conferences. The study revealed that college basketball

coaches communicated frequently bolstering strategies after a defeat; they highlighted positive

things that happened on the court despite the defeat. Furthermore, Compton (2014) studied sports

organizations’ image repair efforts in open letters sent out to fans after a whole season with poor

10

team performances. The dominant strategies in these letters were apology, bolstering and a promise

for corrective action (Compton & Compton, 2014). Compton (2014) found also that open letters

communicated in social media channels as image repair strategies must be planned carefully. A US

college basketball team called The Maryland Terrapins presented their open letters on their

Facebook page, which resulted in a wave of criticism and negative comments (Compton &

Compton, 2014). The Maryland Terrapins’ marketing staff later removed the letters from social

media, which made the fans even angrier since the removal of the letters was considered as an

attempt to silence the critics (Compton & Compton, 2014).

A single defeat of a sport team has not been examined from the perspective of

organizational image management in previous academic literature. Organizational image

management in the sports industry has been commonly associated with off-field scandals. These

scandals circulate around themes of sex, drugs and disobedient athletes (Brazeal, 2008). The debate

here is that whether a single defeat, which is a natural part of the sport and the field, can be

considered as harmful for the organizational image. The unstable and vulnerable nature of the

organizational image in relation to external factors allows for considering a defeat to have the

potential to tarnish the image of a sports organization. Furthermore, sports organizations’ being in a

situation where they are forced to expose themselves to harsh criticism on social media after a

defeat opens up an opportunity to associate defeats with a threat to organizational image. In order to

provide a more comprehensive understanding of organizational image management in the context

of sports, it is reasonable to examine the characteristics of sports fans, who comprise a significant

part of the external stakeholder environment of sports organizations.

Sports fandom and team identification

Existing literature has found two main ways of examining sports fandom: fans as members of a

larger community and fans as consumers (James & Heere, 2007). James and Heere (2007) argue

that a distinction between fans as consumers and members of the community needs to be made in

order to fully understand the characteristics of fans and their value for sports organizations. The two

dimensions of fandom blur slightly in Massey’s (2015) separation between internal and external

stakeholders. Fans are a part of the external stakeholder environment as consumers, however,

through their strong identification towards their favorite team, they tend to view themselves as

members of the organization. This creates an interesting setting for exploring the role of fans in

image management processes since fans can be considered to have two identities in relation to their

favorite team.

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Fans as members of a larger community

When addressing fans as members of the community, the team is not the central subject to the

identification of fans (James & Heere, 2007). By considering the team as one distinct element in a

larger entity that represents the community, for example a regional community, fans can be

considered to be members of that community and thus view themselves as members of the sports

organization (James & Heere, 2007).

When fans identify strongly with the community that the team represents, the team is more

of a symbolic representation of various aspects within the community (James & Heere, 2007). This

means that sports organizations cannot be viewed as an assembly of owners, players and coaches, it

is likewise a representation of the city, state and other external communities, such as ethnic, racial,

political and religious communities (James & Heere, 2007). In US college sports the notion of

identifying with a larger community is highly visible (James & Heere, 2007). Students who attend

the university sports teams’ games, wear university clothing that has no specific reference to the

team itself (James & Heere, 2007). Furthermore, fans of the Dutch soccer national team are seen at

games wearing clothing that represent windmills and wooden shoes to highlight the distinctive

characteristics of their nation and community (James & Heere, 2007). The regional identity is a

strong source of identification when considering fans as members of the sports organizations. The

relocation of the US National Football League (NFL) team Ravens from Cleveland to Baltimore in

1996 demonstrated the strength of regional fan identity (Sutton, McDonald, Milne and Cimperman

1997). The Raven franchise had a solid fan base in Cleveland, however, the management realized

that moving the franchise to Baltimore would provide better business opportunities (Sutton et al.,

1997). The decision to move the franchise resulted in a burst of anger amongst the local fans in

Cleveland and the franchise received a total of nine lawsuits filed by fan groups and season ticket

holders in Cleveland (Sutton et al., 1997). Despite the fierce protests, the franchise was relocated to

Baltimore (Sutton et al., 1997).

Sports organizations’ recognition of the social networks and the external communities that

they represent enhances the bond between the fan community and the organization, which

furthermore has beneficial implications for the organizational image of the organization (James &

Heere, 2007).

Sports fans as consumers

As consumers, “fans are members of an organization who are committed to its existence”

(James and Heere 2007:323). The size of the fan base is directly visible in the income streams of a

12

sports organization; the larger the fan base is, the more attractive the organization appears in the

eyes of sponsors (James & Heere, 2007).

In their characteristics, sports fans differ from ordinary consumers. It is common for sports

fans to have a limited amount of favorite teams. Especially when it comes to regional motivations,

it is highly unlikely for an individual to support two teams that are from the same region and

competing in the same sport and league, i.e. sharing a market place (Campbell et al., 2004). This is

one main aspect in how sports fans differ from ordinary consumers in other commercial industries;

by having one favorite team, it excludes all the other possible alternatives and competitors in the

market for fans (Bee & Kahle, 2006). Sports fans have also been considered to be more passionate

and loyal in their consumer behavior than ordinary customers (Bee & Kahle, 2006). A quote by Bee

and Kahle (2006:103) explains well the uniqueness of the relationship between fans and sports

organizations: “When consumers enter in a relationship with a sports organization, that act reflect

the consumers’ commitment to continue patronage regardless of the other choices available for

them. This type of behavior goes beyond repeated purchasing and reflects and ongoing

partnership”. Usually, competitive marketplaces comprehend a wide range of risks for organizations

(Koerber & Zabara, 2017). For example, when there is a lack of product competitiveness, regular

retail consumers can easily abandon one brand to be consumers of another (Koerber & Zabara,

2017). It is not to say that consumer in other commercial industries are not or cannot be loyal. The

notion of brand loyalty and consumer commitment has been widely studied and identified in

previous marketing literature (Abeza et al., 2013). However, the notion of regional identification

makes the sports fans commitment to their favorite team strong from the start (Koerber & Zabara,

2017). Sports fans are not only loyal in their consumer behavior towards their favorite sports

organization, they tend to likewise financially support the main sponsors of the team (Bee & Kahle,

2006). Studies have found that sports fans tend to prefer retail products, services and corporations

that are associated with their favorite team (Dalakas et al., 2004). The loyalty of sports fans has

made the sports industry a lucrative environment for corporations to introduce their products in

association with sports organizations. Whether fans identify themselves more as consumers or

members of the community is more difficult to examine. However, it is quite common for sports

fans in attendance to pressure the management with banderols and signs to fire players and

coaching staff in case the team is not performing well. In these instances, fans can be considered to

demonstrate their consumer power (James & Heere, 2007).

Consumer loyalty is one byproduct of the strong psychological connection that sports fans

feel towards their favorite team. However, not all sports fans are alike. All fans are individuals and

the strength of the bond between the fan and the organization is likewise determined individually.

13

Previous sports psychology literature has distinguished fan characteristics by using the concept of

team identification.

Team identification

Team identification refers to the “extent to which individuals perceive themselves as fans of the

team, are involved with the team, are concerned with the team’s performance, and view the team as

a representation of themselves” (Wann and Branscombe 1993:1017). Cialdini and Borden (1976)

committed a widely cited study that presented how game outcome affected the students’

identification with their college football teams in Notre Dame, Southern California, Ohio State and

Michigan. Cialdini and Borden (1976) found that after a win, the students were more likely to wear

for the next week in school clothes that had the university logo printed on. In addition, when

Cialdini and Borden (1976) asked students in an interview to recall and describe the events of two

games, a defeat and a win, they found that when the students were describing the victorious game,

they tended to associate themselves with the team and use “we” as a pronoun to address the team. In

the case of the defeat, the students tended to address the team with the pronoun “they”. The findings

of Cialdini's and Borden's (1976) study suggested that sports fans have a desire to associate

themselves with successful individuals and groups to enhance their self-esteem and create a sense

of togetherness with other like-minded individuals.

Based on the psychological connection fans have with their favorite teams, fans are divided

into those who identify to a high and low extent with a team (Bernache-Assollant, Laurin and Bodet

2012; Wann and Branscombe 1990; Wann and Grieve 2005), or sometimes referred to as die-hard

fans and fair-weather fans (Bernache-Assollant et al., 2012). The high identified fans have a strong

emotional connection with the team, they follow the team actively and express a high level of

loyalty towards the team (Daniel L Wann, 2006). The high identified fans do not only identify

themselves with the team, but with each other as well. The psychological connection between high

identified fans resembles a collective sense of togetherness (Stavros, Meng, Westberg and Farrelly,

2014). The low identified fans, or the fair-weather fans, are not as fanatic as the die-hard fans, their

identification towards a team is more vulnerable to external factors, such as team success or ability

to attract star players (Campbell et al., 2004; Daniel L. Wann & Branscombe, 1990). Fair-weather

fans usually express an increased interest towards a team once the team has a successful record and

distances themselves from the team once it starts losing (Daniel L. Wann & Branscombe, 1990).

Previous sports psychology research has found that high and low identified fans have

significantly different responses when it comes to the failure of their favorite team (Dalakas et al.,

2004; Daniel L. Wann & Branscombe, 1990). The reactions to defeats expressed by the fans are

14

usually explained by abbreviations of BIRF and CORF. BIRF is short for basking in reflected

failure. Through BIRFing, a fan attempts to diminish the negativity of the defeat by improving his

or her self-esteem in various ways (Campbell et al., 2004). CORF is short for cutting off reflected

failure and it is likewise a strategy for fans to cope with a defeat and protect the self-esteem. By

CORFing, a fan is protecting the self-esteem by taking distance from an unsuccessful team

(Campbell et al., 2004). Whether a fan engages in BIRFing or CORFing, is usually related to the

level of team identification of the fan. A highly identified fan is more likely to BIRF and a low

identified fan is more likely to CORF after the defeat (Campbell et al., 2004). This is because

highly identified fans have a stronger psychological connection with the team and it reflects to a

great degree the fan’s self-worth (James & Heere, 2007). Meaning that, the fan is keen to preserve a

favorable association with the organization despite a defeat.

Linking sports fandom with organizational image management

Fan loyalty has been witnessed to act as a significant factor in determining how an organizational

image is perceived by fans (Brown & Billings, 2013). Brown and Billings (2013) studied how fans

of the University of Miami football team reacted on social media to allegations that the team was

violating NCAA (National College Athletic Association) protocols regarding athlete payment. The

study showed that, even in presence of undeniable evidence of payment violations, the fans were

determined to defend publicly the reputation and image of the University of Miami football team on

social media. This is a perfect example of fans, as members of the community, taking part in the

image management process.

According to Koerber and Zabara (2017), the strong bonds between the fan community is

one of the reasons why the fans are keen to defend their favorite sports team publicly. The

spectatorship of sports is commonly shared among family and friends, making the event a social

gathering (Koerber & Zabara, 2017). The strong bond and the sense of community arises from

watching sports with like-minded individuals who share a bond with each other and the team

(Koerber & Zabara, 2017). Kruse (1981:272) explains that the sense of togetherness is associated

with belonging to a ‘family’ that reacts in a similar way to the ups and downs of the team; “What

affects one member of the team, affects all”. Koerber and Zabara (2017) notes that we rarely

consume products and services in large groups and that online shopping has made consumption

even more unsociable. This is notably different in terms of sports spectatorship. When addressing

sports fan’s shared support of a team, Koerber and Zabara (2017) takes Kruse's (1981) metaphor of

‘family’ even further and addresses the collectivity of sports fans to resemble a civic community.

This strong sense of togetherness is visible in how fans have a desire to keep the fan community

15

unified. This desire has been witnessed to expand to online environments as well. Vale and

Fernandes (2018) and Stavros, Meng, Westberg and Farrelly (2014) studied what are the driving

factors behind fans’ activity and desire to follow and engage in commenting on their favorite teams’

social media pages. Both studies found that one of the main driving factors behind the fans activity

on social media was to convince others of the excellence of the team and to experience a sense of

camaraderie with fellow fans. The findings highlight the social nature of sport spectatorship and the

strong bonds between the individuals in the fan community (Stavros et al., 2014) & Vale &

Fernandes, 2018).

Another factor contributing to sports fans’ desire to defend the image of their favorite team

is their commitment to a single sports organization (Koerber & Zabara, 2017). Being a fan of a

sports team is usually a lifetime commitment and changing the subject of fandom is quite rare

(Daniel L Wann, 2006). This strong regional identification of fans puts sports organizations in a

protected environment where the existing competitors in the context of sports are for the most part

excluded from the market (Chadwick & Beech, 2007; Koerber & Zabara, 2017). Sports

organizations are able to preserve a favorable position among their fans even if the team is

underperforming. Koerber and Zabara (2017) uses the National Hockey League (NHL) team

Toronto Maple Leafs as an example of an organization with a highly committed fan base. The last

time Toronto Maple Leafs won the NHL was in the year 1967. The Maple Leafs had gone seven

years without even reaching the playoffs. Yet, their games were sold out and the organization was

not in danger of going out of business. In fact, the Maple Leafs is one the wealthiest hockey

organizations in the world (Koerber & Zabara, 2017). This is the result of having a loyal fan base in

a region where there is not any existing competition in the highest level of professional hockey. The

fans can obviously express their dissatisfaction towards the Maple Leafs. However, the only way to

experience the collective togetherness with like-minded fans is to support and follow the team. In

cases of long periods of failure, fans are only left with a hope for a better future (Koerber & Zabara,

2017).

It is fair to argue that the combination of the dominant market position of sports

organizations and the strong social notion of consuming sports is a prerequisite for having loyal and

highly identified fans (Koerber & Zabara, 2017). This brings certain implications to sports

organizations’ image management since highly identified fans have the tendency to “associate their

favorite team’s on-field and off-field issues with their self-worth” (Brown and Billings 2013:79).

As the study conducted by Brown and Billings (2013) about the Miami University football team

shows, fans are willing to invest significant efforts to protect the reputation of their favorite team.

On the surface, this seems like a genuine deed towards the sports organization. However, the

16

actions of the fans are motivated by self-interest since their self-esteem is under threat alongside

with the image of the organization (Brown & Billings, 2013). Furthermore, highly identified fans

recognize the value of the fan community and have a desire to maintain the cohesion within the

community (Brown & Billings, 2013). Thus, expressing support during difficult times or poor team

performances can be considered as an aim to persuade fellow fans by highlighting positive sides of

the organization and keeping up the good spirits in general (Brown & Billings, 2013). In this sense,

fans can likewise be considered to project a certain organizational image to fellow fans. Keeping

the fan community unified is of interest for the highly identified fans since it has direct implications

for the self-worth of the fan (Koerber & Zabara, 2017). A shattered fan community does not only

tear on the sense of togetherness that fans value. If a growing number of fans abandon the team due

to various reasons, it leads to a diminished income stream, which furthermore leads to a diminished

ability to hire quality players and a lowered level of competence (Koerber & Zabara, 2017). Due to

the strong psychological connection sports fans have with their favorite organizations, it is fair to

argue that the fans can have a role in sports organizations image maintenance processes.

Conclusion – literature review

The examination of previous literature reveals that there is a knowledge gap regarding how sports

organizations approach the communication of a defeat on their social media platforms.

Furthermore, even if previous literature has identified that the identity of fans extends beyond the

identity of a consumer and that fans can be considered to be members of a larger community, it

remains slightly unknown how this phenomenon is visible in the context of image management

after a defeat.

The fact that majority of previous literature within the area of the research topic originates

from North-America needs to be addressed here. There might exist various reasons for the North-

American context to be this prominent. The researcher considers that the unparalleled size of the

North-American sports industry to be the main reason for having the majority of the previous

literature situated in the North-American area. In sports such as hockey, American football, baseball

and basketball, the North-American leagues are considered to be on the top of the food chain and

they attract the best players from around of the world. This creates a setting that reinforces the

strong position of the North-American sports industry since the invasion of foreign players to

North-American leagues generates an interest on a global scale. For example, it is fair to argue that

more Swedish hockey fans follow the highest level of hockey in North-America (NHL) than vice

versa. For this reason, one could argue that the regional identification and a sense of being a

member of a larger community are more evident in the Swedish context. Meaning that, the fans’

17

source of identification is mainly regional and the identity of fans as members of a collective

community is stronger. Thus, it becomes more natural to examine fans role in the image

management process of sports organizations in the SHL. Furthermore, the fact that most previous

literature is located in the North-American market and this study takes place in a Swedish context

might have some implications. For example, the fan reactions can be culturally specific or in certain

cultures the notion of collective identity can be stronger than the team success.

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3. Theoretical framework

This section consists of a presentation on of the theoretical framework that was applied for the

study. The theoretical framework consists of organizational image management theory and social

identity theory. These two theories are combined in a customized theoretical framework.

Organizational image management theory

As highlighted in the literature review, organizational image management is a constant process,

where the aim is to engage in strategic communication in order to portray a favorable organizational

image to various parties in the external stakeholder environment (Massey, 2015).

According to the theoretical model created by Massey (2015), organizational image

management consists of three stages: image creation, image maintenance and image restoration. All

image management processes start with the creation of the organizational image. This is vital since

at the start, the organization is unknown and the organization needs to make itself familiar with

external publics (Massey, 2015). After the organization has managed to create an image, it needs to

engage in image maintenance. Image maintenance is a dialogical process, where the organization

needs to base their communication strategies on the feedback they receive from both internal and

external stakeholders (Massey, 2015). Once an organization enters into the image restoration stage,

it is commonly a sign of the organization facing some type of threat to their organizational image

(Massey, 2015) or the performances of the organization have been diminishing for a while (Gilpin,

2010). If the organization finds itself in such as a situation, the organization needs to create a

strategic communication plan to restore the image of the organization. These image restoration

strategies are vital in determining how well the organization is able to recover from the situation

that threatens the image of the organization (Benoit, 1997). According to Massey’s (2015) model, a

successful choice of image restoration strategies enables the organization to re-enter the image

maintenance stage. However, an unsuccessful choice of image restoration strategies leads to

organizational failure, and in the worst possible scenario to organizational restructuring (Massey,

2015). The organizational restructuring as an outcome means that the organization is not able to

recover from the particular event that tarnishes the image of the organization and the organization is

forced to develop a new identity or in extreme cases even change its name or merge with

competitors (Massey, 2015). Failing to apply the correct image restoration strategies will take the

organization back to the image creation stage, making the theoretical model of Massey (2015)

cyclical, instead of linear. Even if the process is cyclical, the process of image re-creation cannot be

19

associated with a full circle since the organization will most likely bear the negative burden of the

harmful event in their future activity.

Examining how sports organizations engage in image maintenance efforts after a defeat in

their social media communication fits well within Massey’s (2015) theoretical model. The

theoretical model enables the exploration of whether sports organizations manage the challenging

contradiction of aiming at all times to communicate a favorable image of the organization and being

expected to communicate negative game outcomes on social media. In this study, Massey’s (2015)

theoretical model will be applied to examine how sports organizations communicate defeats in

social media. Furthermore, the theoretical model is extended to examine how fans react to posts

about defeats that are published by sports organizations.

Social identity theory

A majority of the previous literature regarding sports fandom is explored in the context of social

identity theory (Bernache-Assollant et al., 2012; Campbell et al., 2004; Delia, 2017; Daniel L.

Wann & Branscombe, 1990).

Originally coined by Turner, Brown, and Tajfel (1979), social identity theory explains how

individuals create and maintain a positive social identity through identifying with a group. The main

motivations for an individual to identify with a group is an enhanced feeling of belonging and

experiencing a higher self-esteem (Turner, Brown and Tajfel 1979). Behavioral psychologists have

found that identifying with a group that can act as a social support network has great benefits in

terms of psychological well-being (Daniel L Wann, 2006). Identifying with a group has been

witnessed to result in reduced rates of depression, anxiety and loneliness (Daniel L Wann, 2006).

For an individual, the process of group identification can be a rather unstable and dynamic process.

The degree of identification is vulnerable to external factors that have a direct impact on how the

individual experiences the group as a reflection of his or her social identity (Daniel L Wann, 2006).

Individuals can use a range of coping strategies once they experience that the identification with a

certain group proposes a threat to their social identity. The most common coping strategies are in-

group favoritism and outgroup derogation (Turner et al. 1979; Wann and Branscombe 1990). By

viewing the in-group in a positive light and considering other groups in a negative manner are both

means for boosting the self-esteem of the in-group (Daniel L. Wann & Branscombe, 1990). There

can likewise be instances when an individual decides to distance itself completely from the group.

This is the result of the individual feeling that identifying with the group does no longer contribute

20

to a higher feeling of self-esteem or a positive social identity (Turner, J. C., Brown, R. J., & Tajfel,

1979).

As already mentioned, social identity theory in the context of sports fandom focuses on the

concept of team identification. Many features of the social identity theory fit well the experience of

being a sports fan. When the team wins, fans have a high self-esteem and they likewise tend to

evaluate fellow fans in a more positive light than the fans of the opponent team (Daniel L. Wann &

Branscombe, 1990). Previous scholars have explained that when fans associate themselves with the

positive performances of their favorite team, they bask in reflected glory (BIRG) (Daniel L. Wann

& Branscombe, 1990). BIRGing behavior is different from BIRFing behavior that was addressed in

the literature review in the sense that BIRGing is present only in victories (Campbell et al., 2004).

The uncertainty of outcome in sports, i.e. not knowing how a contest is going to play out, means

that fans cannot BIRG forever, since their favorite team is eventually going to lose. In times of

defeats, fans might be forced to implement a range of coping strategies in order to preserve a

positive understanding of their self-esteem (Delia, 2017). The coping strategies have mainly been

examined through BIRFing and CORFing behavior. When a fan engages in CORFing behavior, he

or she feels that the poor performance of the team results in a feeling of low self-esteem. The fan

protects the tarnished self-esteem by distancing themselves from the team or expressing publicly a

critical opinion of the team (Campbell et al., 2004). The fans who are still engaged with the team

despite the defeats, engage in BIRFing behavior (Campbell et al., 2004). These fans are forced to

implement different types of coping strategies in order to boost their self-esteem when their favorite

team loses. These fans can find joy in displaying their loyalty even if their team loses or they can

associate the negative performances with an external factor, such as biased refereeing (Campbell et

al., 2004).

The purpose of applying the social identity theory in this study is to have a psychological

foundation for examining how fans communicate on social media after a defeat. By addressing this

aspect more thoroughly, it provides a more comprehensive understanding of the customized

theoretical framework, which combines the two previously presented theories.

Customized theoretical framework

In order to examine how sports organizations communicate a defeat on social media and how fans

react to the posts about defeats, the theories presented above need to be tied together.

Even if previous literature provides a strong argument of a defeat as a threat to the

reputation and image of sports organizations, Massey's (2015) theoretical model needs to be slightly

21

modified to fit this context. First, a defeat is a natural part of sports and they rarely result in such

drastic image restoration strategies that might result in a complete change of identity or merger, i.e.

an organization returning to the image creation stage. If an organization faces this scenario, they

have most likely experienced defeats for a lengthy period and lack a solid fan base, which results in

such financial hardship that going out of business or selling the team is the only option. In addition,

sports organizations are not likely to engage in image restoration strategies in the middle of the

season to the extent that it would create a completely new identity, i.e. the organization would

return to the image creation stage. Thus, the first adjustment of Massey’s theoretical model consists

of the removal of the image creation stage and having the image maintenance stage as the starting

point. In this sense, image maintenance is seen as a stage within the image management process.

This adjustment makes the model fit better the purpose of the study and provides a model to

examine whether sports organizations engage in strategic communication in order to maintain a

favorable image on social media when the team experiences a defeat.

The second adjustment considering Massey’s (2015) theoretical model of image

management consists of including the fan reactions to the model. Incorporating the fan reactions to

the model opens up an opportunity to examine how fans’ strong identification with the team is

displayed in how they communicate after a defeat. As already mentioned in the literature review,

fans have a strong psychological connection with their favorite team and commonly view

themselves as members of the organization. Furthermore, fans can be considered as consumers who

expect to gain certain value in exchange for their consumption. When studying the fan reactions, the

stance that the fans use to communicate after a defeat is of interest. Meaning, whether fans engage

in BIRFing or CORFing related communication after a defeat. In this sense, BIRFing is related to a

desire to maintain a cohesion within the fan community by introducing a positive angle to the

communication despite the defeat. CORFing is related to a fans’ desire to distance them from the

team and publicly criticizing the failure of the organization. Thus, incorporating the fan reactions to

the context of organizational image management will likewise provide means for examining how

fans contribute to the organizational image management process after a defeat. When examining

fans as actors in the image management process, it is important to note that fans do not engage in

strategic communication to the same extent as the sports organizations. Fans’ association with the

process of image management is more focused on their means of coping with the defeat and what

kind of implications it has on the process of image management.

The third adjustment consists of the removal of the evaluation stages of ‘successful’ and

‘unsuccessful’ from Massey’s (2015) model. By focusing on social media and sports organizations,

the process of managing the organizational image is approached in this study from a more

22

situational and reactive perspective. Once the team experiences a defeat, the model seeks to identify

whether the organization engages in strategic communication on social media with the aim of

recovering from the defeat and engaging in image maintenance efforts. The focus is not on

identifying whether the organization actually recovers from the defeat. Instead, the focus is on

identifying whether a sports organization introduces any strategical effort in their social media

communication to reach the image maintenance stage after a defeat.

Fans and the communication specialists employed by organizations that are subject to the

study are by no means the only actors responsible for the image management processes in a sports

organization. Players, coaching staff, team management and sponsors can likewise be considered to

play a role in the image management process. Focusing on the communications specialists and the

fans in this dissertation is of convenience since both actors are in a central position in the internal

and external stakeholder environment represented in Massey’s (2015) theoretical model.

Communication specialists are to a great degree responsible for the internal processes that shape the

organizational image. Fans, on the other hand, can be viewed to be involved both internally and

externally in the image management process. Through their strong identification to their favorite

team fans have a desire to communicate a favorable image of the team. Furthermore, fans are

likewise a part of the external stakeholder environment that is shaping the organizational image as

consumers. The limitation of the length of this dissertation prevented a more thorough examination

of other stakeholders’ role in the image management process after a defeat.

This model was designed to fit the purpose of the research, i.e. examining how sports

organizations in the SHL communicate after a defeat on social media. The fans were included in the

model in order to get a more comprehensive understanding of how the different stakeholder groups

are involved in the image management processes of sports organizations and how these stakeholder

groups approach an undesirable game outcome in social media.

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Figure1Massey's(2015)theoreticalmodeloforganizationalimagemanagement

Figure2Customizedtheoreticalframework

24

4. Methodology

This dissertation follows a qualitative approach to research. A case study is used as a research

strategy and data is collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews and by sampling

comments from Facebook.

Like many qualitative studies, this dissertation has a constructivist approach to research and

producing knowledge. The aim is to answer the research questions by generating insights and

establishing a connected meaning from the gathered material and findings. Producing knowledge

and interpreting reality from a constructivist approach is commonly associated with a socially

constructed process where: “social reality may be understood as the result of meanings and contexts

that are jointly created in social interaction” (Steinke, 2004). In this sense, qualitative research

begins by collecting subjective realities and continues by reconstructing these realities in order to

advance with an in-depth analysis that might result in contrasts or summaries (Steinke, 2004).

Even if a constructivist approach to research has received praise in terms of understanding

different realities and producing knowledge, the approach faces likewise some criticism, mainly in

terms of the notion of relativism in the approach (Steinke, 2004). When reality is seen as socially

constructed, truths and facts can likewise be seen as subjective interpretations that lack a universal

agreement (Lorch, 2009). Schütz, (1962:5) provides a response to the critique by stating that “there

are no such things as facts pure and simple. All facts are from the outset selected from a universal

context by the activities of our mind. There are, therefore, always interpreted facts, either facts

looked at as detached from their context by an artificial abstraction or facts considered in their

particular setting. In either case, they carry along their interpretational inner and outer horizon”.

The methodological approach of this dissertation poses limitations similar to the critique of

constructivism. The aim is to understand how communication professionals and fans communicate

after a defeat on social media, which leads the researcher to interpret the communicated reality of

these actors. Furthermore, utilizing a case study as a research strategy poses likewise some

questions in terms of generalizability of the findings. The limitations will be examined more closely

alongside presenting the chosen methods and at the end of the methodology chapter.

Case Study: The Swedish Hockey League

The association that laid the ground for the highest level of hockey in Sweden was established 9th

of October in 1955 (SHL 2018). In 1975, the member organizations in the association established a

league called Elitserien, where 10 teams competed annually for the national championship of

hockey in Sweden. The Elitserien represented the highest level of professional hockey until the year

25

2013, when the name of the league was changed to Svenska Hockey Ligan (SHL). Seven of the ten

teams that started originally in the Elitserien played in the SHL during the 2017-2018 season.

Hockey, as one of the most popular sports in Sweden makes the SHL one of the biggest sports

brands in Sweden. A survey conducted by the research group Upplevelseinstitutet (2017) revealed

that the SHL is the most popular sports league in Sweden with a one percent margin of separation

from the Allsvenskan (football).

Today the SHL encompasses 14 teams that start their season in the middle of September.

The teams in the league represent a total of 14 cities that are located in various parts of Sweden.

The teams in SHL play a total of 52 matches during the regular season and all teams face each other

four times. The regular season ends in the middle of March. The eight most successful teams of the

regular season start competing in playoffs at the end of the regular season. The league champion

that receives the Rauol LeMats trophy is declared at the end of April.

All the teams in the SHL were requested to participate in the study. A total of six

organizations replied to the request and agreed to be a part of the study. The teams that are subject

to study in this dissertation are:

• Frölunda Indians, Gothenburg (Regular season rank: 3)

• Luleå Hockey (Regular season rank: 7)

• Linköping Hockey (Regular season rank: 9)

• AIK Skellefteå (Regular season rank: 5)

• Örebro Hockey (Regular season rank: 12)

• Rögle BK, Ängelholm (Regular season rank: 11)

Using a case study as a research strategy provided clarity and consistency for the research

by examining organizations that operate within the market. The decision to choose the SHL for the

case study was motivated by three reasons. First, incorporating sports organizations within the

national borders of Sweden increased confidence in getting into contact with organizational staff for

interviews. Being able to conduct the interviews in the native language of the interviewees

contributed further to this confidence. Second, hockey’s position as a popular sport in Sweden

ensured that there exists a base for examining social media communication processes with fans. All

organizations in the SHL have been active for a long time on social media and they engage in social

media communication efforts on a daily basis. Third, studying and writing the dissertation in

Sweden made it simply reasonable to study Swedish sports organizations.

26

In a broad sense case study as a research method aims to understand the general by looking

at something specific (Thomas, 2011). Peter Swanborn (2010) argues that it is difficult to provide a

definition of the case study that contains all the different typologies of research that are furthermore

based on different sources of data. He provides one definition of the case study that is seemingly

fitting for this research. Swanborn (2010:13) considers case studies to be “carried out within the

boundaries of one social system (the case), or within the boundaries of a few social systems (the

cases), such as people, organizations, groups, individuals, local communities or nation-states, in

which the phenomenon to be studied enrolls”. This definition grasps nicely the purpose of using a

case study in this research: the SHL represents the social system and the social media

communication after a defeat alongside the fan reactions are the phenomena to be studied within the

social system.

Data collection

In-depth interviews

Interviews as a data gathering method have become popular in social sciences (Legard, Keegan, &

Ward, 2003). As a research method, interviews are rich in data, cost-effective and allows the

interviewer to understand the reality of the interviewee through a conversation (Legard et al., 2003).

Interviews have likewise a fair share of limitations. One of the biggest limitations of the method is

related to the fact that there will always be some amount of information that the interviewee is not

willing to disclose (Legard et al., 2003). In addition, the reality that the interviewee presents is

subjectively constructed and it is difficult to examine the truthfulness of the statements and the

communicated reality (Legard et al., 2003).

For this research, six communication specialists employed by the SHL organizations that

participated in the study were interviewed in order to get an insight into how communicating

defeats in social media impacts strategic communication processes. Communication specialists that

were interviewed:

• Jonas Andersson, social media content producer/video editor at Frölunda Indians

• Robert Hedlund, responsible for media and communication at Luleå Hockey

• Lasse Mauritzon, responsible for communications at Rögle BK

• Anna Hägglund, responsible for media and press at Skellefteå AIK

• Ludwig Andersson, responsible for press and communications at Örebro Hockey

• Gustaf Petterson, responsible for communications at Linköping Hockey

27

The communication specialists were interviewed in an in-depth, semi-structured manner. In-depth,

semi-structured interviews are characterized by the interviewer designing the interview around a

research question and a specific theme (Legard et al., 2003). Even if the interview structure follows

a particular predetermined theme, there is still plenty of room for an elaboration of thoughts and the

interview advances in a conversational manner (Legard et al., 2003).

The interviews were conducted during the time period of 15.2 – 20.3 2018. The interviews

lasted 30-45 minutes and the initial interview structure consisted of 10 questions regarding

communication about a defeat on social media. When there was an opportunity, the interviewer

asked follow up questions or asked the interviewee to elaborate further on an answer. Due to lack of

financial and time resources, the interviews were conducted per telephone. An application was used

to record the interview in order to make transcribing and analyzing answers easier. The interviews

were conducted in Swedish and later translated and transcribed into English.

All the teams in the SHL were contacted for the interviews through e-mail, social media and

telephone calls. All the organizations that responded to the initial contact participated in the study.

Obviously, there was a desire of including more teams from the SHL in the study to get a larger

sample size. However, after transcribing and analyzing the answers of the interviewees it was found

that there is little variation in the answers presented by the interviewees. This was further confirmed

in the coding process when codifying the answers did not produce a wide range of categories. Thus,

it was reasonable to claim that saturation was reached regarding the interviews. Including more

interviews would not have added significant value to the research.

As already mentioned, choosing interviews as a research method was vital for understanding

how a defeat is present in the strategic communication and image maintenance processes in social

media. It is evident that there might occur scenarios where interviewees present answers that could

be subject to social desirability bias. However, this threat was partly eliminated by the topic of the

research. When aiming to understand how defeats affect the strategic communication of the

organizations, the interviewees are explaining how they adapt to a factor that is out of their control.

Fan comments on Facebook

Data was likewise collected from the Facebook pages of teams that participated in the study. The

purpose of the sampling was to identify how fans react to defeats on social media. A total of 90

comments published on posts about defeats during the time period 18.1 2018 – 1.3 2018 were

collected for the sample. Comments from three posts regarding a defeat, published by each of the

six teams in the study, were sampled for analysis. Furthermore, the first five comments from each

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post were chosen for the sample (6 teams, 3 posts per team, 5 comments from each post). The first

five comments per posts were chosen for the sample since in some instances posts did not have

more comments. The comments were written in Swedish. The researcher translated the collected

comments into English before starting the analysis. All aspects that could link the sampled

comments with the identity of commenter was eliminated in the sampling process. The concern of

saturation with the chosen sampling strategy was eliminated in the coding process. The nature of

the fan reactions started to become repetitive after 60 comments and after that, there was a limited

amount of content that provided new dimensions through coding.

Facebook was chosen as the social media platform subject to study since Facebook appeared

to one of the most prominent social platforms that the teams used. Additionally, the conversation

forum-like interface of Facebook allowed an effortless collection of comments for the sample.

Comments could have been collected from other social media platforms as well, such as Instagram

and Twitter, which the sports organizations subject to study use frequently. However, the fan

engagement on these platforms in terms of commenting was not on a sufficient level for this study.

For certain teams with lower follower rates on Twitter and Instagram, there was frequently less than

5 comments on posts about a defeat. It is arguably true that there are other forums on the internet

where fans engage in conversations. However, the sports organizations are not monitoring these

pages or forums and thus, they do not fit the frame of organizational image management the way

social media pages that are monitored by the organizations fit.

Data analysis

Content Analysis

According to (Prasad 1994:1), content analysis is “the scientific study of content of

communication”.

As a research method, content analysis can be used in a quantitative and a qualitative way.

Quantitative and qualitative content analysis differs in two ways: the coding procedure and use of

counts (Morgan, 1993). When it comes to the coding procedure, quantitative and qualitative content

analysis differs in terms of how codes are produced (Morgan, 1993). The qualitative approach relies

more on a careful reading of the data and is more prone to subjective coding categories (Morgan,

1993). When it comes to the use of counts, a quantitative approach to content analysis relies on

counts and statistics when summarizing the data (Morgan, 1993). In the qualitative approach,

counts are not as central and can be used for the descriptive and interpretative process (Morgan,

1993). Furthermore, in the qualitative approach to content analysis, “counts can be utilized for

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further interpretation of the data” (Morgan 1993:116). Additionally, the content analysis can be

either inductive or deductive (Elo & Kyngäs, 2007). In the deductive content analysis, the data is

approached from pre-existing categories while in the inductive approach the coding categories are

open (Elo & Kyngäs, 2007). Elo and Kyngäs (2007) state that the purpose of the study should

determine whether the content analysis is qualitative or qualitative and furthermore, inductive or

deductive.

As means for data analysis, a qualitative textual analysis (i.e. content analysis) was used in

this dissertation. The decision to conduct a qualitative content analysis was evident since the

purpose of the analysis was to identify how sports organizations approach communicating a defeat

on social media and how fans react to posts about defeats. Following sections will present in more

detail the process of analyzing data, i.e. the coding process.

The coding of interviews

There are various ways of coding textual material. In qualitative methods, a code refers commonly

to “a word or a short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capturing

and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language-based or visual data” (Saldana 2009:3).

The end goal of the process of coding is to identify patterns in the data and assign codes into

categories (Saldana, 2009). In the first coding cycle, the focus was on identifying codes from the

data by scanning the material in a broad way. The early stages of coding interview transcriptions

were done by combining In-Vivo and descriptive coding. In-Vivo coding consists of deriving codes

from the direct language that the interviewees use (Saldana, 2009). In descriptive coding, phrases

are summarized commonly in one word that describes the overarching topic of research (Saldana,

2009). This process encompassed identifying choice of words, actors and processes of

communication. At the end of the first coding cycle, it was found that the codes are forming a

unified pattern that consists of various processes. This led to recoding the existing codes in order to

identify processes of strategic communication. Process coding is suitable for identifying words and

phrases that indicate some kind of action (Saldana, 2009). Process coding enabled the researcher to

focus more closely on how the interviewees described a defeat to affect their strategic

communication processes. Furthermore, utilizing process coding in the first coding cycle laid the

basis for forming categories and unifying themes in the second coding cycle.

In the second coding cycle, the focus was on assigning the codes from the first coding cycle

into categories. First, there was an aim to identify what are the factors that guide the strategic

communication processes after a defeat. It was found that it is not the defeat in itself that guide the

communication processes, it is the anticipated reactions from fans that are the determining factors in

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strategic choices of content. The finding led to the third cycle of coding where the focus was on

identifying areas of organizational communication where this is evident. The final product of

coding was two categories that are to some extent interrelated: (1) the impact of a defeat on

communication processes on social media and (2) organizational image management after a defeat.

The first category is focused on identifying the concrete strategic communication processes that

ensue after a defeat. The second category focuses more broadly on how the defeat impacts

organizational image management in social media. The two categories are highly interrelated,

however, they are complementary. To fully understand how a defeat affect the type of

organizational image sports organizations are able to present on social media, it is necessary to first

examine thoroughly how a defeat impacts the concrete strategic communication processes.

Coding of fan comments on Facebook

The coding process of the sampled fan comments started in an inductive manner since the

researcher did not know what to expect from the comments. The first coding cycle consisted again

of codifying comments with In-Vivo and descriptive coding. Word expressions associated with

emotions, actors and choice of words were highlighted in the first coding cycle. After the first

coding cycle a pattern started to emerge through the codes. The fans demonstrated in their

comments emotional reactions that were related to BIRFing and CORFing in terms of coping with a

defeat. Through coding, it became evident that there is variation in how fans react to a defeat on

social media. The main difference was that some fans expressed support after a defeat while other

fans took a more critical stance, resembling the categories of BIRF and CORF derived from social

identity theory. This laid the basis for the second coding cycle where the codes were examined in a

more deductive manner. In the second coding cycle, codes were assigned to categories of BIRFing

and CORFing comments. When the codes were assigned to their respective categories, the

characteristics of the codes became subject to a closer examination. It became evident that

CORFing comments are characterized by brief outbursts of frustration where the fans direct their

negativity towards the organization. BIRFing comments, on the other hand, displayed a desire to

maintain a good atmosphere in the fan community despite the defeat. The end product of the coding

was two categories: (1) BIRF/positive comments and (2) CORF/negative comments. These

categories enabled an association of the fan reactions on posts about a defeat with the different

dimensions of fan identities and furthermore, with the role of fans in organizational image

maintenance.

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Ethical considerations

The data collection methods of this dissertation need to be examined for their ethical correctness.

First, the interviewees gave their consent for disclosing their complete answers without any

restrictions in the study. Furthermore, the interviewees saw no issue in disclosing their name,

organization that employs them and their position within the organization for the study. This

information is likewise publicly available on all the SHL organizations’ websites. The interviewees

were offered the opportunity to have their answers presented as anonymous. None of the

interviewees found this necessary.

When it comes to the collection of fan comments from Facebook, it was time-wise

practically impossible to get the consent of the individuals whose comments were sampled. To be

certain that the data collection did not raise any ethical concerns, all efforts were directed to

preserve the anonymity of the commenter. The translation of the comment into English furthermore

contributed to preserving the anonymity of the commenter and not being able to trace the identity of

the commenter.

Limitations

As already mentioned, approaching the research through social constructivism raises some concerns

in terms of presenting a subjectively constructed truth and reality. Furthermore, using case study as

a research method raises always a concern in terms of generalizability (Swanborn, 2010). This is

something that is acknowledged and there is no effort in arguing that the findings can be

generalized to address all the social media sports communication in general. However, in order to

conduct a study in the context of organizational image management in the sports industry, a case

study of the Swedish Hockey League turned out to be the most feasible option due to the

accessibility to interview respondents.

When it comes to the interviews, what the respondents are presenting might be only an

account of their reality. In this sense, the interviewees have to be considered as representatives of

the organization when participating in the interview. It is possible that these interviewees would

have given a different set of answers in a different context and with a different identity. However,

from the perspective of organizational image management, these respondents were the most

relevant for this particular study due to their area of expertise. The concern regarding the

subjectivity of the reality applies likewise to the fan reactions on Facebook; the true motivation

behind the fans’ communication is not evident. This poses likewise a concern regarding a

subjectively established reality. Furthermore, the fan reactions might be culturally and team

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specific. Not being able to generalize the findings of the fan reactions is related to using case study

as a research strategy. The way trustworthiness can be ensured in a situation like this, is to rely on a

systematic and transparent coding process, have an active analytical stance and reach saturation in

empirical data (Morse, Barrett, Mayan, Olson, & Spiers, 2002). These three aspects were

emphasized throughout the whole research process while having a focus on not trying to generalize

the findings to account for a universal truth.

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5. Findings

In this section, the empirical findings that were derived from the interviews with communication

experts and the content analysis of fan reactions to defeats on the team’s Facebook pages will be

presented. Findings from the interviews and the analysis of fan reactions to defeats will be

presented using the above-mentioned categories that were established through the coding process.

RQ1: How do the communication professionals of the SHL communicate after a defeat

on social media?

Strategic communication goals in social media

All the communication specialists who were subject to the interviews explained similar type of

strategic goals in their social media communication. The teams’ social media communication

efforts were built around the goals of generating interest towards the team and raising awareness for

upcoming team events and the organization activity in general. Jonas Andersson (Frölunda), Anna

Hägglund (Skellefteå AIK) and Gustaf Petterson (Linköping) noted that their additional goal in

social media is to strengthen the corporate social responsibility of the organization. Andersson,

Hägglund and Petterson highlighted that social media is a great tool for showing that the

organization is much more than only a hockey club in the community. Additionally, the teams that

were subject to the study want to take advantage of the cost-effective publishing of social media

and provide additional value for fans. The interviewees explained that this desire is fulfilled by

providing an insight into the team activity in social media on a daily basis. Content such as player

interviews, locker room conversations and other exclusive material was unanimously considered to

serve as a way of keeping the fans engaged with the team during days when the team is not playing.

This type of communication was considered to be valuable for creating a complete fan experience.

Even if the interviewees presented a variety of strategic communication goals in social media, the

interviewees highlighted consistently that the end goal of all social media communication is driven

by an effort to enhance the economy of the organization by attracting more fans to attend games.

The foundation of the communication is that social media was to inform fans about upcoming

games and where to buy tickets.

The impact of a defeat on communication processes on social media

Even if the interview questions were designed to get answers about how a defeat is present in the

social media communication processes, the interviewees frequently reflected on the differences

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between a win and a defeat when giving their answers. In this way, the limiting impact of a defeat

became evident when the interviewees highlighted the vast opportunities that a win generates for

social media communication in contrast to a defeat.

The interviewees stated unanimously that the team performances and the game outcome

have a significant impact on how strategic social media communication goals are reached.

According to the interviewees, the determining factor is the reactions from the fans. All

interviewees agreed that they have a drastically better opportunity to reach their goals in social

media communication once the team is winning, simply because fans are more receptive for a wider

range of content after a victorious game. Interviewees explained that the game outcome was found

to have an impact on the strategic communication goals and efforts of the teams in two main ways;

social media metrics and content publication. All the interviewees stated that posts about wins in

social media generate a greater amount of comments, likes and shares. Lasse Mauritzon (Rögle BK)

explained that their reach and engagement metrics are approximately five times greater when the

team wins versus when the team loses. Having improved social media metrics were considered to

be vital for reaching the goal of generating interest and raising awareness. The interviewees

explained that the algorithm of Facebook labels content with a high level of engagement as

interesting and it results in a greater reach of posts, which in turn can be viewed as a prerequisite for

generating interest towards the team and attracting new fans in social media environments.

Second, interviewees revealed that the fan reactions to the game outcome dictates to a high

degree the quality and quantity of content that the teams are able and willing to produce. The

interviewees stated unanimously that they tend to produce less content after a defeat. Interviewees

agreed to the fact that a defeat limits the amount and type of content that can be published. This

limitation was explained by the fans reacting negatively to the majority of content after a defeat.

Robert Hedlund (Linköping) provided a comprehensive insight into this process:

“When you win, it is a perfect opportunity to strengthen your image and brand because everyone is

happy and you reach a lot of people with your messages. When you lose, it is a direct threat to your

image…then you cannot produce any funny or playful material because fans do not want to see any

material that portrays the team doing something else than focusing on winning the next game. So

we are definitely a bit low in our communication opportunities after a defeat.”

The interviewees explained that they published something that can be labeled as a basic package of

content after a defeat. A basic package of content included commonly a post about the result and

one interview with a team member. Anna Hägglund (Skellefteå AIK) stated that all communication

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processes become more difficult after a defeat. She explained that it is even a challenge to produce

content about the organization’s good deeds in the community because the negative atmosphere of a

defeat extends beyond the result and affects posts about the organization activity in general. Jonas

Anderson (Frölunda) explained that a defeat limits the visibility of the players in further posts

because they are in low spirits after a defeat and are not willing to participate in social media posts.

Anderson explained that not being able to have the players as the center of attention in the posts is

harmful to the goal of generating interest because the players are the main source of interest for

fans. Interviewees explained that when the team is defeated, they are forced to take alternative

approaches to their communication. Anna Hägglund (Skellefteå) stated that in times of defeats, they

try to shift the focus slightly away from the bad result and start immediately to focus on upcoming

games. In addition, Hägglund said that in times of defeats it is difficult to promote games and there

needs to be alternative ways to attract fans to games, such as special discount offers. The

interviewees explained that their communication approach changes once the team wins. Gustaf

Petterson (Linköping) explained that the communication with fans becomes more natural after a

win and this means that it is easier to promote other sides of the organization, such as the corporate

social responsibility, since all of the posts are met with a great degree of positivity. The

interviewees explained that the quantity and range in terms of the type of posts increased after a

win. The interviewees agreed that once the team wins, there is a window of opportunity to utilize

the good result in building a favorable image. Lasse Mauritzon (Rögle BK) elaborated on the

communication processes that follow a win:

“In a victorious period, we strive to have more material and more exclusive material, we want to

maximize the good feeling that is present after a win. We try to produce a wide range of content

that the fans would be interested in. This allows us also to build on the good feeling days after the

win and we can post some good material from the next day’s practices to keep up the good spirits.”

All in all, the main finding of the interviews was that the quantity and quality of posts vary between

a win and a defeat and this was found to have an impact on how well the teams are able to reach

their strategic goals of generating interest and raising awareness of the team and organization in

social media.

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Organizational image management after a defeat: Desire to appear as a credible sports

organization

All the interviewees mentioned that much of communication efforts in social media are aimed to

influence how the team and the organization is perceived by the fans. Adjectives such as exciting,

likeable and positive were frequently used when the interviewees described how they want to be

perceived by their fans. Anna Hägglund made a simple and comprehensive statement about the

desired image: “Positivity sells our product in the best possible way”. All interviewees agreed that

the game outcome determines to a great extent what kind of organizational image they can

communicate. The communication efforts regarding the organizational image were also affected to

a great degree by the fan reactions.

The persuasion of fans starts already at the beginning of the season. The interviewees

explained that they are not taking into consideration the potential team success when they are

planning their communication strategy for the upcoming season. Even when the team has

performed poorly the previous season and a championship does not seem probable for the

upcoming season either, the communication efforts are not designed to introduce realistic

expectations of the team performances. Gustaf Petterson (Linköping) explained why: “We have a

good season and good team performances as a starting point. It would be strange if we took any

other standpoint because it is much about getting our fans excited for the upcoming season. At the

beginning of the season, we do not want to portray the team as anything else than competitive”.

The interviewees considered defeats to be a part of the game and the game outcome

combined with the fan reactions was considered commonly to be something beyond the control of

the social media communicators. This mindset was visible when the interviewees demonstrated

very few communication strategies that were specifically implemented after a defeat. Anna

Hägglund (Skellefteå AIK) and Gustaf Petterson (Linköping) explained that they try occasionally to

communicate a perspective to their fans after a defeat. The communicated perspective is aimed to

persuade the fans and help them to evaluate the team performance in a more objective manner.

Petterson explained that sometimes the fans need guidance in putting the team performance in

perspective: “Fans have a tendency of viewing the sport as very black and white; it is either a win

or a defeat. Sometimes if the team has actually played really well despite the defeat, we try to

emphasize the good team effort in our posts”. Lasse Mauritzon explained that when Rögle BK

experiences a defeat, they usually wait few hours after the game with posting the result on social

media. Mauritzon explained that this is a conscious strategy where they try to offer the fans few

hours to calm down before exposing them to the result in social media.

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There were two main reasons for the absence of specific image management strategies after

a defeat: (1) relying on a standardized communication plan in social media and (2) having a desire

of preserving credibility as a sports organization. The interviewees explained consistently that they

have established a model for social media that works well. The way this model extended to the

game outcome was that the teams had two customized models of content; one for wins and one for

defeats. The interviewees explained that there is a need for a standardized approach to social media

since they are playing 54 games in a season, sometimes even 4 times a week, and it is more efficient

to have the pre-determined set of posts to use in different scenarios. The teams portrayed a rather

standardized approach to posting about wins and defeats. Robert Hedlund (Luleå Hockey) felt that

few sports organizations in Sweden have the financial and time resources to take a more statistical

and research-like approach to their social media communication. According to Hedlund, this is the

main reason why a standardized approach is prominent.

The other reason why the teams did not have specific strategies or content for

communicating defeats or bad performances was related to a desire to appear as an honest and

credible sports organization. This way of thinking was highly related to the fact that a defeat is a

part of the sport. Robert Hedlund (Luleå) explained that trying to shift the focus away from a defeat

could have harmful consequences:

“You need to have a sense of the mood around the team and the fans…we want to appear honest in

our communication. If you try too hard to find something positive in a defeat, it becomes quite

quickly something fake. We cannot shy away from a defeat by shifting our focus to something else

than the result. I think our fans would see through that and there is a big chance of making the

situation worse. We strive for positivity after a defeat but we need to remain honest and keep our

credibility as a sports organization also after a defeat.”

Even if there exists a variety of sources from which fans can receive the results of the matches, the

interviewees unanimously stated that they have never thought about not publishing the result of the

match in their social media channels. Presenting the result on social media, no matter if it is a win

or a defeat, was likewise linked to the desire of appearing as honest and credible. Jonas Andersson

(Frölunda) stated that not posting about defeats would send a message to fans that show that the

team is not considering lost games as valid results. Ludwig Andersson (Örebro) indicated that

having a tool to communicate directly with fans and promote upcoming games obligates the team

correspondingly to communicate a defeat on social media, even if it generates a lot of negativity.

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The interviewees noted that being open to comments from fans in social media has

generated to some extent additional challenges when it comes to managing the organizational

image. For example, all the interviewees mentioned that they are forced to monitor fan reactions

and comments on social media after defeats and occasionally delete inappropriate comments.

Interviewees explained that fans are encouraged to provide constructive criticism on social media,

however, comments that are threatening or offensive on a personal level are deleted since the social

media pages are correspondingly a representation of the organization. In addition, Lasse Mauritzon

(Rögle BK) mentioned that the emergence of social media has allowed undesirable rumors to

spread in social media to the extent that the organization has been forced to take action. Mauritzon

explained that this autumn, there was a rumor circulating on social media about one of their injured

player’s having an alcohol, drug and gambling problem. The organization had to react to the rumor

and arrange a meeting with the player to discuss whether there was any truth to the rumor.

Despite the challenges that the transparency of social media generates, the interviewees

highlighted that there are still undeniable benefits that social media brings to the process of

organizational image management. The interviewees noted that before social media there were

limited opportunities to keep the fans engaged with the team during days when the team is not

playing. The cost-effective communication with fans has turned out to be a great method for

providing additional value to the fan experience and bring the fans closer to the team. Ludwig

Andersson (Örebro Hockey), mentioned that through social media, fans are able to see what

happens in the locker rooms, at practices and before matches. Andersson concluded that this type of

exclusive content is vital for generating interest in the team and attracting new fans. Instead of

considering a social media presence as something negative during defeats, Anna Hägglund

(Skellefteå AIK) considered it as an enhancement to managing the organizational image. Hägglund

explained that before social media, the organization was not able to introduce a perspective to the

fans after a defeat. Hägglund added that with social media, sports organizations have the possibility

to communicate a mindset of redemption after a defeat or portray the team performance as

courageous after a defeat, which aims to get fans to approach their disappointment from a more

objective angle. Ludwig Andersson (Örebro Hockey) stated that it is not a question whether sports

organizations can or cannot be on social media. Andersson concluded that social media is the

environment to reach people nowadays and sports organizations need to adapt to the new habits of

stakeholders, even if it occasionally makes sports organizations subject to negative feedback.

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Summary of interviews

The interviews with six employees responsible for social media communication at hockey

organizations in the Swedish Hockey League revealed that the game outcome has a significant

impact on how the teams pursue their strategic communication in social media. The anticipated fan

reactions guided the communication processes to a great extent.

According to the interviewees, the fans react in a more positive way to content after a win

and this leads to the teams producing more content after a win than a defeat. The reason for this was

that the teams wanted to maximize the positivity after a win and minimize the negativity after a

defeat. Even if there is a highly negative reception of posts after a defeat, the interviewees

explained that there are no significant image maintenance strategies to be implemented after a

defeat. Even if defeats limits how the organizations are able to communicate in social media, it is

such a deeply rooted variable in the sport that interviewees saw a defeat as something that is beyond

their control. The interviewees took the stance that it is better to communicate the defeat as it is,

rather than trying to implement specific strategies for presenting the result. The interviewees

described a link between communicating the result as it is and appearing as an honest and credible

sports organization. This indicates that alone, the straightforward approach to communicating the

result is image maintenance in itself.

The impact of a defeat on communication processes in social media

• Difficulties in reaching strategic communication goals in social media - Diminished social media metrics - Diminished quantity of posts - One sided content production

Table 1 Summary of findings: The impact of a defeat on communication processes in social media

Organizational image management after a defeat

• Lack of specific image maintenance strategies after a defeat (defeats as a part of the sport) - Relying on a standardized approach in communication on social media - Desire to appear as a credible sports organization

Table 2 Summary of findings: Organizational image management after a defeat

RQ2: From what stance are fans communicating on social media after a defeat (BIRF

or CORF)?

Even if the social media communication specialists portrayed the amount of negativity after a defeat

to be something close to overwhelming, the content analysis revealed that the fans are frequently

able to find a supportive and positive angle in their comments on social media. In terms of quantity,

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there was an approximately equal amount of critical and supportive comments found on posts that

communicated a defeat in social media. The amount of supportive and critical comments on a post

after a defeat had to a certain extent a unified pattern that could be attached to the events of the

game. Posts that started off with positive comments tended to get additional positive comments.

However, these positive comments did not exclude all the critique; there was not a single post

without any negative comments no matter how well the team had played according to the fans.

Another interesting characteristic in the supportive and critical comments on posts about defeats

was that when fans posted comments that expressed optimism, loyalty and support (BIRF/positive

comments), they tended to address the team with the pronoun “we”. When fans posted comments

that were more critical, pessimistic and frustrated (CORF/negative comments), they tended to use

the pronouns “you” and “they” when addressing the team.

BIRFing/Positive comments

When fans displayed support and positivity in their comments after a defeat, the comments were

characterized by a more modest emotional investment and an ability to examine the result from a

more objective angle. Some of the interviewees explained that they try to communicate a

perspective to their fans on social media after a defeat. A lot of fans were able to approach the result

of the game from a certain perspective that fit the circumstances of the defeat and address this

perspective in an analytical manner. For example, reasons for a defeat were found from external

factors such as a busy match schedule (tired players), difference in team budgets (not being able to

hire the same quality of players that the opposite team has) and difference in the league rankings (a

good performance against a top team despite a defeat).

• “Hello! Three matches in four days and we end up with two wins and one defeat. We did

well tonight despite the defeat! Good job guys!” (28.1 Luleå Hockey - Färjestad BK 1-2)

• “It feels like a victory. It is never nice losing to the “coffee beans” but being able to come

back from a 1-4 deficit shows true strength!” (3.2 Färjestad BK – Frölunda Indians 4-5).

A defeat seemed likewise to be an opportunity for fans to demonstrate their loyalty to their team.

Fans presented a mindset of redemption in their comments and encouraged the team to move on

from the defeat in order to prepare for the next contest. These type of comments were characterized

by an optimistic view of the future matches and team performances. Additionally, in times of

defeats fans highlighted the sense of togetherness and the great atmosphere that they were able to

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create in the arena. In some occasions, the desire to demonstrate fan loyalty was motivated by a

persuasion of other fans who displayed a high amount of negativity in their comments. These type

of comments had an accusing tone and downplayed fans who complained about the defeat in the

comment section of the Facebook post.

• “Five defeats are tough to take for players, management and all the fans involved. Now we

just win the rest of the games and all our sorrows will be forgotten” (24.2 Linköping –

Djurgården 1-3)

• “Many spoiled (fans) in here! Is this what you call support? Skellefteå AIK has won the

regular season four times in a row, which no other Swedish hockey team has managed to

do. We played in the finals four straight years! And here you are only complaining, talk

about spoiled couch trainers. (27.1 AIK Skellefteå – Frölunda Indians 0-3)

• “Get a grip of yourselves! It is called supporting!! I am ashamed!!” (27.1 2018 AIK

Skellefteå – Frölunda 0-3)

Fans were also found to use coping strategies after defeats where the reason for the defeat and bad

result was found in an external factor. The most common external factors that explained the

undesired result was bad refereeing and bad luck. These comments were labeled by stronger

emotional responses, such as a sense of injustice and frustration. In some occasions, the fans

victimized the team and sympathized with the strong team effort that eventually was ruined by an

unjust referee or some poor luck.

• “You guys played very well tonight. You can always question the referee’s decision after an

ending like that. Now the focus needs to be shifted to the upcoming games and you need to

continue with your fine work!” (20.1 2018 Luleå Hockey – Frölunda Indians 2-3)

• “I wonder if we ever have received fewer penalties than the opponent when Sjöqvist has

been the referee? Does anyone have statistics on this matter?” (1.3 Örebro Hockey – Vaxjö

Lakers 1-2)

CORFing/Critical comments

When fans expressed negative reactions on a post about a defeat in social media, the comments

were loaded with emotional tones of pessimism, frustration, anger and even shame. The critical

42

comments were more straightforward, brief and the commenters demonstrated a lack of objective

perspective when addressing the team’s performance. Brief emotional expressions, such as

“embarrassing” or “scandalous” were used to express dissatisfaction after a defeat. In general, the

CORFing comments did not have the same analytical nuance as the BIRFing comments. In

addition, fans were quick to jump to conclusions after a defeat and address the future of the team in

a pessimistic manner. For example, fans were stating after a defeat that the team will be relegated

from the league at the end of the season if the poor performances continue. Majority of the criticism

in the comments were directed to the team performance, players and coaching staff. In some

instances, fans expressed even their frustration with the team management after a defeat. The

common finding was that the critique was expressed in a form of fans demanding a change or

calling on a certain action. These demands comprehended commonly firing certain players and

replacing coaching staff or team management personnel.

• “There will not be any playoff hockey this year for Linköping, the team is incredibly bad.

Unfortunately, this is the situation.” (1.3 Linköping – Färjestad BK 2-3)

• “It is time to change the coaching staff. Something needs to be done! It cannot get worse

than this, can it?” (27.1 Skellefteå AIK – Frölunda 0-3)

• “As long as the management decides to select a former player as the sports manager there

will not be progress. They are just repeating the same mistakes with a different name in

charge. The fundamental problem is in the management.” (24.2 Linköping – Djurgården 1-

3)

Some comments were emotionally loaded to the extent that fans seemed to be offended by the

defeat and the poor team performances. These strong emotional reactions were especially evident in

cases where the defeat was clear, the team performed poorly and the fans considered that the team

did not demonstrate enough will to win the game. Furthermore, the lack of fight in the team effort

was considered as disrespectful towards the fans who pay for the tickets. In these instances, it was

occasionally found that the frustration regarding poor team performances resulted in a counter-

reaction where fans publicly expressed their decision to not support the team in order to avoid the

inevitable disappointments. Sometimes fans were also found to rely on humor when coping with a

defeat. However, the humorous reaction was more focused on portraying the team effort as

laughable and as having a sarcastic tone in the comment.

43

• “I was planning to travel to Vaxjö and cheer for the team but I decided that I will not invest

time and money on watching Linköping getting destroyed again” (24.2 Djurgården –

Linköping 3-1)

• “Where is the passion?? Where is the drive? When you are playing in the home arena in

front of your own fans you need to go all in! Unacceptable!” (10.2 Linköping – Malmö 1-2)

Summary – fan reactions to defeats on Facebook

Although the interviewees emphasized the amount of negative comments that posts about defeats

on social media receive, the analysis revealed that fans had the ability to frequently find a positive

angle after a defeat. The analysis identified to a certain extent a pattern in cases when fans reacted

in a more supportive manner despite a defeat. In cases of a courageous team performance and unjust

refereeing, fans tended to support the team despite the defeat. However, even in these instances,

some fans expressed criticism alongside the positive comments, which did not make the pattern

clear nor complete.

The coding process of fan reactions to defeats on Facebook revealed that fans react to an

undesirable match outcome in various ways. The fact that there is variation within the categories of

supportive and critical comments provides a foundation for associating the fan reactions to the

teams’ processes of communicating defeats in social media. The next section will consist of an

analysis where the empirical findings are examined through the customized theoretical framework.

A summary of the coding table of fan comments presented in Appendix B.

CategoriesintheCORFstance CategoriesintheBIRFstance• Pessimisticviewofthefuture • Examiningadefeatfromaperspective• Callforachange • Findingexternalreasonsforadefeat• Teamperformancerelatedcriticism • Callingoutnegativityamongfellow

fans• Shortburstsoffrustration • Praisingthefancommunity• “Nolongersupportingtheteam” • Communicatingasenseofredemption

Table3FanreactionstoadefeatintheBIRFandCORFstances

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6. Analysis

The challenge of communicating on behalf of a sports organization was well presented by the

interviewees. The following section will consist of an analysis of how communication professionals

in SHL communicate defeats in Facebook and what stance the fans take after defeats in social

media. The analysis is based on the customized theoretical framework that was used for this

dissertation.

The different roles of fans and communication professionals in image maintenance

The two stakeholders that were examined for communicating defeats in social media were sports

fans and communication specialists. The communication specialist represents the internal

stakeholders that are responsible for constructing the organizational image. The fans can be

considered to be actors in both the internal and external stakeholder environment. Fans are members

of the external stakeholder environment as consumers. The high, strong psychological connection

that fans have to their favorite team makes them likewise a member of the fan community and the

internal stakeholder environment itself.

Communication specialists: Disseminating information to customers

The first part of the theoretical framework implemented in this dissertation sought to identify how

sports organizations approach the communication of a defeat on social media whether the

organizations subject to the study applies any strategic communication efforts to maintain their

image after a defeat.

Supported by an argument derived from existing literature, the theoretical framework

examined a defeat as a threat to the organizational image of a sports organization. According to

Benoit (1997) organizations need to implement strategic communication efforts to maintain a

favorable organizational image. The findings indicated that there are not any significant image

maintenance strategies applied after a defeat. However, even if the interviewees explained that they

did not apply any drastic changes in their communication after a defeat, it does not mean that the

teams can be considered to neglect the organizational image management in times of defeats. The

standardized approach to communicating defeats can be viewed as a method of maintaining their

image as a credible sports organization. Interviewees mentioned that they have a sense of obligation

to communicate their results on social media to their fans. In addition, being honest and

communicating the defeat without trying to twist or shift the focus to something less relevant is

45

what a credible sports organization does in times of defeats. What is interesting about

communicating the results in social media is that fans are able to get the results from various

sources nowadays. Yet, the sports organizations feel obliged to present the result in an environment

where they become a subject to harsh criticism. The sense of obligation to present the undesirable

news to fans on a platform that allows a notion of two-way communication is an indication of the

desire to maintain an image as a credible and transparent sports organization. In this sense, the role

of the organization in the image management process was to appear as a credible source of

information and the mere presentation of a defeat on social media can be considered as image

maintenance in itself.

According to Massey (2015), the organizational image is constructed through a feedback

loop with the external public and the image is dependent on how the public perceives the

organization. It was interesting to discover that anticipated fan reactions guided to a great extent the

teams’ strategic communication on social media. The interviewees talked a lot about the process of

sensing and feeling the mood of the fans when deciding what kind of material to publish in times of

defeats. Interviewees reflected on the anticipated fan reactions and explained that there is certain

content that “fans do not want to see”. This type of mindset supported the notion of respecting the

narrative of a defeat and not publishing, for example, any funny material after a defeat. The

interviews with the communication specialists show that the negative fan comments after a defeat

were dominant over the positive ones. The interviewees demonstrated that there is a feedback loop

in place between the internal and external stakeholder environment, however, the feedback loop

consisted mainly of taking into consideration the negative comments and basing further

communication on that. In this sense, the comments from the CORF stance were indirectly

tarnishing the organizational image maintenance process by limiting the organizations’ further

strategic communication processes.

The interviewees explained that they did not have the time resources to examine more

thoroughly or statistically how their fans react to posts about defeats. This is understandable since

examining fan reactions to posts in social media is not necessarily on the top of the agenda in a

sports organizations’ communication. However, the intuitive approach to content production had

traces of confirmation bias; the published content was chosen based on how the communicators

expected the receivers to react to the content. This was visible in the way one of the interviewees

explained that he himself has played hockey and he would not want to see funny material after a

defeat as a fan of the team. The comment is reasonable, however, it highlights the process of

making decisions based on own anticipations and experiences. The confirmation bias was likewise

visible in how the interviewees explained how the overall communication becomes more difficult

46

after a defeat since every post receives a great number of negative reactions. Obviously, the

interviewees have time-wise greater experience than the researcher on this matter, however, only

the analysis of fan reactions to posts about defeats revealed that fans are surprisingly well able to

find a positive angle after a defeat.

The interviewees portrayed a market-oriented approach to social media communication

where their strategic goals were focused mainly on generating revenue. This suggests that the

organizations view their fans mainly as consumers in their social media communication. The notion

of examining fans as consumers reflects the way the interviewees portrayed a defeat to significantly

limit their communication opportunities on social media. There was a desire to keep content

production to the minimum due to the overwhelming negativity that follows after a defeat. The

interviewees did not seem to note the fans’ identification to a community in times of defeats and the

fact that there is likewise a great amount of positive and encouraging comments after a defeat. This

gave the impression of communication specialist considering fans as dissatisfied customers

complaining about a damaged product whenever the team was defeated. Considering fans primarily

as consumers is not necessarily a negative thing in terms of communicating defeats on social media.

In fact, it is completely reasonable for communication specialists to consider fans as consumers

since their task is to promote the organizations and its events, which means that fans need to be

examined as a source for income. Viewing the fans as a part of the organization would not probably

result in a completely different approach to strategic communication either. However, it could

alleviate the limiting impact of defeats on further communication if the communication specialists

identified the fans’ strong identification to the community and their desire to present the

organization in a good light despite defeats.

Fans: Aiming to maintain cohesion in the fan community and criticizing the organization

The second part of the theoretical framework sought to identify how the fans strong identification

with the sports team is visible after a defeat and what implications it has on the process of

organizational image management. These questions were approached by examining from what

stance (BIRF or CORF) fans are communicating when coping with a defeat. The findings show that

fans displayed an approximately equal amount of BIRFing and CORFing statements on Facebook

after a defeat. Both of these stances are associated with the fans’ identities as members of a

community and as consumers.

The BIRF stance that fans communicated after a defeat confirmed the social identity theory

in a way that fans were keen to portray the team, which is an extension of the fans’ self-esteem, in a

positive light after the defeat. In addition to that, fans sought frequently external explanations, such

47

as bad refereeing and back luck, for coping with the defeat. In social identity theory, behavior like

this is considered as a coping strategy to manage with an external threat to one’s self-esteem. The

frequent use of the BIRF stance among fans further confirmed the argument that fans can have a

role in the image management processes of sports organizations. The BIRF stance was associated

with fans’ identity as members of a community and had notions of maintaining the cohesion in the

fan community despite the undesirable result. This notion was reinforced by comments where fans

called out in an accusing tone other fans who displayed a great level of negativity in their

comments. This type of communication is likewise strongly linked to a desire to BIRF and maintain

a cohesion within the fan community. In social identity theory, the self-esteem is likewise protected

by maintaining a strong in-group image (Turner, J. C., Brown, R. J., & Tajfel, 1979). Calling out

fans who display negative comments is a great example of the desire to have a favorable in-group

image that strongly identified fans need in order to protect their self-esteem. The favorable in-group

image was maintained by distinguishing between those fans who remain loyal despite the defeat

and those who seem to turn their backs to the team after a defeat. Having a strong and unified fan

community is of interest for every highly identified fan. A strong fan community is a foundation for

sports teams’ ability to generate revenue, which in turn is linked to the ability to construct a

winning team, which is furthermore linked to the self-esteem of fans. The importance of fans in the

image management process was highlighted by the persuasive notion of the comments. Posts that

started off with a positive comment tended to have a reassuring effect on the comments that

followed. On the other hand, this can be a result of various factors, such as a truly courageous team

effort. There were likewise critical comments alongside the supportive comments, which did not

make the pattern of persuasion clear nor complete. However, it is fair to say that comments that

display a great level BIRFing help to maintain the organizational image in social media after a

defeat due to the strong emphasis on keeping the fan community united and having a favorable in-

group image.

The fans who communicated from a CORF/negative stance did not contribute positively to

the image maintenance process. Noting how strongly the communication specialists took into

consideration the anticipated negativity of fans after a defeat, the comments from the CORF stance

can be viewed to limit the organizations’ ability to maintain a favorable organizational image after a

defeat. However, the criticism cannot either be interpreted as direct attempts to tarnish the

organizational image. The strong emotional reactions can be likewise associated with the desire of

maintaining a cohesion in the fan community. This desire took only a significantly different form

than in the supportive stance. When the comments in the BIRF/positive stance are more focused on

persuading fellow fans in the community, comments in the negative stance are directed to the

48

organization itself. By calling for action and demanding the dismissal of team personnel, fans

highlight their strong emotional connection to the organization and that these type of shortcomings

in the organizational performances causes emotional stress for the supporters. Furthermore, the

demands for dismissal of team staff can be viewed as the fans expressing their dissatisfaction as

stakeholders in the organization. This notion was further visible in how fans are expressing a desire

to no longer support the organization financially due to repeated to defeats, which can be

considered as a demonstration of their identity as consumers. The comments in the negative stance

are likewise a sign of loyalty; fans care enough about the team to express their concerns. The role of

fans in the image maintenance process is twofold. First, through the BIRF/positive stance, fans are

aiming to maintain cohesion within the fan community and thus, contributing to a more favorable

organizational image. Fans who communicate from the CORF/negative stance emphasize the

emotional investment of the fans. By expressing their dissatisfaction, the fans attempt to

demonstrate the importance as supporters and consumers of the organization.

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7. Discussion

The communication specialists’ and the fans’ different positions as stakeholders were visible in how

they communicated after a defeat on social media. The communication specialists were responsible

for portraying the organization as credible by publishing the result even if it was a defeat. In times

of defeats, fans were communicating on behalf of the fan community. Fans attempted to maintain a

supportive atmosphere in the community and likewise emphasize their importance for the

organization. Aligning these findings within the customized theoretical framework, it is actually the

fans who are communicating from the BIRF stance who are the most eager to contribute to a

favorable organizational image after a defeat. Fans who communicate from the CORF stance have a

somewhat neutral impact on the process of image maintenance. One could assume that the

communication professionals would have been the most active when it comes to maintaining the

organizational image. In fact, there was very few image maintenance strategies implemented after a

defeat. This was due to the role of the communication professionals as credible disseminators of

information; the result needed to be presented in an objective manner in order to maintain

credibility as a sports organization.

Persuasion of fans was occasionally used by few of the teams to communicate a perspective

to their fans after a defeat. This raised thoughts about whether persuasion could be a tool for

communication specialists to be more active in the image maintenance process after a defeat. Fans

seemed to be persuaded by each other’s reactions since posts that started with positive comments

tended to have more positivity in the further comments. However, there is a difference between

analyzing the outcome objectively and finding external reasons for the defeat. The latter is typical

for highly identified fans who try to outsource their frustration to an external actor. In both cases,

one could imagine that having more of these BIRF/supportive comments on social media after a

defeat would introduce a greater level of cohesion in the fan community and serve as an

enhancement in terms of organizational image maintenance.

Communicating an undesirable result to fans from a certain perspective could be beneficial

in other terms as well. It could serve as means of providing additional information for fans. For

example, in a situation where some fans might not be that updated on the injury situation in the

team, communicating the defeat from a perspective of injuries could result in more emotionally

modest fan reactions. The attempt to communicate a perspective could be viewed as guidance for

how a fan can cope with the defeat. It was common that the negative fan reactions were

characterized by short outbursts of frustration and anger. From these comments, it was difficult to

50

know whether the fans had actually watched the game. The commenters were more focused on

demanding the dismissal of players and coaching staff, not addressing the events of the actual game.

Even if persuasion could be an effective strategy of getting fans to react in a more positive

way to a defeat, the fan reactions revealed that there is a fine line between communicating a

perspective and finding excuses. Finding excuses for a defeat contradicts the desire to present an

image of a credible sports organization. A way to tackle this could be to start persuading fans even a

few days before the game and preparing them for a difficult contest that might not result in the most

desired outcome. As all the other strategic communication in the context of sport, communicating a

perspective to fans seems to require a believable situation and frame. If the strategy is applied in

unsuitable instances or exceedingly often, it starts to resemble the aim of finding excuses, which

puts the organization’s image as a credible sports organization in jeopardy.

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8. Conclusion

The aim of this study was two-fold: to explore how sports organizations approach the

communication on social media after a defeat and how fans react to the posts and what kind of

implications fan reactions have in the image management process. The research problem was

approached from a customized theoretical framework that combined the organizational image

management theory and social identity theory.

The difference between image management in the sports industry and image management in

other industries need to be addressed here. In this study, the communication of a defeat on social

media was examined from the perspective of organizational image management. Due to the

uncertainty of outcome in sports, sports organizations are in a position where they are forced to

communicate more often bad news (defeats) that upsets their external stakeholder environment than

organizations in other industries. As already argued, a defeat is a part of the game and the industry,

however, the frequent communication of undesirable results to the external stakeholder

environment makes the sport industry unique in terms of organizational image management. What

is interesting from an image management perspective, is that sports organizations feel that they are

obliged to communicate the undesirable result on a platform where they become a subject of

criticism. In the sports industry, even if a defeat cannot be considered as such as a major incident

that destroys the organizational image, this study proves that a defeat has a limiting impact on the

process of organizational image management. Furthermore, this study found that the blurred lines

between the internal and external stakeholder environments in the sports industry had likewise some

implications to the organizational image management process.

When focusing on sports organizations in the SHL, the key questions were how sports

organizations approach the communication of a defeat on social media and whether sports

organizations implement any specific image maintenance strategies after a defeat. Sports

organizations that were subject to the study tended to publish a basic package of content that

commonly includes the result and one interview. The communication specialists explained that they

do not implement any significant image maintenance strategies after a defeat. This was a reflection

of a mindset where defeats are considered to be a part of the sport and industry. Furthermore, the

lack of image maintenance strategies was justified by a desire to appear as a credible sports

organization and by relying on a standardized approach to content production, which did not

include significant image maintenance strategies after a defeat. The communication specialists

agreed that the emergence of social media has posed certain challenges to the process of

organizational image management. The challenges were related to being forced to monitor what

52

fans comment on social media pages and being a subject to rumor spreading. Both of these aspects

are related to the challenges that social media has brought to image management in other industries

as well in terms of generating more connected and vocal publics who can have an impact on an

organization’s image.

When examining how fans communicate on social media after a defeat, it became evident

that fans are taking a more subjective stance than the communication professionals. This was visible

in both comments from the BIRF and the CORF stance. The stances are related to how fans can be

viewed both as members of the organization and as consumers. In times of a defeat, fans

demonstrated plenty of support for the team in order to preserve cohesion in the fan community.

These fans presented their opinion as identified members of a community where the team belongs

as well. Communication deriving from this stance can directly be seen as contributing to the image

maintenance process due to the desire of portraying the organization in a positive light on a public

communication channel despite a negative result. In this sense, fans who identify themselves as

members of the internal stakeholder environment or a larger community, can be seen to contribute

to the image maintenance process even if they are not formally members of the organization. Fans

demonstrated likewise negative and critical comments. These comments expressed a concern for the

community by holding the sports organization accountable for the undesirable result and the

emotional stress it causes in the fan community. Furthermore, the negative comments were means

for fans to demonstrate their role and expectations as consumers of the organization. These negative

comments did not have a direct tarnishing impact on the image maintenance process. However,

these negative fan reactions had a limiting impact on the organizations’ strategic communication

processes. The communication specialists explained that the fear of being exposed to negative

comments after a defeat resulted in publishing fewer posts on social media after a defeat.

This case study of the Swedish Hockey League sheds light on how sports organizations

approach the process of communicating a defeat to their fans on social media. The findings reveal

that even if a defeat can be considered as a firm part of the sport and the industry itself, it can be

considered as a limiting factor when it comes to maintaining a favorable organizational image on

social media. The challenge of sports organizations to maintain a presence in social media at all

times is relatively new in the sports industry. When comparing the benefits and challenges that

social media brings to sports organizations’ image management processes, the benefits seem to

outweigh the challenges. Being forced to occasionally communicate a defeat on social media was

considered more as an undesirable obligation rather than something that significantly harms the

organizational image. Furthermore, the fan community can both contribute and limit the

organizational image maintenance process due to their strong emotional connection with their

53

favorite team. Having a great amount of fans displaying support after defeats is a factor that

alleviates the negative impact of a defeat on the organizational image.

Limitation of research and further implications

As already addressed in the conclusion, the process of image management differs slightly between

sports industry and other industries. The differentiating factor is the game outcome and the

communication of defeats to fans. The aim of this study was to examine the communication of a

defeat from the perspective of image management. By having defeats as such a natural part of the

sport and industry, it is slightly challenging to relate a single defeat with a damaged organizational

image. In order to have a more precise connotation with image management, a case study consisting

of social media communication during and after full seasons of poor team performances could be

studied. In this way, the tarnishing impact of a defeat on the organizational image would be

strengthened in a cumulative manner. However, this approach was not possible for this research due

to the time frame and the uncertainty of getting respondents that fit the above mentioned criteria to

participate in the study. Examining a single defeat in the context of image management was the

only feasible option and plenty of focus was laid in this study on establishing an argument of a

defeat as something that can tarnish an organizational image.

A social constructivist approach and a case study as a research strategy has always a limiting

notion in terms of generalizability of findings. Changing the scope of research to a different

geographical location and a bigger market-place could provide different results. However, the usage

of a case study in this research was inevitable due to financial and time resources. In addition,

focusing on Swedish organizations made it easier to contact interviewees due to the credibility of

Uppsala University as an institution and a shared native language with interviewees. The analysis of

fan reactions is likewise subject to a limitation of generalizability. The fan reactions can be culture-

specific and sport specific. Analyzing fan reactions of those teams that agreed to be a part of the

study was likewise motivated by the lack of time resources. In addition, by focusing on analyzing

fans of the teams in the study introduced a notion of consistency to the research.

This research has great potential when it comes to future research agendas regarding the

same topic. As already mentioned, studying full seasons of poor team performances in the context

of social media and organizational image management would create a more natural setting to

associate the game outcome with the dynamics of an organizational image. In addition, there are

some further ways this particular research agenda can be developed. First, the research topic could

be applied to different countries, cultures, leagues and sports in order to explore whether there are

54

differences in the findings. Second, the scope of stakeholders that are involved in the image

management process could be expanded to include players, coaches and team management. In this

way, there would be a more comprehensive understanding of how the dynamics in the internal and

external stakeholder environment and how it relates to organizational image management. Third,

the research could be expanded to an experiment, where a sports organization implements a specific

strategy to communicating defeats to explore what kind of reactions a more strategical approach

generates. This specific strategy could consist of an aim to communicate defeats from a persuasive

perspective in order to explore whether fans cope any differently with a defeat.

55

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10. Appendix A

Interview Guide

1. Can you describe what are your goals in your social media communication?

2. Does the game outcome and team performances have an impact on how you reach these

goals?

3. How would you want your fans view you as a sports organization?

4. Does the game outcome and team performance have an impact on what kind of

organizational image you are able to present?

5. Do you change your approach to social media communication based on the team

performances?

6. Do you take into consideration the potential team success when planning your strategy for

social media at the beginning of the season?

7. Do you have a specific strategy for communicating defeats in social media?

8. Do you monitor fan comments and reactions on Facebook in times of defeats?

9. Have you ever thought about not publishing about defeats in social media?

10. Would you say that social media has made organizational image management more

challenging?

11. Do you have anything you would want to add regarding the topic?

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11. Appendix B

Summary of the coding process of fan reactions

Stance: BIRF Stance: BIRF Examining the defeat from a perspectiveExamining the defeat from a perspective “Hello! Three matches in four days and we end

up with two wins and one defeat. We did well tonight despite the defeat! Good job guys!”

“It feels like a victory. It is never nice losing to the “coffee beans” but being able to come back from a 1-4 deficit shows true strength!”

“It is difficult to win over a team that x amount of more millions in their budget than we do.”

“We played a good game away from home, the game was tied until the penalty shots against the leading team in the series. I think that is ok.”

“I think we played really well tonight. If you take into consideration the current form of the teams, I would have expected a more clear defeat.”

Finding external reasons for the defeat “You guys played very well tonight. You can always question the referee’s decision after an ending like that. Now the focus needs to be shifted to the upcoming games and you need to continue with your fine work!”

“I wonder if we ever have received fewer penalties than the opponent when Sjöqvist has been the referee? Does anyone have statistics on this matter?”

“It was our game and we deserved the victory but the controversial performance of the referees ruined it all”

“It is sad that we did not have the luck on our side. Now we just need to come back harder.”

“The referees are also humans who make mistakes but the fact that they did not see the offside in Luleå’s third goal is unacceptable”

Calling out negativity among fellow fans “Many spoiled (fans) in here! Is this what you call support? Skellefteå AIK has won the regular season four times in a row, which no other Swedish hockey team has managed to do. We played in the finals four straight years! And here you are only complaining, talk about spoiled couch trainers.”

“Get a grip of yourselves! It is called supporting!! I am ashamed!!”

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“So much negativity in here! At the beginning of the season we were at the bottom of the rankings and now we have climbed half way to the top, we should be happy about it! You cannot always win.”

Praising the fan community “We who stood in the stands did a really job today, well done all LHC fans!”

“I have to say that it was an entertaining game and what a great atmosphere we established in the arena! Thank you to all the fans who remained seated until the end!”

“One for all=the team All for one=the supporters”

Communicating a sense of redemption Let us forget this match and instead focus on winning the next one! Frölunda, always in my hearth!

Now it is only about coming back with fury after the defeat, I believe in you!

“Five defeats feel bad for the fans, players and everyone involved. Now we just need to win the rest of the games and our sorrow will be forgotten!”

“Patience fellow fans, patience. The adversity will be forgotten the day when we are standing at “Storan” and praising our heroes”

Stance: CORF Pessimistic view of the future “There will not be any playoff hockey this year

for Linköping, the team is incredibly bad. Unfortunately, this is the situation.”

“We are quite used to this. The players think that things are going to turn out well by themselves after one win and then we lose six games straight. We are going to fighting against relegation again. I am so tired of this”

“It is with great sadness that I witness the team being relegated to Hockeyallsvenskan this year”

“It was fun as long as it lasted, we are going to relegated at the end of the season and the management does nothing about it”

Call for change “It is time to change the coaching staff. Something needs to be done! It cannot get worse than this, can it?”

“As long as the management decides to select a former player as the sports manager there will not be progress. They are just repeating the same mistakes with a different name in charge.

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The fundamental problem is in the management.”

“Sundblad? How can you not see it when everyone else is seeing it? Bäckström and Ekbom needs to be gone, NOW!”

“We need to change coaches in order to avoid being relegated at the end of the season”

“This is horrible. It seems like we need to change coaching staff again”

Team performance related criticism “They give away the game way too early. The defense is horrendous; they do not give themselves a chance to win.”.

It is so strange. The team performs poorly against an injury plagued DIF. So many players are underperforming

“Where is the passion?? Where is the drive? When you are playing in the home arena in front of your own fans you need to go all in! Unacceptable!”

The team is taking too many penalties. When that happens, it is very difficult to win!

Short bursts of frustration “This is an embarrassing story” “What a scandal! Leading by four goals and

still losing” “The picture describes well your embarrassing

performance” “Horrible performance” “No longer supporting the team” “I was planning to travel to Vaxjö and cheer

for the team but I decided that I will not invest time and money on watching Linköping getting destroyed again”

“Tired of this. It did not take long for me to call family and friends and say goodbye to the idea of winning gold”