Meet the Author:
Jason Doyle
James Doyle is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Management at Griffith University’s Department of Tourism and Marketing, where he also serves as the Discipline Advisor for Sport Management. A member of the Griffith Institute for Tourism (GIFT), he played a key role in the development of Griffith’s inaugural Women in Sport Strategy in 2022. His research explores how sport consumption influences organisations, individuals, and communities—blending marketing and social-psychological perspectives. He investigates how sport brands can foster meaningful consumer connections and how sport engagement can reduce loneliness and enhance mental well-being.
In this Q&A, we talk about his article “Investigating consumer preferences and perceptions of brands across men’s and women’s sport: a brand architecture approach”, where it discusses consumer perceptions and attitudinal loyalty toward men’s and women’s sport teams operating under a shared brand. He shares his thoughts on the future of fan engagement in the digital era, experience publishing with Taylor & Francis, and valuable advice for early-career researchers in sport management.
You have dedicated your research to exploring the impact of sport consumption on individuals, organizations, and communities – a fascinating intersection of marketing and social psychology. What led you to explore this intersection, and how did you come to see sport as a space where brand engagement and human well-being could meaningfully converge?
My research interests were initially constrained to understanding how and why sport organisations (encompassing individuals, teams, leagues, federations etc.) can best leverage their connections with consumers for commercial benefit. But after conducting several research projects, I could not ignore the strong social impact of sport too. So, I like to describe my current research as exploring sport consumption impacts from two angles – 1) from the perspective of the brand focusing on marketing outcomes, and 2) from the perspective of consumers and communities through a lens of social-psychological well-being.
Your study on brand architecture across men’s and women’s sport, shows that brand associations like emotion and nostalgia drive fan loyalty. In sports like soccer, where men’s teams dominate fan perception, how can we reposition women’s teams as equals? Do you see the cultural coding of certain sports as male-dominated being a key barrier to gender-balanced fan engagement?
This is a key challenge, because most men’s sports and sport brands have decades (if not centuries) of a head-start on their women’s counterparts. And that is even in instances where the teams share the same branding. Our research showed an impact on the existing men’s brand on the awareness and adoption of the women’s brand, yet key differences in how each brand was perceived. A lot of what is needed is underpinned by allowing the women’s brands significant time to emerge, create their own histories and traditions and carve out their own uniqueness whilst also leveraging parts of the brand portfolios which they belong to.
In your book The Routledge Handbook of Digital Sport Management, how do you see digital tools like AI analytics, social media, and immersive tech reshape fan engagement and athlete performance, and what should sport managers prioritize to ensure these technologies enhance rather than hinder the sport experience?
You’ve identified what is arguably the key challenge our book highlights! In fact, we’re seeing sport managers work extremely hard these days to ensure the in-stadium experience matches what can be delivered digitally. Sport managers need to ensure their use of emerging tech can add value to the core sport experience, by keeping that core experience as the main focus.
Having published with Taylor & Francis, what aspects of our publishing process – from peer review to final dissemination, have you found most effective in helping you achieve your research impact goals?
The peer-review process always helps to challenge thinking and improve the final version of what is published. The rounds of reviews typically help you to clarify and sharpen the main contributions your work offers, and can also help to identify new areas of impact which may have been previously overlooked.
Given your experience in publishing across various areas of sport management, what key advice would you offer to early-career researchers aiming to contribute impactful work in this field?
In general, I believe the Sport Management community is constructively supportive. So my advice would be to believe in what you submit (and always submit your best work) but also be open to the feedback and suggestions of reviewers – even if at first read you think the reviews are impossible! Stay the course, trust the process, and try to learn from each submission.
About the Journal
Sport Management Review is published as a service to sport industries worldwide. It is a multidisciplinary journal concerned with the management, marketing, and governance of sport at all levels and in all its manifestations — whether as an entertainment, a recreation, or an occupation. The journal encourages collaboration between scholars and practitioners. It welcomes submissions reporting new research, new applications and advances in theory. The language of publication is English. Submissions are peer reviewed.
