• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.195-218
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• 2023

This study empirically analyzes the effect of a sports club's performance and social media operations on online information search volume, reflecting fan engagement. Additionally, it confirms that such effect can vary depending on the issuance of sports fan tokens. The analysis of the data resulted in the support of all four hypotheses presented in this study. The team's goal differentials during the games exhibited a significant and positive effect on the online information search volume by fans. Furthermore, the quantity of a team's social media posts also showed a significant and positive effect on the online information search volume. The aforementioned effects of the team's game-related performance and social media activity on the online information search volume appeared to be strengthened when the sports fan tokens of the team were issued. This study conducts an empirical analysis of fan engagement in sports clubs and delves into the marketing dimensions of sports fan tokens. By doing so, it broadens the research scope within sports marketing and offers practical insights for the development of marketing strategies by sports clubs.