Os efeitos da qualidade da relação e da comunicação e engagement no Instagram nos comportamentos de consumo de adeptos de futebol

: o caso Sport Lisboa e Benfica

Abstract

The theme of this dissertation focuses on understanding the effects that the quality of the
relationship and that the communication and engagement2 on Instagram, have on the
consumption behavior of Sport Lisboa e Benfica (SLB) supporters. In general, supporters
have a strong relationship with football clubs (Koronios, Travlos, Douvis & Papadopoulos,
2020) and the social network Instagram, as a communication platform that allows the
development of engagement, has the ability to consolidate it (Abeza, O'Reilly, Sanderson &
Frederick, 2021). Bearing in mind the previously mentioned, there is a high probability that
supporters will adopt more consumption behaviors of football clubs’ products and services
and, consequently, contribute to the increasing of their financial value (Balliauw, Onghena
& Mulkens, 2020).
It is relevant to understand how Sport Lisboa e Benfica, one of the biggest sports clubs in
Portugal (Sousa & Vieira, 2018), can achieve positive financial returns via quality of
relationship, communication, and engagement on Instagram. Thereby, through a mixed data
collection method, exploratory interviews were carried out with the Director of
communication, the Director of social networks and the Director of corporate
communication of the club. A Documentary Analysis was also carried out on some SLB's
Instagram publications, and, in the quantitative scope, a questionnaire survey was carried
out with three hundred and sixty-one supporters of the club.
The main results show that Sport Lisboa e Benfica has a significant quality of relationship
with its supporters, which allows them to adopt consumption behaviors. More importantly,
they demonstrate that the communication and consequent engagement on Instagram allows
the supporters to exercise greater adoption of these consumption behaviors. In this way, the
link between the mentioned variables enables the club to achieve positive financial returns
in the most varied areas of activity.

Date of Award	3 Jan 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Alexandre Duarte (Supervisor)