The Role of Internal Branding on Brand Commitment and Loyalty of Sports Federation Employees

Purpose: The loyalty and commitment of employees to use their full potential to achieve organizational goals and increase human resource productivity in the organization are very important factors. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of internal branding on employees' commitment and loyalty to the brand.Methodology: The present study is applied in terms of purpose, correlation in terms of data analysis method, and structural equation modelling using PLS software. The statistical population of this study is all employees and managers of Iranian sports federations. The sample size for the present study was determined using the Barclay et al. (1995) index. The tools used are the standardized questionnaire of internal branding by Mohammadi et al. (2021), brand commitment by Moher et al. (1996), and brand loyalty by Bacilli and Van der Wile (2002).Findings: Internal branding had a positive, significant effect on commitment and loyalty. Brand commitment also had a positive and significant impact on brand loyalty. The effects of internal branding on brand commitment and loyalty, and the impact of brand commitment on brand loyalty, underscore the importance of the internal branding process in sports organizations' branding and demonstrate the need to develop such an approach in research and implementation.Originality: Internal branding is considered a vital process for coordinating and aligning employee behaviours with brand values. According to the present study's findings, if other influential variables are held constant, internal branding activities in sports organizations can likely have positive consequences when carried out correctly. This research is among the few studies in Iran to examine the role of internal branding in employee commitment and loyalty.