Sport team mascots as communication tools Determinants of mascot Twitter followers
The sporting world has experienced a major impact with the emergence of social media as it has helped bridge the communication gap between fans, athletes, and professional organizations. One effort to further improve communication between fan and organization is to utilize a mascot in social media. Sports teams can disseminate information to numerous fans through mascot Twitter account and improve their promotion strategies. Drawing on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) this study was designed to examine determinants of team mascot Twitter followers. Analyzing 76 mascot Twitter accounts (i.e. 17 NFL, 25 NBA, 18 MLB, and 16 NHL) the current study revealed that the number of tweets is the most important predictor of the number of mascot twitter followers, controlling for various factors. Incorporating a mascot into social media marketing communication strategies can enlarge the platform where sports organizations can effectively distribute promotional messages to consumers.