Analysis of effects ethics on Behavior loyalty and resonance with brands in hidden marketing for Fans football clubs: Presentation of model

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of ethics in hidden marketing on behavior loyalty and brand equity of professional football clubs in Iran. The research method is applied in terms of purpose and in terms of how data is collected; research is descriptive and is in terms of the nature of the correlation. The statistical population consisted of all supporters of three teams of Khuzestan superiority league. Due to the uncertainty, the sample size was considered to be 384 according to the Cochran formula. Behavior loyalty questionnaire (Fattahi, 2016), consistency with brand (Mokhtari, 2015) and hidden ethics questionnaire were used to collect information. The formal and content validity of the sample was confirmed by sport management specialists. Based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the reliability of the loyalty questionnaire (0.94), consistency (0.96) and ethics (0.96) were obtained. The structural equation test has been used to analyze the findings. All data was analyzed using the statistical software package Social Sciences 22 and PLS version 2 software. Findings indicate that ethics in hidden marketing has affected brand loyalty and brand equity and all of the indexes of the model have appropriate fit. Therefore, marketing managers of football clubs should observe ethical marketing principles and must take measures to increase the loyalty and consistency of their club brand and provide the conditions for the supporters of these clubs as their constant supporters are the main sum of the clubs concerned.