From thinking to feelling – heuristics in sports media marketing

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Instead of applying a methodical approach to each decision, people use heuristics to make it easier to retrieve and store information in their memories (Dale, 2015). Heuristics work best when individuals have to make decisions quickly, when probabilities or utilities are uncertain, or when poorly stated problems make it impossible for logic or probability theory to provide the best answer. Similar to the hammers and screwdrivers in a handyman's toolbox, people's minds function similarly in this situation, drawing from a variety of heuristics designed for particular kinds of issues (Gigerenzer, 2008).

When our present mood or emotional state affects our decision-making, it's known as the affect heuristic. We act on our instincts and react in accordance with our emotions rather than assessing the issue impartially. The affective heuristic may therefore result in less-than-ideal choices (Nikolopoulou, 2022). Simple, task-specific decision-making techniques known as "fast-and-frugal heuristics" are a component of a decision maker's cognitive toolkit for accomplishing judgement and decisionmaking tasks. In a variety of domains (such as business and management), fast-and-frugal heuristics have a track record of producing precise decision-making outcomes in the face of ambiguity (Love et al., 2023).

Marketers have long understood that appealing to emotions rather than just intellect is necessary if they wish to establish a connection with their target audience (Baltezarević, Milić, 2021). Professional and amateur athletes are now so popular that their appeal extends beyond the field of play to the realm of popular culture and celebrity. Modern sports coverage of these sportsmen has increased dramatically as a result of growing media saturation.

Heuristic and emotional mechanisms are an important factor that can influence consumer behavior in sports marketing. In the sports environment, consumers are very often exposed to information that is charged with emotions that make them make quick decisions. This can be explained by affective heuristics, which precisely defines emotions as the main motivator in decision-making, that is, in the case of fast-and-frugal heuristics, when the consumer uses simple cues, such as slogans, symbols, logos or famous personalities, which help him in the process of quick judgment.

Affective and Fast and Frugal Heuristics in Sports Media and Advertising

When time, information, and processing capabilities are limited, heuristics are commonly used (Guercini, Milanesi, 2020). Heuristics, to put it simply, are rules of thumb or mental shortcuts (Kahneman, 2013). Because of recent advancements over the past few decades, researchers are beginning to recognise the importance of affective states in human decision-making (Västfjäll et al., 2016). Experience-based thinking is characterised by its emotive foundation. Even though deliberative analyses are undoubtedly crucial in many situations involving decision-making, depending on affect and emotion as information sources is typically a faster, simpler, and more effective method to get by in a world that is complicated, ambiguous, and occasionally deadly (Schwarz, Clore, 1988).

According to a recent study by Kusev et al. (2020), the choice options that respondents had influenced their risk preferences. The authors contend that preferences are essentially unstable for each individual and that risk preferences are created "on the fly" during risk elicitation. As a result, context and available options have an impact on risk preferences. Therefore, the affective heuristic is a form of cognitive bias that influences judgement. When assessing a situation, we use our feelings rather than objective facts. For speedy issue solving, this can also be used as a shortcut. Affect can be understood in this context as a) a human emotional state, like joy or sorrow. b) a characteristic linked to a stimulus, which is anything that motivates us to take action, such as words, sounds, or temperature variations. People often feel compelled to be efficient or just choose the alternative that seems the greatest when they are under a time constraint to make a decision. They consequently turn to mental shortcuts or heuristics. When faced with making a decision but without the knowledge or time to think more thoroughly, the affect heuristic leads us to turn to our feelings and emotions (Nikolopoulou, 2022).

Emotions impact our decision-making, which in turn impacts our lives. It has been demonstrated that when we are feeling good, we are more inclined to think that an activity has additional benefits and fewer hazards (Skagerlund et al., 2020). On the other side, we are more likely to see an activity as having high danger and little to no advantages if we are in a bad emotional state (Brush, 2011). Fast-and-frugal heuristics are straightforward, task-specific decision-making techniques that are a component of a decision-maker's cognitive toolkit for resolving judgement and decisionmaking challenges. In situations that are complex and unclear or when there is a limited sample size from which to draw conclusions, they have been demonstrated to produce superior decision results than statistical methods, including probabilistic and stochastic approaches (Love et al., 2023). The fast-and-frugal-heuristics program is unique in that it outlines formal models of heuristics and makes an effort to ascertain when people apply them and what kind of results they get. These models are based on a small number of data points that are handled in straightforward computational manners. Because the information and processing are accessible to humans, people use basic operations like adding up or comparing numbers and rely on information that is rather easy to obtain (Katsikopoulos, 2020). Fast and frugal heuristics significantly reduce the quantity of data taken into account while making decisions. “Overfitting” is the term used to describe treating every detail as significant. This can improve a model's fit to the data, but it can also make it less effective at generalisation, or forecasting new data. By disregarding less important information, which frequently contains more noise, a fast and frugal analysis can be more reliable (Broken Science, 2023).

Sport advertising in both traditional and modern media has significantly increased as a result of the growing collaborations between the media and the sports business (Kim, Cheong, 2011). Sports products (such as sneakers, swimming goggles, or badminton rackets) are perceived differently by consumers than other products (like laptops and pharmaceuticals), which can be a useful tool for influencing a purchase. Sports products therefore appear to have a distinctive quality that makes them useful for persuasive advertising. Sports merchandise is also known for its capacity to shape people's outward identities (Ohl, Taks, 2007).

The literature on marketing and advertising has extensively examined the emo-tional/rational framework. Advertising stimuli that clearly and rationally present accurate, precise, and reasonably trustworthy information (price, quantity) about the brand and the product are known as rational appeals (Bansal, Gupta, 2014). Emotional appeals, on the other hand, trigger one's emotions and subtly and implicitly address brands and product marketing by using various psychological traits to set one brand apart from another (Okazaki et al., 2013). According to Teichert et al. (2018), emotional appeals mostly focus on love, humour, joy, etc., and they motivate consumers to behave in ways that advertisers desire. Given that a brand has the capacity to pique the consumer's interest through innovation, it is imperative that the experience it provides be unique and memorable in order to develop an emotional bond (Baltezarević, 2016).

Sports events in a large number of cases cause great excitement and emotional charge among consumers. This is the main reason why they just remember those experiences while watching sports commercials. It can be said that consumer attitudes, as well as future choices, can be influenced by many different emotions that sports events or activities cause in people (Siani et al., 2021). As far as fast-and-frugal advertising is concerned, these are situations when advertising messages are simplified and recognizable symbols, visual and emotional signals are used. This is recommended in the world of marketing and advertising precisely because the audience in sports environments most often makes quick decisions while their attention is limited (Hauser, 2011).

As for specific examples from practice, one of the most famous campaigns of the Gatorade company is “Be Like Mike”, in which the famous American basketball player Michael Jordan symbolizes the sports ideal, but also success and desirability.

Through the emotion of admiration (and the desire for identification), consumers quickly recognize the brand, which represents a strong emotional sign. A marketing strategy uses an affective response, such as pride, motivation or desire in combination with a famous person (as a heuristic signal). In this way, a quick emotional connection is made possible and, in such cases, there is no need for consumers to analyze the product in an additional rational way (Prime vs Gatorade, 2024).

Another example in this area that is definitely worth mentioning comes from Under Armour, their “Rule Yourself” campaign successfully created an emotional story focused on perseverance and self-discipline. This campaign, with the help of minimalistic content (to highlight the athletes in training), strengthened and simplified the message that reads: “You are the sum of all your training.” With this approach, they helped the audience, i.e. consumers, to understand the message more precisely without burdening them. On the other hand, the emotional and visual aspects helped create a strong bond with the athletes (Chandrasekhar, 2018).

People give the outcomes they conceive of initially the highest value or likelihood, according to Yocco (2016). Juventus post features images that serve as a reminder of “the best skills in the UEFA Champions League.” This portrays top-notch football and seeks to establish (and maintain) the Juventus name as the first thing that comes to mind when people think about top-notch football (Mereu, 2017).

Finally, one must not forget the significant example of Nike's “The Winner Remains” campaign. She connected well-known football figures and legendary details from matches, thus creating a strong sense of excitement and rivalry. For consumers, athletes represent cues, which further evokes in them emotions such as passion and excitement, which ultimately contributes to the creation of a favorable impression of the brand (Newman, 2014).

After a theoretical review and consideration of examples from practice, it becomes clear that sports advertising effectively combines quick (instinctive reactions) with emotional connections. In this way, it enables the messages to be understood quickly without a large cognitive load, while at the same time affecting our emotions. By using these marketing strategies in a sports context, it is possible to increase brand recognition, influence consumer loyalty and make purchasing decisions. In the end, all this can contribute positively to the return on investment (ROI).

Consumer Engagement in Sports Media through Uses and Gratifications, Psychological Continuum and Heuristic Influence

The general parameters within which a relationship between an athlete, sport, or individual is mediated are specified by the Psychological Continuum Model (PCM). The object-related link (such as a team or sport) is seen as replaceable inside the PCM framework. The model is an example of a cognitive method that unifies current theories and research on fan behaviour under a single conceptual heading. To describe the many psychological bonds that supporters and spectators of sports may develop with particular teams and games, four broad limits that run along a vertical continuum are conceptualised. The four stages of psychology that sports customers go through are awareness, attraction, attachment, and allegiance, according to PCM. The emotional and behavioural dedication to the sport as a whole (either to the team or to the sport content) improves with each of these levels (Funk, James, 2001).

To encourage gradual advancement up the PCM, managerial levers created through relationship marketing could be put into practice. The four levels that are typically linked to relationship marketing offer suggestions for promoting progression along the spectrum. Financial bonding, the initial stage of relationship marketing, focusses on offering monetary advantages like reduced costs. Moving from attraction to attachment may be facilitated by the second level, social connection. Recognising sports fans and giving them a sense of importance helps foster social and interpersonal ties. Customisation and structural bonding, the third and fourth layers of relationship marketing, may facilitate the transition from attachment to allegiance. Customising experiences and services for each person is the main goal of customisation bonding. When it comes to sports or teams, the goal is to find out what supporters want from their bond with the team and then try to meet those needs.

Social connection fosters customisation, which aims to personalise experiences for each person. Offering services that are tailored to a particular client or consumer (such as venue kiosks or fan loyalty programs), frequently utilising technology, is known as structural bonding (Ziethaml, Bitner, 2000).

Media exposure plays a key role in helping consumers move up this continuum. However, as less popular sports (such as parkour or longboarding) often do not receive enough media attention, they largely opt for online video content to attract supporters and raise consumer awareness. According to research results, most of the content created by niche sports organizations serves primarily to inform and attract before deeper engagement occurs (Mahoney et al., 2014).

As we have already discussed in this paper, heuristic influences are present when consumers (viewers) choose which content to interact with based on simple and quick indications. Emotive stories, material that is visually enriched with images and video content, a famous (favorite) athlete or sports team, but also online likes, comments and sharing content are just some examples of heuristic cues. Consumers will more easily interact with sports content when it highlights their favorite athlete or in some way inspires loyalty to the team. A good example of heuristics enabling fast decision-making is demonstrated in the field of live sports broadcasting. In such circumstances, consumers' intention to use or pay for such services is significantly conditioned by perceived enjoyment, viewing quality, social benefits, and of course convenience (Li et al., 2024).

Discussion

Sports are packed with emotion, and that’s why the affect heuristic is so prominent in sports media. Sports marketing takes advantage of our deep emotional connections and memories, which is quite different from other advertising forms where people might take a closer look at the claims. This is further supported by fast-and-frugal heuristics, allowing people to swiftly absorb marketing messages, particularly in the digital space where we encounter information in brief, impactful snippets.

Customers definitely have their own ways of reacting to these strategies. According to recent studies, the role of social, informational, and emotional factors can vary widely among different types of fans. This really emphasizes the need for tailored approaches. Likewise, niche sports that don’t get as much spotlight often utilize online media and visually appealing content to increase consumer awareness. In these situations, the success of a campaign really depends on how well it employs quick, engaging elements to capture attention and foster loyalty.

While the proposed model offers a solid starting point for understanding customer engagement, it's important to acknowledge its limitations. To kick things off, the analysis remains largely theoretical. To truly confirm the suggested causal relationships, we would need empirical validation through methods like surveys, experiments, or longitudinal studies. Additionally, the model assumes that the PCM stages move along smoothly, but in reality, various contextual, situational, or emotional factors can lead to changes in how consumers engage. Moreover, even though the paper highlights emotional and heuristic processes, it doesn't dive deeply into the potential impact of media literacy or cognitive resistance, which could lessen the effectiveness of those heuristic cues.

The model we’re suggesting should be empirically tested in a range of sports situations in upcoming studies, focusing on how the effectiveness of heuristics varies with the sport, platform, audience demographics, or the level of fan involvement. It’s really important to think about how emotional and rational appeals work together, especially when it comes to sports organizations finding the right balance for effective marketing strategies. By realizing that fans often make swift emotional decisions while also catering to their deeper psychological needs, marketing experts can produce sports media content that’s more captivating, precisely aimed, and truly impactful.

Conclusion

This paper suggests that the interaction between heuristic cues, psychological drivers, and emotional reactions plays a significant role in how consumers engage with sports media. We’ve introduced a comprehensive framework that illustrates how consumers relate to sports information and brands by merging affective and fast-and-frugal heuristics with the Uses and Gratifications theory and the Psychological Continuum Model. Heuristics are crucial during the initial stages of customer interaction, as they enable quick emotional responses and simplify decision-making. This is especially important in sports marketing, where consumers are often overwhelmed with stimuli and need to make fast decisions.

The findings suggest that emotionally charged components, including impactful visuals, renowned sports figures, and touching stories, work best when they resonate with the consumer's feelings and their main aspirations. During the awareness and attraction phases, heuristic signals should take the lead, while more personalized and structured engagement strategies should be prioritized in the deeper stages, such as attachment and loyalty. This dynamic interaction highlights the importance of a strategic and stage-sensitive approach to sports media marketing.

This study serves as a strong foundation for future empirical research and real-world applications, even though it’s rooted in theory. To build lasting brand loyalty and enhance the media experience, it's crucial to focus on what consumers want and use simple decision-making shortcuts. This is particularly vital as digital platforms evolve and change the way sports fans connect with content.

Conflict of interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization: I.B. Investigation: R.B.; M.Z. Theoretical Framework: I.B. Data Curation: I.B; R.B; M.Z. Resources: R.B. Writing - Original Draft: I.B.; M.Z. Writing - Review & Editing: R.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.