Abstract

Summary
The purpose of this work was to identify and model the factors affecting the branding of the personality traits of the volunteers in the sports events. The approach of the present research work was qualitative, and in terms of purpose, it was a developmental research that was conducted using the grounded theory. The findings showed three factors as the causal conditions, five factors as the contextual conditions, and six factors as the intervening conditions for the branding personality traits of the sports volunteers in the Iranian sporting events. It is suggested that in order to brand the personality of the sports volunteers, great importance should be given to the behaviors of the volunteers, and efforts should be made to promote their individual and social behavior.
Introduction
Nowadays, branding for sports personalities has increased, and branding different products has become very important. This type of branding also has many advantages for the personalities that have been shown in various studies (1). If the sports volunteers work to strengthen their brand and put a good and lasting image of themselves in the minds of the sports managers, not only will they never be forgotten but they can continue to shine and last for many years at the sporting events. Therefore, considering the importance of branding the personality traits of sports volunteers, creating a favorable image of the sports volunteers to sports and guidance available to the managers of the sports institutions and organizations to select sports volunteering will help, this work seeks to analyze the factors affecting the branding of personality traits of the volunteers in the sports events.
Methodology and Approach
The approach of the present research work was qualitative, and from the viewpoint of purpose, it was of the type of developmental research, which was done by the grounded theory method with the approach of Strauss and Corbin. In this research work, a systematic method attributed to Strauss and Corbin was used in order to analyze the data. The systematic method itself has the three main stages of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding (2). This method is used when there has not been much research work in this field before, and there is no specific pattern for it, and the existing patterns do not help to solve the problem (3). The data collection method was the semi-structured interviews. The interview process was conducted with 15 experts including the organizers of the sporting events, the people who had volunteered at the sporting events, and the professors who specialized in branding. The sampling method was snowball, and continued until the theoretical saturation of the data. Half of the interviews were conducted in person, and the other half through WhatsApp cyberspace and recording and sending voice in such a way that the questions were asked and the interviewer recorded and sent his explanations. In order to prevent bias in the analysis of the qualitative data and research validity, two independent coders were used, and finally, based on the internal agreement of the two coders, the categories and codes were categorized. It is worth mentioning that the interviews were as follow: with 6 professors of sports management who were specialized in sports marketing, with 2 professors of sports psychology to give complete information about the internal angles and personality, 5 organizers of the sports events who had a history of supervising all competitions, chairing the volunteer committee and chairing the public relations, and advertising committee, and with 3 people who had a history of volunteering in at least two university sports events.
Results and Conclusion
As a general conclusion, it should be noted that the sports volunteers, despite the fact that they may be considered insignificant and their personality issues are not taken into account, it is clear that the volunteers are an integral part of the sports and sporting events, so their personality traits should be considered. It is suggested that in order to brand the personality of the sports volunteers, great importance should be given to the behaviors of the volunteers, and efforts should be made to promote their individual and social behaviors. Since the contextual conditions also has the greatest role compared to the causal and intervening conditions, attention to them is also a priority. Since the intervening conditions play the most important role in determining the strategies, it is suggested that in order to improve the level of the sports volunteers, to promote public and professional relations, their individual characteristics such as personal ability, knowledge, and skills should be considered. It is suggested that in order to brand the personality of the sports volunteers, great importance should be given to the behaviors of the volunteers, and efforts should be made to promote their individual and social behaviors. Since the contextual conditions also has the greatest role compared to the causal and intervening conditions, attention to them is also a priority. For this reason, before holding the sporting events, the training classes should be held, and each sports volunteer should be employed in different parts according to their abilities in order to increase the efficiency of the sports volunteers. It is also suggested that the best volunteers promote the sporting events to boost their morale and motivate other volunteers to higher positions in the subsequent events or to be introduced to the international events such as the Olympics and the Asian Games, which attract the volunteers from all over the world. Use the sports volunteers with a positive track record in the future events but not just as a volunteer force. Rather, give them a more formal authority to encourage the other sports volunteers to promote them. It is also recommended that there is a constant communication with the candidates, give people a professional personality, and apply their viewpoint, and certification and scoring should be on the agenda. It is in this way that the spirit of volunteering is institutionalized in the society and sports of the country.

Keywords

• Sports events
• College sports
• Branding

Main Subjects

• مدیریت منابع انسانی در ورزش شامل کارکنان حقوق بگیر، نیروهای داوطلب و مشتریان