Exploring the marketing of mixed martial arts in South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of the study has been to identify the motivational factors prompting the South African MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fan to attend events and how these factors are influencing their spending patterns and media consumption. With the growing popularity of Africa’s biggest MMA promoter and the production values and size of events, EFC (Extreme Fighting Championship) is taking the African market to a global level. To understand the South African MMA fan, marketers should differentiate strategies to meet these various customers’ satisfaction needs and demands. Media plays a big role in the growing of the sport, and Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and television broadcasts all contribute to fans gaining access to the MMA sport. The following motivational factors were used to measure the MMA fan: Aesthetic quality, Sports interest, Drama/Eustress, Socialising, Vicarious achievement, Fighter interest, Adoration/Hero, Violence, Escape, National Pride and Economic Factors. Participants who attended the local amateur MMA fights in the south of Johannesburg were requested to complete the online web questionnaire to establish the motivational factors of South African MMA fans. Aesthetic quality, Sports interest and Drama/Eustress were ranked as the highest motivators. There were some gender differences where females indicated that they were more interested in the Drama factor and the males in the Sports interest factor. It was clear from the results that most male fans were drawn to MMA by word-ofmouth, clubs or events. The female fans used the internet and television as their media consumption of MMA. Although the study was limited to a local MMA event, insights into the motivation of the South African MMA fan were discovered as well as how media is consumed differently by different genders.