Fans Identification

Folklore “involves values, traditions, and ways of thinking and behaving. It’s about art. It’s about people and the way people learn. It helps us learn who we are and how to derive meaning from the world around us” (Sims and Stephens, 2011, 2). Fans are within this category as a folk group because they have certain ways of behaving and thinking that make them members of a community. The lecture “Key Terms” explains how folk groups share a common interest/factor. They can form because of regular interaction and also due to proximity which is what happens with fans attending British football games. Once you are within a folk group, you obtain a sense of loyalty to the members and what you are representing. “For sports, consumers to develop an attitudinal loyalty towards a sport or team they must gain an awareness of the sport, through socialising factors and then develop an attraction to the sport or team” (Lewis, 2015, 10). Once you have created this loyalty you feel a sense of belonging to a group and relating to other people who have the same interests. This is a key factor within folklore which is why fans are a part of this category.

 

Once that connection to a team is made, studies have shown that “team identification leads to social connections which, in turn, result in well-being” (Wann, 2017, 1). That sense of belonging keeps them a part of a community which they feel wanted and accepted in. This leads to fan indemnification which “can be defined as the personal commitment, perception of connection, and emotional involvement of the spectator with a sports team, whose failures and achievements are experienced by the fans as their own” (Arroba et al., 2021, 23). The team is seen as an extension of their identity which is why loyalty is such a huge aspect of being a fan. Due to this loyalty and sense of community “to be unfaithful to the group would be to betray not only the group itself (associated with the sanctity of familial ties) but also the essence of their personal self” (Newson, 2016). This shows the effect and aspects of being a part of a folk group such as a fan base and how important it is to those involved.

 

An example of loyalty from a specific British Football Club is from Luton Town F.C. whose fans conducted a survey explaining why they identify with this folk group. Many responded with the fact of locality and not necessarily due to who is actually the best in the league. They thought higher of their team regardless. Evidence has also shown that the least successful clubs/teams have the most committed fans. This shows that despite the record, fans come together as a community and continue to show loyalty as fans.