Maddie Braun Headshot

Author: Madelyn Braun | Majors: Marketing and Supply Chain

My name is Maddie Braun, and I am in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. I am double majoring in supply chain management and marketing management, and I am minoring in economics. My mentor is Dr. Molly Rapert, who is a part of the marketing department in the Walton College of Business. I have been conducting my research during the 2021 fall semester. My future plans include continuing to analyze my data and put together all of the steps I have been working on for my thesis.

In my research I am surveying Kansas City Chiefs fans and Arkansas Razorbacks fans. Throughout my survey I am looking for what makes these fans so loyal to their team. Through my data analysis, I hope to find tactics that other brands can use to obtain a customer base as loyal as the teams’ fans.

I chose my topic because I have always been a huge Chiefs and Razorbacks fan. During my spring semester my junior year, I took the Marketing Management course with Dr. Molly Rapert. In class we learned about a marketing thought leader named Americus Reed. He has coined the term identity loyalty. In this theory, if a brand can get its customers to believe it is a part of who they are and they are proud to be known to support this brand, then that is the strongest type of loyalty. I found this concept very interesting. After just a few weeks in Dr. Rapert’s class, I knew I wanted her as my thesis advisor. Dr. Rapert’s passion for her students and what she teaches was very evident to me and I knew I had to have her!

I have learned a lot of new things throughout my time researching my topic. One of the extremely obvious findings I have seen in my survey is many of the respondents are loyal because of the ties between their family and the team. I believe if a brand can bring families together and remind a person of someone they love, they will have an extremely loyal customer. One thing I have learned about myself through this process is that I enjoy looking through data and finding patterns. In my results, I have found patterns in responses that I would not have expected, and I really enjoy discovering these and being able to record them.

As I mentioned earlier, I really wanted Dr. Rapert to be my advisor. Dr. Rapert has been the best for any advice or help I need. From encouraging me to apply for this grant, to finding ways to word my survey, to support through the IRB process, Dr. Rapert has been the best support. This process has allowed me to build a closer relationship with her, and through that I know I have someone I can go to for help with anything, even if it does not apply to my thesis.

I plan to continue to analyze my data and find the important results. With my results, I will begin to include them in my final thesis report. I will also begin a social media audit of the Kansas City Chiefs and Arkansas Razorbacks social media accounts to see how they engage most with their fans. I will plan to finish up my thesis early spring semester. I plan to graduate in May and have a job with Transplace in Rogers beginning in June.