本研究旨於探討虛擬社群球迷之虛擬社群意識、球隊認同感，以及贊助球隊之品牌權益之關係，並加以確認三者間之影響因素是否具有正向關聯性。本研究之研究對象以中信金控之贊助球隊－中信兄弟之虛擬社群球迷為主要研究對象，採用的研究工具有「虛擬社群意識量表」、「球隊認同感量表」、「品牌權益量表」，問卷發放時間為中華名國一百零六年五月，共回收837份問卷，有效問卷數為795份。
研究結果顯示：（一）虛擬社群意識會正向影響虛擬社群球迷之球隊認同感。（二）虛擬社群意識會正向影響虛擬社群球迷對球隊贊助企業之品牌權益的看法。（三）球隊認同感會正向影響虛擬社群球迷對球隊贊助企業之品牌權益的看法。（四）球隊認同感確實會對於虛擬社群意識以及贊助球隊之品牌權益產生中介效果。在經過本研究之數據分析與推論後發現，球隊認同感會影響虛擬社群意識以及品牌權益的認知，並對兩者具有正向的中介效果。
根據本研究之研究結果，球迷會因於線上社群的討論以及對球隊的認同感，進而影響到贊助企業之品牌權益。因此可得知線上虛擬社群的經營，確實會產生經由線上影響至線下的交互作用。

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between the sense of virtual community and baseball team recognition, and their influence on the brand equity of a cooperate sponsor to prove whether the three factors have positive relevance or not. Thereby, to gain practical insights, the thesis will focus on the fans of the Chinatrust Brothers, which is a baseball team, and its sponsor by CTBC Bank. The utilized instruments include “the sense of virtual community scale,” “team identification scale,” and “brand equity scale.” To examine the mentioned relationship, a questionnaire was issued in May 2017. In total, 837 questionnaires were collected, and 795 questionnaires were valid.
The analysis determined the following results: (1) The sense of virtual community positively affects fan’s team identification. (2) The sense of virtual community positively affects the fans’ opinions on the brand equity of the company. (3) The baseball team’s identification positively modifies the fan’s opinion of the brand equity of the sponsoring company. (4) The team identification is a mediator between the virtual community recognition and the brand equity of the firm. Through the analysis and conclusion of this study, it is discovered that the team identification affects the recognition of the virtual community and the firm’s brand equity
According to the results of this study, on-line community discussions and the team recognition affect the company’s brand equity. It can be noticed that the operation of the virtual community affects the company’s brand equity not only online but also offline.

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