Perceived utility of official athletic Twitter accounts: The opinions of college athletic administrators

The impact of Twitter on sport organizations has been examined from a number of perspectives and theoretical frameworks (Dittmore, Sanderson, Clavio & Pegoraro, 2013). Much of that research has focused on individual motives for using Twitter, such as interactivity and information seeking, but a yet unexplored area is why organizations use Twitter. The current study examines intercollegiate athletic administrators' views of the perceived utility of Twitter as a form of marketing or communication. One hundred eighty-eight usable responses from the population of athletic directors, sport information directors, and marketing directors from 340 NCAA Division I schools were used. Results show the majority of official athletic department Twitter accounts are run by Sports Information/Media Relations and the top three target publics are alumni, students, and existing ticket holders. Additionally, three factors were identified on the scale indicating communication purpose: Interpersonal, Informational, and Promotional. For the interpersonal factor, Athletic Directors and Marketers scores statistically significantly exceeded scores of Sports Information Directors, however, classification within Division I had no statistically significant effect.