DIGITAL SPORTS MARKETING IN SERBIA: CRM PERSONALIZATION AND CONSUMER PURCHASING DECISIONS

The paper examines the impact of personalized digital marketing in sports – implemented through CRM systems (email campaigns, club mobile applications, and loyalty programs) – on consumer behavior and brand perception. Building on theories of consumer value, customer relationship management, and fan engagement models, the study proposes a framework in which personalization (message relevance, timeliness, and consistency) influences perceived communication usefulness, emotional engagement, and trust, which in turn strengthen satisfaction, loyalty, and purchase intention (tickets, season passes, merchandise, OTT subscriptions). At the same time, boundary effects such as privacy sensitivity, perceived fairness of data exchange (value-fordata), and message fatigue are explored. The proposed research framework integrates measures of CRM touchpoint quality (e.g., dynamic content, behavior-based recommendations) with consumer behavior and brand equity indicators, allowing for the testing of mediating and moderating relationships. Expected findings indicate that well-timed, transparent, and value-driven personalization increases engagement and conversion, while excessive frequency and insufficient data control diminish effects. The theoretical contribution lies in linking CRM personalization with loyalty formation mechanisms in the sports context, while the practical contribution provides guidelines for designing privacy-bydesign campaigns, optimizing segmentation, and measuring impacts on purchasing behavior and brand equity.