Personal branding y autorrepresentación de las futbolistas internacionales de élite en Instagram

Autores/as

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26422/aucom.2027.1601.may

Palabras clave:

Instagram, personal branding, fútbol femenino, comunicación deportiva digital, athlete branding, marketing deportivo

Resumen

Las redes sociales han transformado profundamente la comunicación deportiva contemporánea y la construcción de marca personal de los atletas profesionales. En este contexto, Instagram se ha consolidado como uno de los principales espacios de autorrepresentación, humanización y comercialización dentro del deporte femenino. La investigación analiza las estrategias de personal branding desarrolladas por las futbolistas internacionales de élite en Instagram, prestando especial atención a la representación deportiva, el lifestyle aspiracional, la humanización emocional y la integración comercial dentro de sus publicaciones digitales. El estudio adopta un enfoque cuantitativo mediante análisis de contenido aplicado a un corpus de 600 publicaciones oficiales de Instagram pertenecientes a las 20 futbolistas con mayor valor de mercado internacional según el ranking Top Market Values de Soccerdonna. La ficha metodológica operacionalizó variables relacionadas con representación deportiva profesional, branding personal, vida privada, lifestyle, representación corporal, patrocinio, empoderamiento y profesionalización visual. Además, se realizaron análisis descriptivos e inferenciales, se elaboraron tablas de contingencia y se aplicaron análisis multivariantes de carácter exploratorio. Los resultados evidencian que las futbolistas construyen perfiles comunicativos híbridos en los que convergen rendimiento deportivo, humanización emocional y comercialización digital. La representación deportiva continúa siendo predominante, especialmente mediante acciones de juego y equipación oficial, aunque las publicaciones vinculadas a lifestyle, moda y branding personal presentan igualmente una presencia significativa. Las publicaciones lifestyle muestran mayores niveles de patrocinio y profesionalización visual, mientras que los contenidos emocionales y personales generan elevados niveles de interacción. La investigación confirma la creciente convergencia entre athlete branding, cultura influencer y comunicación deportiva digital dentro del fútbol femenino contemporáneo. Instagram funciona como una infraestructura estratégica de construcción identitaria en la que las futbolistas desarrollan identidades híbridas asociadas simultáneamente a legitimidad deportiva, aspiracionalidad visual y comercialización simbólica.

Descargas

Los datos de descarga aún no están disponibles.

Referencias

Abeza, G. (2023). Social media and sport studies (2014–2023): A critical review. International Journal of Sport Communication, 16(3), 251-261. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2023-0182

Abidin, C. (2016). “Aren’t these just young, rich women doing vain things online?”: Influencer selfies as subversive frivolity. Social Media + Society, 2(2), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305116641342

Arai, A., Ko, Y. J., & Kaplanidou, K. (2013). Athlete brand image: Scale development and model test. European Sport Management Quarterly, 13(4), 383-403. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2013.811609

Arai, A., Ko, Y. J., & Ross, S. (2014). Branding athletes: Exploration and conceptualization of athlete brand image. Sport Management Review, 17(2), 97-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2013.04.003

Bae, W., Yu, H. Y., Naraine, M. L., & Cho, M. (2026). Strategic self-presentation and personal brand management of professional female athletes on Instagram. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-10-2025-0516

Bańbuła, J. (2024). Effects of brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, and brand loyalty on overall brand equity in sport. A case study of an amateur football sports club. Physical Culture and Sport, 104(1), 36-47. https://doi.org/10.2478/pcssr-2024-0017

Bardin, L. (2002). Análisis de contenido (3.ª ed.). Ediciones Akal.

Bataeva, E. (2024). Social phenomenon of Instagram in metamodern condition. Ideology and Politics Journal, (1), 25. https://www.ideopol.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2-Bataeva.pdf

Brown, L. E. C. (2025). Say her name: Centering Black feminism and Black women in sport. Rutgers University Press.

Bruce, T. (2013). Reflections on communication and sport: On women and femininities. Communication & Sport, 1(1-2), 125-137. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479512472883

Cano Tenorio, R., Gómez-Carmona, D., & Marín Dueñas, P. P. (2025). La gestión de las acciones de marketing por parte de las futbolistas de la LigaF en la red social TikTok. Retos, 63, 965-978. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v63.105184

Carretero-García, C., & Borges-Gómez, E. (2023). La producción de la marca personal a través de Instagram: intersecciones entre feminidad y neoliberalismo en la proyección estética y corporal de las influencers. Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, 41(2), 285-312. https://doi.org/10.5209/crla.87774

Castañeda Santamaría, Á. (2025). Marketing de imagen y estrategias de branding en el fútbol profesional: un análisis comparativo generacional entre futbolistas millennials y de la Generación Z. Trabajo de fin de grado, Facultad de Economía, Comunicación y Tecnología. Universidad a Distancia de Madrid. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12226/3044

Castro-Lemus, N., Ortiz-Romero, M., & Ramos Ruiz, Á. (2026). Women athletes’ representation on Instagram: A feminist critical discourse analysis of Spanish media coverage during the Paris 2024 Olympics. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 61(2), 321-343. https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902251343318

Chadwick, S. (2013). From outside lane to inside track: sport management research in the twenty-first century. En Söderman, S. y Dolles, H., Handbook of Research on Sport and Business (pp. 513-525). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781781005866.00039

Cianfrone, B. A. (2023). Brand management and social media. International Journal of Sport Communication, 16(3), 306-314. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2023-0154

Cooky, C., Messner, M. A., & Musto, M. (2015). “It’s dude time!”: A quarter century of excluding women’s sports in televised news and highlight shows. Communication & Sport, 3(3), 261-287. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479515588761

Crawford, M. (2023). Speaking up and speaking out: Collective voice in women’s sports media. Communication & Sport, 11(4), 688-705. https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795221131794

Creedon, P. (2014). Women, social media, and sport: Global digital communication weaves a web. Television & New Media, 15(8), 711-716. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476414530476

Davenport, T. H., & Beck, J. C. (2001). The attention economy: Understanding the new currency of business. Harvard Business School Press.

Demir, Y., & Ayhan, B. (2022). Being a female sports journalist on Twitter: Online harassment, sexualization, and hegemony. International Journal of Sport Communication, 15(3), 207-217. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2022-0044

Díaz-Bajo, J. (2024). Imaginario visual del género femenino: la representación discursiva de jugadoras de fútbol profesional. European Public & Social Innovation Review, 9, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2024-1398

Díaz-Bajo, J. (2025). La representación social del fútbol femenino como estrategia emergente de comunicación digital. IROCAMM-International Review Of Communication And Marketing Mix, 8(2), 30-60. https://doi.org/10.12795/IROCAMM.2025.v08.i02.02

Doyle, J. P., Su, Y., & Kunkel, T. (2022). Athlete branding via social media: Examining the factors influencing consumer engagement on Instagram. European Sport Management Quarterly, 22(4), 506-526. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2020.1806897

Duncan, M. C., & Hasbrook, C. A. (1988). Denial of power in televised women’s sports. Sociology of Sport Journal, 5(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.5.1.1

Dziencielsky, V. (2023). El proceso de profesionalización del fútbol femenino en Argentina. Las implicancias de definir un valor. Sudamérica: Revista de Ciencias Sociales, (18), 214-240. https://fh.mdp.edu.ar/revistas/index.php/sudamerica/article/view/6869

Erdogan, B. Z. (2009). Celebrity endorsement: A literature review. Journal of Marketing Management, 15(4), 291-314. https://doi.org/10.1362/026725799784870379

Fenton, A., Parry, K. D., Ahmed, W., & Chadwick, S. (2023). Understanding sporting brands and entrepreneurship using netnography and social network analysis. International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 20(1), 141-162. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTTC.2023.129707

Fink, J. S. (2015). Female athletes, women’s sport, and the sport media commercial complex: Have we really “come a long way, baby”? Sport Management Review, 18(3), 331-342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2014.05.001

García, M. (2022). Profesionalización del fútbol femenino en Argentina. Una conquista de derechos e igualdad aparente. Revista Electrónica del Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas y Sociales Ambrosio Lucas Gioja, (28), 183-209. http://revistas.derecho.uba.ar/index.php/revista-gioja/article/view/49

Garin, M. (2024). Women, sport and images: From literary ekphrasis to audiovisual media. L'Atalante. Revista de Estudios Cinematográficos, 37, 7-18. https://www.academia.edu/download/111680505/WomenSportandImages_ManuelGarin_Atalante37_EN.pdf

Geurin-Eagleman, A., & Burch, L. M. (2016). Communicating via photographs: A gendered analysis of Olympic athletes’ visual self-presentation on Instagram. Sport Management Review, 19(2), 133-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2015.03.002

Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Doubleday.

Gorbatov, S., Khapova, S. N., & Lysova, E. I. (2018). Personal branding: Interdisciplinary systematic review and research agenda. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2238. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02238

Hernando, A. (2017). The fantasy of individuality I: Women and gender identity. En The Fantasy of Individuality: On the Sociohistorical Construction of the Modern Subject (pp. 79-95). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60720-7_7

Highfield, T., & Leaver, T. (2016). Instagrammatics and digital methods: Studying visual social media, from selfies and GIFs to memes and emoji. Communication Research and Practice, 2(1), 47-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2016.1155332

Hogsnes, M., Grønli, T. M., & Hansen, K. (2024). Exploring influencers’ commercial content on Instagram. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 24(2), 156-168. https://doi.org/10.1080/15252019.2024.2316114

Kane, M. J. (1996). Media coverage of the post Title IX female athlete: A feminist analysis of sport, gender and power. Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy, 3(1), 95-130. https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/djglp/vol3/iss1/4

Khamis, S., Ang, L., & Welling, R. (2017). Self-branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of social media influencers. Celebrity Studies, 8(2), 191-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2016.1218292

Kozharinova, M., & Manovich, L. (2024). Instagram as a narrative platform. First Monday, 29(3). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v29i3.12497

Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (2nd ed.). Sage.

Kumbhar, M. (2025). Sports media and women athletes: A study of representation and stereotypes. IIP : International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 2 (IV), 1344-47. https://iipublications.com/iipimrj/article/view/748

Kunkel, T., Doyle, J. P., & Berlin, A. (2017). Consumers’ perceived value of sport team games. A multidimensional approach. Journal of Sport Management, 31(1), 80-95. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2016-0044

Labrecque, L. I., Markos, E., & Milne, G. R. (2011). Online personal branding: Processes, challenges, and implications. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 25(1), 37-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2010.09.002

Lebel, K., & Danylchuk, K. (2012). How tweet it is: A gendered analysis of professional tennis players’ self-presentation on Twitter. International Journal of Sport Communication, 5(4), 461-480. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.5.4.461

Lister, M. (2013). The photographic image in digital culture (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Lopes, A., & Nagel, M. (2025). Women professional athletes and their personal brands on social media: an analysis of 2020 and 2021 WNBA player photos on Instagram. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 15(4), 406-426. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-08-2024-0106

Mahoney, L. M., & Tang, T. (2024). Strategic social media: From marketing to social change. John Wiley & Sons.

Marwick, A. (2015). You may know me from YouTube: (Micro)-celebrity in social media. En P. D. Marshall & S. Redmond (Eds.), A companion to celebrity (pp. 333-350). Wiley Blackwell.

Marwick, A., & Boyd, D. (2011). To see and be seen: Celebrity practice on Twitter. Convergence, 17(2), 139-158. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856510394539

Mayorga-Escalada, S., & Iniesta-Alemán, I. (2025). Comunicación de marca en Instagram: actividad e interacción entre finalistas de la Euro’24 y sus patrocinadores. En Pérez Calle, R.D., y Rojo Domingo, H., El papel de la economía, la empresa y el derecho ante los nuevos entornos globales (pp. 443-461). Dykinson.

Neuendorf, K. A. (2017). The content analysis guidebook (2nd ed.). Sage.

Norman, L., Simpson, R. A., Culvin, A., & Griffiths, I. (2025). Understanding the impact of professional football club cultural climates on the experiences of women working in football. Gender, Work & Organization, 32(6), 2322-2338. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.70011

Orozco, J. V. G., & Gómez, S. C. (2026). Comunicación digital y redes sociales en el fútbol profesional: Gestión de marca personal en Instagram. Revista Prisma Social, (53), 336-357. https://doi.org/10.65598/rps.6040

Panthen, M., Anderski, G. M., Trobe, L., & Ströbel, T. (2025). Brand building and brand management of athlete brands. En Integrative Human Branding-Brand Building and Brand Management in the Logic of Value Co-Creation (pp. 24-121). La Trobe Business School. https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/8550/1/Dissertation_Matthias%20Anderski_LTU_UBT.pdf#page=41

Pfister, G. (2010). Women in sport. Gender relations and future perspectives. Sport in Society, 13(2), 234-248. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430430903522954

Rogstad, E. T., Tjønndal, A., Røsten, S., & Skirbekk, S. B. (2024). From field to feed: Norwegian football players’ usage and self-presentation on Instagram throughout the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Championship. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 59(8), 1144-1166. https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902241252319

Rowe, D. (2023). Sport and the media. En Griffen-Foley, B. y Turnbull, S., The Media and Communications in Australia (pp. 296-300). Routledge.

Şahin, A., Soylu, D., Toktas, E., & Köse, N. (2024). The impact of media representation on female athlete identity and self-perception. International Journal of Sport Studies for Health, 7(3), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.intjssh.7.3.1

Salvini, L., Júnior, W. M., & Silveira, V. T. (2021). “Cuerpos que importan”: reflexiones sobre mujeres y deporte. GénEros, 28(29), 375-396. https://revistasacademicas.ucol.mx/index.php/generos/article/view/51

Sanderson, J., & Hambrick, M. E. (2012). Covering the scandal in 140 characters: A case study of Twitter’s role in coverage of the Penn State saga. International Journal of Sport Communication, 5(3), 384-402. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.5.3.384

Serrano‐Pascual, A., & Carretero‐García, C. (2022). Women’s entrepreneurial subjectivity under scrutiny: Expert knowledge on gender and entrepreneurship. Gender, Work and Organization, 29(2), 666-686. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12806

Siluo, Q. (2025). Leveraging social media to enable emerging consumer brands to compete with established brands. International Journal of Technology, Management and Humanities, 11(03), 73-85. https://doi.org/10.21590/ijtmh.11.03.11

Stadnyk, S., Okun, D., Bondar, A., & Sereda, N. (2023). Sports branding as an object of scientific analysis based on the study of publications in the international scientometric database Scopus. Slobozhanskyi Herald of Science and Sport, 27(2), 81-91. https://doi.org/10.15391/snsv.2023-2.004

Sudre, D. (2026). Representation of young sportswomen in cinema: From male domination to female devaluation. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 61(2), 482-500. https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902251345327

Thomson, M. (2006). Human brands: Investigating antecedents to consumers’ strong attachments to celebrities. Journal of Marketing, 70(3), 104-119. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.70.3.104

Tjønndal, A., Skirbekk, S. B., Røsten, S., & Rogstad, E. T. (2024). ‘Women play football, not women’s football’: the potentials and paradoxes of professionalisation expressed at the UEFA women’s EURO 2022 Championship. European Journal for Sport and Society, 21(3), 276-294. https://doi.org/10.1080/16138171.2024.2306443

Vai, A., Setiawan, C., Ngatman, N., Angga Lardika, R., Noviana, E., Yusuf, J., Ardyanto, S., Widya Putri, M., Widiyanto, W. E., & Desviyanti, E. (2025). Análisis de la representación de las mujeres deportistas en los medios deportivos: una revisión sistemática de la literatura. Retos, 63, 918-927. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v63.109449

Woods, J., Hartwell, M., Oldham, L., & House-Niamke, S. (2023). Centering the self, doing the sport, and being the brand: The self-branding of lifestyle athletes on Instagram. International Journal of Sport Communication, 16(2), 159-167. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2022-0168

Zakerian, A., Sarkoohi, P., Ghafouri, F., & Keshkar, S. (2022). Developing a model for athletes' personal brands on social networks (case study: Instagram). International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 22(1-2), 142-160. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSMM.2022.121253

Publicado

2026-11-06

Número

Sección

Artículos Libres

Cómo citar

Mayorga-Escalada, S. (2026). Personal branding y autorrepresentación de las futbolistas internacionales de élite en Instagram. Austral Comunicación, 16(1), e01603. https://doi.org/10.26422/aucom.2027.1601.may