One of the brand management approaches is the cultural approach. In this approach, the brand is considered as a part of the cultural body. The theory of cultural branding deals with the study of how brand names become celebrities. Brand managers can involve themselves in the cultural branding model and set a path that takes the brand to celebrity status. Brand managers must have a high understanding of the cultural issues in the society. Athletes are famous people whose characteristics consumers perceive and create a special image of them in their minds.
The consumer's descriptive perception of the cultural characteristics of athletes is the cultural image of the athlete's brand. The purpose of the current research was to determine the factors of the cultural image of the athlete brand. The research method was carried out in a field and qualitative way. Grounded Theory Method (GTM) was used to analyze the data. There were 35 participants in the research. The interview was conducted in a semi-structured and in-depth manner. The analysis of the data from the interviews showed that the cultural image includes two sub-dimensions of religion and customs. Maintaining beliefs, participating in religious programs, maintaining Islamic culture and Islamic hijab show the obvious factors of religion. Adhering to the society's culture, respecting the ethnic culture, maintaining the customs of the club, respecting the customs of the city and the country, and creating a positive culture in the society are among the obvious factors of the cultural image of the athlete brand.
The research results show that consumer perception is not only related to sports factors of athletes; But brand culture also has an effect on brand image. Therefore, in order to brand athletes, managers should pay attention to cultural factors in brand building in addition to sports factors.