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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the notion of “symbolic purchase” which has long been documented in the management and marketing literature. In particular, self‐congruity theory has been examined in various domains of consumer behavior. However, little attention has been paid to the area of sport. In sport business, licensed‐merchandise (i.e. team apparel) has become an increasingly important revenue source and it strengthens fan identity and brand loyalty. Therefore, based on the self‐congruity theory, the aim is to investigate the effect of self‐image congruence on sport team‐licensed merchandise evaluation and purchase.

A proposed model incorporates self‐image congruence (SIC), perceived quality, and purchase intention of team‐licensed merchandise. The reliabilities of the scaled measures were established in a pilot study (n=66). Data (n=260) for this study were collected at two professional basketball games using a convenient sampling method.

The results of the structural model indicated that the model fits the data well and constructs of self‐image congruence and perceived quality combined explained 43 per cent of the total variance in purchase intention. The findings revealed that both SIC and perceived quality had a direct positive effect on purchase intention while perceived quality also acted as a mediator between SIC and purchase intention.

The findings imply that SIC can be useful in predicting sport fans’ quality perception and purchase decisions on the team‐licensed merchandise. Future studies need to replicate this study in different regions and using different sports (i.e. soccer, baseball, etc.).

The findings extend the literature by incorporating self‐image congruence and perceived product quality in the purchase decision‐making process. This is the first known effort to apply self‐congruity theory in the spectator sport consumption context.

This paper explores the strategy of a professional soccer team introducing a new brand for selling merchandise. After reviewing literature on brand management, brand equity and brand associations (with a special focus on their application in the sports industry), this paper examines the case of U.S. Lecce launching the Salento 12 brand and discusses characteristics and key success factors of the project. A model of brand equity drivers of consumers' behavioural intentions towards Salento 12 branded products is designed and tested on a sample of 150 customers. Brand loyalty, perceived value and brand associations with the territory are found to positively affect behavioural intentions.

This study aims to examine diversity and inclusivity in sports from a sexual orientation perspective. A literature review summarizes known findings on attitudes and perceptions of and towards nonbinary individuals in sports. Adopting Herek’s (2007) Sexual Stigma perspective, an experiment is conducted exploring the differences in fan attitudes and behavioral intentions towards nonbinary athletes in both women’s and men’s sports.

A systematic review of extant literature identified 24 peer-reviewed primary studies examining nonbinary individuals in sports. A 2 (Sport: Women’s vs. Men’s Basketball) × 2 (Nonbinary Indicator: Indicator vs. No-Indicator) experimental study was then designed to further explore fan attitudes towards nonbinary athletes.

The study revealed that, among sports fans, there was no perceived performance difference in women’s or men’s basketball linked to athletes’ nonbinary status (as measured by athletic ability, future performance, sportsmanship, talent and quickness). However, measures of fan support (sport engagement, intention to buy team merchandise and team fanship) were lower when the athlete was perceived as nonbinary. For women’s basketball, team fanship and intention to buy team merchandise were significantly lower, while the difference was not significant in men’s basketball.

Along with an inclusive review of prior literature, this is the first empirical study to examine the differences in fans’ attitudes towards nonbinary athletes in both women’s and men’s sports at the same time via an experimental design.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of patriotism and identification with national players on identification with the NBA and, ultimately, with purchase intentions of league-related merchandise. Findings revealed that the interaction between patriotism and identification with national players was a significant predictor of identification with NBA, which in turn was a significant predictor of purchase intentions of league-related products. The moderated mediation model fit the data quite well and explained 44.5% of the variance in purchase intentions. Theoretical implications of the findings, as well as practical implications for sports managers, are discussed.

Building on existing sport licensing research from the North American market, the primary goal of this study was to explore meanings embedded in sport licensed products in the Greek sport market. The secondary goal was to examine the extent to which product meanings can predict favorable sport consumer behaviors.

Data were collected from football and basketball fans of the two biggest professional sport clubs in Greece. A total of 255 Greek fans completed the surveys. Data were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

The findings uncovered a 14-item solution to capture the meanings attached to sport licensed products in the Greek market, including four factors-sources: experience, socialization, aesthetics and locality. Meanings related to aesthetics and experience significantly and positively predicted customer satisfaction, word-of-mouth communication, purchase intention and willingness to pay a price premium for licensed products of one's favorite team.

From a practical standpoint, this study shows that sport licensed products need to be positioned in the market based on their aesthetic quality. Also, communication plans that associate these products with opportunities for unique experiences, relationships with other fans and a connection to one's local community can drive sales, especially in less developed sport markets such as Greece.

This research contributes to existing literature by highlighting the prominent role of the aesthetic appeal of team licensed products as well as the experience of sport consumers as sources of meaning and value for the owners of those products.

Despite its growth, there has been a lack of investigation on how sport rebranding influences fans and their behaviors. This study sought to examine how a critical aspect of rebranding – logo redesign – influences fans' attitudes toward a sport brand and intent to purchase merchandise bearing the rebranded logo. More specifically, we aim to investigate the influence of varying degrees of logo change and fan identification in relation to brand attitude and purchase intention.

An experimental design, 4 (degrees of logo change) × 2 (fan identification: low, high), was utilized with the sample of 277 participants. The current logo of the Ultimate Fighting Championship was redesigned into three fictitious rebranded logos as stimuli based on different rebranding types.

The results suggest that color change and revolutionary change generate the most negative attitudes from both high- and low-identified fans, and fan identification is not a significant factor influencing fan attitudes. Regarding purchase intention, low-identified fans are not significantly influenced by logo changes whereas highly identified fans showed similar response to their attitudes.

The findings advance the current body of knowledge on sport rebranding and fan behavior by demonstrating the effects of varying degrees of logo redesign and fan identification levels on brand attitude and purchase intention. Moreover, the current research has important implications for sport marketers on developing effective rebranding and logo redesign strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into how consumers value sports team-branded merchandise. Two experiments are conducted to examine the effects of rivalry and team identification on evaluations of licensed product (Study 1). Study 2 examined the effects of team brand cue, team performance priming and product category on licensed product evaluations.

Study 1 (N = 104) examined the effects of team rivalry and team identification on multidimensional product values and purchase intent. In Study 2, a 3 (performance priming: positive/negative/neutral) × 2 (team brand cue: present/absent) × 2 (product category: symbolic/utilitarian) between-subjects design (N = 285) was utilized. Samples were recruited from students and alumni at a large Midwestern university in the USA. A series of multivariate analysis of covariance was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses.

Fans view a product licensed with a rival team’s logo to have significantly less functional, emotional and social value than a product licensed with their favorite team’s logo. Highly identified fans showed greater bias in evaluating the product than less identified fans. Team performance priming also moderated the effect of team brand cues on purchase intentions toward the licensed product.

Team identification level accentuates bias in valuations of a licensed product. In addition, better performance of a team further motivates purchase decisions. Use of a collegiate brand in this study limits generalizability of the findings.

Practitioners should realize that simple heuristic cues can change consumers’ perceptions of licensed merchandise product values.

The current study extends previous research on licensed product valuation by using multidimensional value propositions and a variety of product-related cues.

This study investigates the mediating effect of perceived value in the relationship between team identification and purchase intention towards licensed apparel within two different price settings (market price and 40% above market price). Considering adaptation level theory, cognitive dissonance theory and dual information processing, it is hypothesised that team identification will directly influence purchase intention when the price of a product decreases. Two models (partial mediation and full mediation) were constructed in each price setting and tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results indicate that the partial mediation model better fits the data for the 70,000 Won setting and the full mediation model was a better fit for the 90,000 Won setting.

The authors sought to examine how nostalgic feelings influenced purchase intentions of sport fans towards branded merchandise. Additionally, the goal was to test the childhood brand nostalgia (CBN) scale to see if it was an effective measure in this context. This was an important early step in understanding the way nostalgia may influence sport fan's merchandise preferences.

Surveys were completed by 601 fans of two professional sport teams in the USA. These consumers were targeted geographically through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and half given a modern branded t-shirt and the other half a retro branded t-shirt. To examine brand nostalgia in this context, the CBN measure was evaluated and examined to see its impact on each group, using hierarchical regressions.

The results demonstrated that CBN positively impacted consumers purchase intentions in the retro logoed t-shirt group. However, in the modern logoed t-shirt group, CBN did not significantly influence purchase intentions.

The findings of this study suggest that retro merchandise is working as expected, as it is attractive to those who feel nostalgic about their team. Secondarily, this study's findings suggest it may be vital for marketers to be conscious that their retro materials are connecting to the past.

This study was an early examination of a measure of nostalgia and its impact on purchase intentions in sport. The findings suggested that this CBN instrument may be appropriate in retro marketing research, especially regarding sport merchandise. Further, the findings suggest that nostalgic feelings may be influential toward retro merchandise, but not modern merchandise.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of sports sponsorship on brand equity using two managerially related outcomes: price premium and market share.

This study uses a best–worst discrete choice experiment (BWDCE) and compares the outcome with that of the purchase intention scale, an established probabilistic measure of purchase intention. The total sample consists of 409 fans of three soccer teams sponsored by three different competing brands: Nike, Adidas and Puma.

With sports sponsorship, fans were willing to pay more for the sponsor’s product, with the sponsoring brand obtaining the highest market share. Prominent brands generally performed better than less prominent brands. The best–worst scaling method was also 35% more accurate in predicting brand choice than a purchase intention scale.

Future research could use the same method to study other types of sponsors, such as title sponsors or other product categories.

Sponsorship managers can use this methodology to assess the return on investment in sponsorship engagement.

Prior sponsorship studies on brand equity tend to ignore market share or fans’ willingness to pay a price premium for a sponsor’s goods and services. However, these two measures are crucial in assessing the effectiveness of sponsorship. This study demonstrates how to conduct such an assessment using the BWDCE method. It provides a clearer picture of sponsorship in terms of its economic value, which is more managerially useful.