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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.

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.

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.

Due to the increased growth of Internet users, the examination of compelling online shopping behavior has emerged as a vital topic in developing positive consumer behaviors. However, there is a dearth of studies into how consumers of sport merchandise in the online setting spend their time and what types of factors contribute toward their positive shopping experience. To fill this gap, the purpose of this current study is to investigate the impact and complexity of sport commerce websites by providing the precondition of flow (e.g. convenience, content, aesthetics, interactivity and customization), as well as the consequences of flow (e.g. website satisfaction and shopping well-being).

This study examines relationships among perceived website quality, flow, web satisfaction, and shopping well-being by using structural equation modeling. This current study is based on online sport fans who have recent online shopping experiences of licensed sport products (n = 331).

Results of this present study show that flow plays a mediating role between perceived website quality and web satisfaction, which in turn is positively associated with consumers' shopping well-being.

This current study supports a mediating role of flow state in sport consumer perceptions of website quality and satisfaction; it expands existing knowledge through determining the factors that facilitate flow state and website satisfaction in online shopping. This empirical finding offers important implications regarding the function of flow as an essential factor via the optimization of website services and sport consumers' attitudes.

The purpose of this paper is to predict intentions to purchase sport team licensed merchandise (STLM) using the theory of planned behavior (TPB).

Three constructs of the TPB such as attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) were used to predict purchase intention of STLM. In an effort to increase the level of prediction, additional elements – past behavior and role identity – were included. A total of 384 university students participated in the survey.

The results indicated that attitude, subjective norms, and PBC accounted for 64 percent of the variance in purchase intention of STLM. Past behavior and role identity explained an additional 9.3 percent of the variance in purchase intentions. Past behavior was the strongest predictor of purchase intention.

The results showed the efficacy of the TPB in predicting purchase intentions of STLM.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between consumers’ purchase motivations to show support for university programs and the influence of merchandise quality cues on their purchase decision, and examine how one's affiliation with a university (official or non-official) moderates this relationship.

This research utilized a mail survey of university bookstore customers from the USA and Canada. The university, located in the USA, has an international reputation for its academic programs, its athletic teams, and its religious affiliation.

Our findings demonstrate the significance of athletic programs over academic programs and religious values in motivating purchases of licensed university merchandise.

These findings have significant implications for several stakeholders in the business of retailing licensed merchandise. In particular, university licensors and their bookstore retailers may consider managing their inventory of licensed products to reflect the greater relative importance athletic teams have in the purchase decision process.

This paper adds to our understanding of customer motivations to purchase university licensed merchandise, and the conditions when merchandise quality is a key decision driver.

While brand extensions and licensing are two distinct brand strategies, recent literature suggests that licensing be treated as an “external” brand extension. As both of these strategies have the ability to have positive and negative effects on the team's brand it is important to understand if consumers are aware if they are purchasing licensed products or extensions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine if consumers are aware when a brand extension or licensing situation is present.

This research involved exposing participants to a total of 16 products (eight brand extensions and eight licensed products) and asking participants to indicate who developed the products they were exposed to.

The results suggest that participants had a difficult time correctly identifying team licensed products, while in general they were able to successfully identify team brand extensions.

This study provides empirical evidence suggesting that licensed product should not be classified as brand extensions as has been previously suggested. As such, research on brand extensions may not be applicable to licensing and vice versa.

As there is some confusion in regards to who is manufacturing team licensed product, it is important that sport properties choose licensees that produce high quality products to limit potential negative effects on their brand.

This was the first known study to examine differences in consumer awareness of team brand extensions and licensed products.

This investigation evaluated four sports fan characteristics (fan identification, trust in internet shopping, attitude towards online purchasing, and perceptions of convenience) and two sports website characteristics (perception of product comparison service, and website price advantage) to assess their ability to differentiate licensed sports merchandise purchasers (buyers), and those who just browsed sports websites (browsers). The results made it possible to differentiate buyers and browsers based on 'trust in internet shopping', 'attitude towards online purchasing', 'perceptions of convenience', and 'website price advantage'. Additionally, all six characteristics collectively explained sports merchandise consumers buying versus browsing.

Based on cue utilization theory, this study aims to examine effects of the style (fashion vs basic) and licensing status (licensed vs nonlicensed) of university-related apparel products (URAPs) as intrinsic and extrinsic cues, respectively, impacting university fans’ responses (i.e. attitudes, purchase intentions and purchase behaviors) and the moderating roles of personal factors (i.e. perceived university prestige, quality consciousness and uniqueness seeking).

Data were collected via an online quasi-experiment employing a 2 (licensing status: licensed vs nonlicensed) × 2 (style: basic vs fashion) within-subjects design with a purposeful sample of 1,126 students and alumni of a Southeastern American university.

Results show that consumers generally responded more favorably to licensed (vs nonlicensed) URAPs, especially for basic styles, whereas their responses to fashionable URAPs were more favorable for nonlicensed (vs licensed) URAPs. Furthermore, the positive effects of licensing status were stronger for consumers with high (vs low) perceived university prestige or quality consciousness. Consumers generally more favorably responded to basic (vs fashion) URAPs, but this style effect was weaker among those with a high (vs low) uniqueness seeking tendency.

Theoretical explanations on URAP consumption have been scant in the product and brand management literature. This study fills this literature gap by conceptualizing extrinsic (i.e. licensing status) and intrinsic (i.e. style) cues crucial in URAP consumption from a cue utilization theory lens and demonstrating empirical evidence for the intricate interplays among the two cues and diverse personal characteristics.

The practice of an interscholastic athletic department reproducing the logo of a collegiate team for its own use is becoming increasingly visible. In response to this growth, many collegiate licensing departments have begun actively enforcing zero-tolerance policies that prohibit third parties from using their respective colleges’ trademarks. Conversely, other institutions have exercised discretion by allowing high school programs to use their athletic departments’ logos only after receiving assurances from the high school that it will adhere to strict usage guidelines. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The paper provides a thorough discussion on the concept of brand dilution and its application to sport. More specifically the study gives an account of the strategies employed by trademark specialists to protect (and in some cases, enhance) the equity of their brands. To identify these strategies, a qualitative questionnaire was employed, which was completed by 13 brand managers representing institutions from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 Conference, Big Ten Conference, Mid-American Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and the Southeastern Conference.

Qualitative questionnaire responses from collegiate brand managers suggest that licensing departments differ in their perceptions of the outcomes associated with allowing logo replication in high school athletic departments.

Perceived consequences of two enforcement strategies – prohibitive and cooperative – are highlighted, as are implications and directions for future research.