An Investigation of Highly Identified Fans and Their Marketplace Support of Official Team Sponsors

Abstract

Across nine product categories, this study investigated the reported purchases of fans of a professional football team. Results indicate that highly identified fans possessing a favorable disposition toward sponsorship reward team sponsors with increased marketplace support provided they are aware of the firm-team affiliation. In addition, the importance of fan awareness of the official sponsors is documented as it is shown that awareness of the sponsor is highly variable across the product categories that were studied. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed and direction is provided for future research.