Abstract
Why do sport managers invest in merchandising activities and how do those activities affect sport fans’ behavior? In this article, we analyze the relevance of team merchandise usage to fan behavior determinants. We survey fans of the top basketball league in Germany to investigate the effect of merchandise usage on their team identification, fan satisfaction and team loyalty. The results show that, freely adapted from Mark Twain, clothes make the fan. Team merchandise can be a catalyst for team identification and loyalty. This research is the first to analyze the effect of team merchandise usage on fan behavior. It helps to understand better the potential of team merchandise and, therefore, makes a substantial contribution to sport management research. Moreover, sport managers get a deeper understanding of merchandising as tool to influence team identification, fan satisfaction as well as team loyalty.
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