The relationship between fan identification and collegiate athletic apparel brand preference

Abstract

Fan identification often leads to emotional attachment and buying behaviour in sport fans. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between fan identification and collegiate athletic apparel brand preference among an array of sport consumers. Three research questions are presented, and a Web-based survey was used to gather data to address these questions of interest. The survey was conducted through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk labour market, and, after data refinement, 394 respondents remained for analysis. Significant results showed: 70.8 per cent of respondents could accurately recall the sponsor of their favourite team’s uniforms. 66.5 per cent state they are more likely to buy apparel from the sponsoring brand of their favourite team. 43.5 per cent of respondents believed they would buy less of their favourite team’s present sponsoring brand if their team changed its apparel sponsor. As future spending intentions were significant for fan identification but not team loyalty, we conclude that identification is the more influential factor for sponsoring brands to consider in their branding and promotion strategies.