The Role of Emotions in Team-licensed Merchandise Consumption: Examining the Relationships among Team Identification, Team Performance, Emotions, and Purchase Intention

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the psychological effect of team performance on consumers’ intention to purchase team-licensed merchandising products. While existing literature attested the significance of game outcomes on purchase intention, less is known about the mediating role of emotions on the relationship between team performance and intention to buy team-licensed products. The emotional states of participants (n = 152) emotional states were experimentally manipulated by four different game scenarios (i.e., close win, lopsided win, close loss, and lopsided loss), and then the participants were asked to report their purchase intention toward the team’s merchandising goods. The result showed participants’ emotional arousal renders a significant effect on the relationship between game outcomes and intention to purchase team merchandising goods. Our findings indicate the importance of uncertainty associated game outcomes and emotions triggered during the game process on consumers’ decision-making process.