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The growth of sport sponsorship has led to an increase in the number of studies measuring sponsorship outcomes in different sport settings. Most studies, however, have focused on understanding the factors leading to purchase intentions. A more accurate assessment of sponsorship effectiveness would come through measuring actual purchase behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine a sport sponsorship model that included awareness, fit, attitude toward the sponsor, past purchases, purchase intentions, and actual purchases. Data were collected via longitudinal web surveys conducted with soccer fans from the United States. The results of a structural equation model provided evidence that the relationships among the analyzed sponsorship outcomes did not have a significant effect on actual purchase behaviors. The discussion includes questions about the impact of sponsorship variables such as awareness, fit, attitude toward the sponsor, purchase intentions, and past purchases on actual purchase behaviors.

We add to the recent ticket market literature by using a unique, disaggregated, and proprietary data set of primary market ticket sales transactions from a National Basketball Association team that includes previously unavailable information on date of purchase, customer location, and other consumer demographics. We find that local and out-of-market fans differ in their total purchase amounts, with out-of-market fans spending more than local consumers, on average, and differential spending effects based on the home team win probability. In particular, this differential behavior has important implications for Rottenberg’s uncertainty of outcome hypothesis. We find evidence that interest in visiting team quality dominates interest in perceived contest uncertainty, fitting the reference-dependent preference model in the context of low local team quality. Further, these findings also have important implications related to market segmentation and dynamic ticket pricing in professional sport.

A consumer’s loyalty to a specific sport team is longitudinal in nature. This longitudinal study examines the effects of consumers’ attitudinal constructs (team identification, associated attachment points, consumer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions) on behavioral loyalty in the context of a professional soccer event. To test the proposed relationships, the authors assess the impact of consumers’ self-reported measures (Time 1) on actual attendance frequency in the first half (Time 2) and the second half (Time 3) of the season. The results indicate that fan community attachment is the only construct that can predict attendance frequency over a longer period of time while team identification, satisfaction and behavioral intentions are not significant predictors of attendance frequency throughout the season. The theoretical model and results reinforce the importance of fan community attachment toward longitudinal attendance frequency and add new insights into the predictive validity of some of the attitudinal marketing measures in the field of sport management.

The general acceptance of sport sponsorship by corporate and sporting worlds alike has led to a situation whereby corporations receive from hundreds to thousands of unsolicited proposals annually. Despite this, there is a general lack of systematic research into sport sponsorship with little information in existence as to how corporations decide between alternative properties. In an attempt to address this situation, this paper develops a conceptual model of the sport sponsorship acquisition process based on the basic tenets of organizational purchasing behavior, contemporary literature on sport sponsorship, and the results of a qualitative study. It is anticipated that the Sport Sponsorship Acquisition Model will form the basis for further scholarly research to ascertain the precise nature of the acquisition process.

Despite anecdotal claims attesting to the influence that social responsiveness has on the purchase behaviors of consumers, this article examined if a specific initiative could result in such outcomes. We investigated the extent to which the Drive for Diversity (D4D) initiative affected consumers’ perceived image and patronage directed toward NASCAR. This study was partially motivated by the importance of social initiatives in practice to underscore their influence on customer-related outcomes. As such, the findings indicated that the NASCAR’s D4D and the perceived image of the organization are key variables in the model. The results also highlighted the mediating role of image and the moderating role of identification on the proposed relationship. More specifically, the authors found that the socially responsive initiative only moderately influenced consumers’ intentions but when coupled with the image of the organization, this relationship became far more impactful.