Licensing a sports brand: effects of team brand cue, identification, and performance priming on multidimensional values and purchase intentions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into how consumers value sports team-branded merchandise. Two experiments are conducted to examine the effects of rivalry and team identification on evaluations of licensed product (Study 1). Study 2 examined the effects of team brand cue, team performance priming and product category on licensed product evaluations. Design/methodology/approach – Study 1 ( N = 104) examined the effects of team rivalry and team identification on multidimensional product values and purchase intent. In Study 2, a 3 (performance priming: positive/negative/neutral) × 2 (team brand cue: present/absent) × 2 (product category: symbolic/utilitarian) between-subjects design ( N = 285) was utilized. Samples were recruited from students and alumni at a large Midwestern university in the USA. A series of multivariate analysis of covariance was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings – Fans view a product licensed with a rival team’s logo to have significantly less functional, emotional and social value than a product licensed with their favorite team’s logo. Highly identified fans showed greater bias in evaluating the product than less identified fans. Team performance priming also moderated the effect of team brand cues on purchase intentions toward the licensed product. Research limitations/implications – Team identification level accentuates bias in valuations of a licensed product. In addition, better performance of a team further motivates purchase decisions. Use of a collegiate brand in this study limits generalizability of the findings. Practical implications – Practitioners should realize that simple heuristic cues can change consumers’ perceptions of licensed merchandise product values. Originality/value – The current study extends previous research on licensed product valuation by using multidimensional value propositions and a variety of product-related cues.