Sport Team-Endorsed Brands on Facebook: Effects of Game Outcome (Win/Loss), Location (Home/Away) and Team Identification on Fans’ Brand Evaluations

Abstract: Purpose – Applying social identity theory, the social identity-brand equity model and excitation-transfer theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine effects of game outcome (win/loss) and location (home/away) on sport fans’ brand attitude and purchase intention toward a brand endorsed by their favorite sport team on Facebook, as well as the mediating role of team identification.
Design/methodology/approach – A two (win/loss) by two (home/away) full-factorial between-subjects experiment was conducted during the US National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football season over a four-month period. Participants (n.338), who were Facebook users and fans of a NCAA division I football team, completed an online questionnaire assessing brand attitude and purchase intention toward a team-endorsed brand on Facebook, during weeks after the team: won a home game, lost a home game, won an away game, or lost an away game. Results were analyzed using analysis of variance and bootstrapping mediation methods.
Findings – Results revealed a significant main effect for game outcome (win/loss), and a significant interaction effect between game outcome (win/loss) and game location (home/away). Team identification also mediated between game outcome (win/loss) and game location (home/away) to influence brand attitude, but not purchase intention.