PurposeThe aim of this paper is to identify the existence of tribal behaviour in football fans and the impact of this tribalism on the consumption of brands associated with the club. The intention is not to recognize tribal relationships between fans and their club but to identify to what extent the fan commitment level can impact the preference for sponsor brands.Design/methodology/approachTwo focus groups were made with two distinct types of club supporters, namely the members of one supportive organized group and another with highly‐devoted fans.FindingsResearch questions posed in this study were mostly confirmed: football‐devoted supporters have a kind of cult with their club and it is possible to distinguish several distinct fan typologies varying with the level of fan commitment. The associative behaviour of football fans is influenced by affiliation through the need for social recognition, socialization and symbolism. The study also reveals that devoted fans assume an effective knowledge of club association with some brands but they do not manifest an effective preference towards them.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation refers to the restricted research scope, i.e. one country, one club and one supporting associative group.Practical implicationsManagerial implications are related to the club needing to maintain an open channel with supporters. Sponsor brands should also develop a long‐term strategy and support another sport besides football.Originality/valueThis paper provides exploratory research in an area of great popularity, relating tribal behaviours with brand strategies which involve millions of euros all over the world.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate "tribal" consumption behaviour and its relationship to branding, in the particular context of the surfing community in Portugal. Design/methodology/approach -Two focus group meetings with "surfers" and "fans" respectively, in April 2006, were enriched by computerised projective techniques and program-assisted design (PAD) technology, backed by high quality video prompts. Qualitative data analysis was enhanced by quantified data collected in the PAD phase. The design was expressly directed at future quantification and model building. Findings -Four research propositions, derived from an extensive literature review, were mostly confirmed: surfing does exhibit characteristics of a cult. There are three distinct types of adherent, their associative behaviour characterized by affiliation, social recognition, socialization and symbolism. Surfers and fans exhibit strong brand awareness and less strong preferences for surf-linked brands, in different ways.Research limitations/implications -Interpretation is limited by the scope of the study: two focus groups in one country. There is some compensation in the richness of the data. Practical implications -Marketers involved with cult consumers and tribal brands need a body of knowledge on which to base their marketing intelligence gathering and strategic planning. Originality/value -This paper provides exploratory research findings related to one classic example of the tribal brand-consumption behaviour that accounts for significant consumer spending around the postmodern world.

The topic of donations is one of high relevance and has been widely covered in contemporary marketing literature. It is a topic of interest to both theoreticians and practitioners alike, particularly due to its implicit links to fundraising activities and research. The reality of what makes an individual donor ultimately part with his money and give it away to a nonprofit organization is a hot contemporary topic. This study looks into the role of religiosity as a predictor of donations practices. Also volunteerism and compassion, two acts of pro-social behaviour are analysed as predictors of donations practices. Using data collected from a survey of 612 charity donors in Portugal, the results show unequivocally that religiosity does influence donations practices, and so being a predictor of donations practices. Moreover, pro-social behaviour is a predictor of donations practices when in the case of volunteerism, but not in the form of compassion.• The findings are particularly useful for nonprofit organizations that want to attract and retain individual charitable donors and may also help to increase donation regularity, to obtain higher amounts, and donations both to religious and to secular organizations. Finally, it can be stated that the understanding of religiosity sheds light on knowledge about donations practices, and that this study also makes an important contribution to academia, as it is the first study conducted in Portugal that assesses the drivers of donations practices.

The unauthorized duplication of books through photocopies and Internet downloads, especially in the case of academic books, is currently one of the most challenging problems facing the publishing industry. Photocopying has become widespread with these texts, apparently without major ethical concerns on the part of students. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the purchase of pirated books in an academic context. To explore these factors, this study conducted a survey among Portuguese university and graduate students. The structural equation modeling framework was used to test the research hypotheses and to validate the proposed model. The outcome of this research resulted in a comprehensive integrated framework based on the effects that gender, education stage, pricing, social influence, perceived country economic conditions, and perceived risk had on the purchase behavior for pirated books. Ultimately, the outcome provided a set of recommendations in terms of marketing education.

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