Attachment points, team identification and sponsorship outcomes: evidence from the Indian Premier League

Abstract

PurposeThis paper tests and validates a conceptual model linking the attachment points, team identification, attitude towards the team sponsors and the behavioural intentions in the context of Indian Premier League (IPL), while testing for the moderating effects of age and gender.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 1,053 participants through both online and offline survey and then analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM).FindingsAttachment points influence the formation of team identification, which, in turn, affect the attitude towards the team sponsors. Attitude towards the team sponsors influence the behavioural intentions. Player attachment influences team identification the most. Age and gender have a moderating effect on the constructs of the study. Team identification in females is stronger because of attachment to sports, whereas males have stronger team identification based on player attachment. Males have a stronger intention to spread positive word of mouth (WOM) about sponsor products as compared to the female respondents. The younger age group of less than 21 years has more intention to spread positive WOM compared to the other age groups considered in the study.Practical implicationsThis study contributes towards sports sponsorship research and the paradigms of social identity and attachment theories. Moreover, it will also help the marketers (sponsors) in IPL to strategically market their brands.Originality/valueThis is the first study to investigate the impact of attachment points on sponsorship outcomes in the context of IPL. Further, it is also the first to investigate the purchase intentions and WOM for the team sponsors in IPL. The multi-group analysis results will provide insights into marketers to better understand IPL viewers' segments and their behaviour.

Effect of background music and hierarchy-of-effects in watching women's running shoes advertisements

“…Thus, it is consistent with prior research and marketing theory showing a positive relationship between attitude and purchase intention (e.g. Dos Santos et al, 2020;Fishbein and Ajzen, 1980;Kamath et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020), as well as with Bennett et al's (2006) argument that brand attitude possesses a positive impact on purchase intention. Furthermore, it aligns with the result of Rossiter and Percy (1991) that purchase intention influenced by music was mediated by consumers' brand attitude (requoted in Ballouli and Bennet, 2014).…”

Pro softball fan segments: a two-step cluster analysis

“…Current Varsity Softball Players reported stronger attachment to NPF teams and softball players coupled with highest attendance and viewership of NPF games, followed by Former Varsity Softball Players and finally Parents segments. Similarly, Kamath et al (2021) found women to hold stronger attachment to sport teams due to their attachment to the sport. These findings point to the impact of life-stage on women's sport spectatorship as attachment and consumption declined from Current VSP to Former VSP to Parents.…”

“…Hallmann et al (2018) identified attachment with the team, coach and women's sport as the defining points for German and Japanese Women's National Soccer Team fans, while attachment to football was the predictor of fans' attendance intentions. Kamath et al (2021) reported gender differences in the relationship between attachment points and team identification; male and female fans reported stronger attachment to the players and sport, respectively leading into their team identification. As such, attachment is a multidimensional construct.…”

Not just intentions: predicting actual purchase behavior in sport sponsorship context

“…One key attribute of the sport product is that is brings out incredible individual identification and emotional attachment. Affective results of sponsorship activities, for example, attitude, preference, inclination, psychological attachment or positive beliefs, have been explored in the sponsorship literature (Kamath et al , 2020). Attachment constitutes “a multidimensional property of material item ownership which speaks to the level of linkage perceived by a person between him/herself and a specific item” (Schultz et al , 1989, p. 360).…”