Selling Passion: Impulse Buying of Team-Licensed Merchandise as a Consequence of Social Comparison

Impulse buying of team-licensed merchandise has been scarcely researched, despite the importance of the revenue of these items for a sports team, as well as the symbolic importance for sports fans. This study explores how comparing oneself with other sports fans may instigate positive or negative emotions (according to how one fares against the comparison target), which may lead to stronger impulse buying tendencies of team-licensed merchandise. The role of team identification is also tested, such that those who identify more strongly with a team should feel stronger emotions, and so a stronger impulse to buy team-licensed merchandise, after a social comparison situation, than those who identify more weakly. The data was collected through an online questionnaire (n = 167) with an experimental design in which participants were exposed to either an upward or a downward social comparison with other sports fans. The results generally confirm the hypotheses and are discussed in relation to their usefulness to consumer behavior research, as well as to marketeers and sports fans.