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Erschienen in:
2016 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel
Rival Team Influence on Team Identification and Cause-Related Sports Marketing
verfasst von : Bridget Satinover Nichols, Joe Cobbs, David Raska
Erschienen in: Let’s Get Engaged! Crossing the Threshold of Marketing’s Engagement Era
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Abstract
Cause-related marketing (CRM) has become increasingly popular with professional sport leagues and large charitable organizations (Genzale 2006). A prominent example is the National Football League’s (NFL) Pink Campaign, branded “A Crucial Catch,” with the American Cancer Society (ACS). While a large body of research suggests that CRM can positively affect purchase intentions and behavioral responses (e.g., Bhattacharya and Sen 2003), consumers’ response to CRM in a sports context may be confounded by team allegiances and rivalries (Platow et al. 1999). The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of rivalry in CRM on hometown team identification and consumer behavior in support of the cause.
According to social identity theory, sport team identification fosters supportive behaviors consistent with one’s group and distinctive from salient others (Ashforth and Mael 1989). Of particular emphasis in the identification process are positive group associations to enhance self-esteem (Trail et al. 2003). In addition, while the body of CRM research leans toward facilitating supportive behaviors (e.g., McGlone and Martin 2006), research on the reaction to rivals in sports suggests a contrary response (Dalakas and Melancon 2012). Rival teams are strongly linked to team identification in that the salience of an out-group typically intensifies identification with the in-group (Mullen et al. 1992); yet in league-wide CRM campaigns, sport consumers might be exposed to images of both hometown and rival teams associated with a charitable cause, thereby posing a challenge to team identification. Accordingly, the meta-contrast principle suggests that individuals prefer to emphasize distinct positive attributes of their team and negative associations of rivals (Hogg and Terry 2000).
An experimental design was employed to test several hypotheses related to the effects of rival team imagery within league-wide CRM campaigns. Results suggest that exposure to rival team imagery suppresses hometown team identification, which then reduces behaviors supportive of the CRM initiative. Data also indicate a mediation effect between exposure to rival imagery, hometown team identification, and CRM supportive behaviors. These results suggest that league-wide CRM initiatives can suppress levels of team identification for a hometown team when a rival team is featured, thereby reducing engagement in behaviors supportive of the CRM partnership. These rivalry effects remain significant even when we controlled for relevant covariates including domain involvement and perceived importance of the cause message.
While the marketing communication tactics employed to tout these initiatives vary from league to league, each campaign aims to instigate supportive behaviors amongst sport fans. However, our study demonstrates that not all CRM imagery elicits similar reactions and propensity for supportive behaviors. As a result, sports leagues, teams, and philanthropic partners should be cognizant of salient rivalries in their promotional campaign design and activation.