Title: Eliciting emotional attachment: Jordan brand and college fan purchasers

Authors: C. Keith Harrison; Katherine Babiak; Jacob K. Tingle; Jessie R. Dickens; Scott Bukstein; Juan Pablo Urrutia; Patrick Kaltenbacher

Addresses: DeVos Sports Business Management Program, College of Business Administration, University of Central Florida, 12744 Pegasus Drive, Orlando, FL 32826, USA ' School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, 830 North University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA ' Michael Neidorff School of Business, Trinity University, One Trinity Place, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA ' DeVos Sports Business Management Program, College of Business Administration, University of Central Florida, 12744 Pegasus Drive, Orlando, FL 32826, USA ' DeVos Sports Business Management Program, College of Business Administration, University of Central Florida, 12744 Pegasus Drive, Orlando, FL 32826, USA ' Michael Neidorff School of Business, Trinity University, One Trinity Place, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA ' Michael Neidorff School of Business, Trinity University, One Trinity Place, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA

Abstract: It is widely documented that emotions play an important role in product marketing and branding. The current study explores the role that a human brand association can play in eliciting emotional responses and attachments from consumers that drive their subsequent behaviour. The human-centred Jordan Brand was examined because it uses the likeness/image of Michael Jordan. The study revealed the impact of consumer responses and decision-making through survey analysis (N = 1,133) at two Jordan Brand partner university's athletic events. The results demonstrate that the partnership between the university athletic department and Jordan Brand elicits strong emotional responses, the propensity to donate to the university, and increased consumer willingness to pay for merchandise bearing the human brand's likeness. The findings are useful for both scholars and practitioners as evidence that strategies designed to elicit emotional responses can yield positive results in consumer perception of the brand and financial success.

Keywords: human brand; Jordan brand; emotional branding; consumer behaviour; college athletics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2023.133770

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2023 Vol.23 No.6, pp.465 - 492

Accepted: 17 Aug 2022
Published online: 03 Oct 2023 *

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