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Introduction
One way people around the world express their support for a professional sport club is by purchasing and showcasing its merchandise in public and private settings. Whether wearing a jersey to a fan event or branding their bedroom, a fan is openly investing - both financially and emotionally - in their team. Similarly, non-fans may wear the attire of a specific professional sport club to associate with the specific images or personalities of that brand. Club management views merchandise sales volume (i.e. their total sales) and merchandise sales rank (i.e. their competitive position amongst other clubs in the league) as key indicators of its success and as potential drivers of its revenue growth. Indeed, merchandise sales rank is of particular relevance to club management since merchandising is an increasingly important revenue source. The global retail sport apparel market is growing at a 6 per cent cumulative annual rate towards a forecasted US$125 billion market in 2017 (Research and Markets, 2012).
The team jersey, often with the name and/or number of the wearer's favourite player, is typically the most expressive piece of widely sold sport merchandise. The jersey signifies the consumer's loyalty to an organization or its brand and provides an opportunity to enhance a relationship with the club. It is important to note that merchandise has expanded far beyond jerseys, hats, and towels that are purchased by fans either for themselves or as gifts. For example, the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) offer hundreds of products through their official online store, including 99 men's items, 63 women's items, 155 collectables, 197 home/office products, and products unrelated to ice hockey such as a hammer, a leather satchel, a bikini, and a measuring tape (Montreal Canadiens, 2012). The importance of merchandising as a revenue generator for club management and the accompanying interest of consumers in purchasing the merchandise of a particular club is an area of high practitioner interest, an aspect of the club-consumer relationship in need of further research (Kim and Trail, 2011; Kim et al. , 2011), and the focus of this paper.
There are a variety of reasons why a fan or a non-fan might purchase club merchandise. For example, merchandise purchase may be driven by the club being in...