Sponsorship has become an increasingly popular form of marketing communications, yet little is known about what might influence consumers' intentions to purchase a sponsor's products. The focus here is on how the social alliances existing between fans and a preferred sports team influence purchase intentions. Data from a convenience sample of 678 adults attending a college football game suggest that favorable purchase intentions are more likely to occur (1) as identification with the team increases and (2) when such intentions are perceived as a group norm. Moreover, an ordinal interaction indicates that team identification has a greater effect on intentions at lower levels of group norms than at higher levels. Implications for practice are discussed.
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