The real sport of quidditch was recently adapted from the fictional sport of the same namesake in the Harry Potter (HP) franchise. Quidditch is played at hundreds of locations across the USA and around the world. Considering the lack of marketing research on non-traditional, co-ed sports and the innovative nature of quidditch, the purpose of this research was to conduct a qualitative, grounded theory study (Strauss and Corbin, 1990) on the athletes and determine how involvement and identification is associated with these individuals becoming a viable niche market within the sports industry. Five factors led towards a desire to partake in quidditch and become involved and identified with the sport: identification with Harry Potter, camaraderie and friendship, desire to have fun, desire to try something new, and desire to get in shape.

No abstract

No abstract

Purpose Although current literature offers support for understanding sport consumer behavior from psychological and sociological perspectives, there is a lack of research that examines the effect of one’s emotional response to team outcomes on subsequent economic decisions. The purpose of this paper is to bridge this gap by studying how emotional responses to sport events moderate a typical endowment bias in the secondary ticket market. Design/methodology/approach This research comprised a 3×2×2 between-participants design with emotional state (positive, negative, and neutral), role (seller, buyer), and fan identification (high, low) as the three factors. Prospect theory and social identity theory guided hypothesis development whereby it was proposed that, depending on the affective response of study participants to positive, negative, or neutral publicity concerning the team, team identification would impact the transaction function (buyers vs sellers) on price values for tickets to a future event. Findings Findings revealed an interaction effect of emotions and team identification on the endowment effect to the extent that bargaining gaps between sellers and buyers increased or decreased depending on mood states and levels of identification with the team. Originality/value This study adds to the literature on emotions and the key role they play in effecting pricing decisions and consumer behavior, especially given fan identification is such a significant area of study with numerous implications for sport business and management.