Purchase intention behind Mercer University’s inaugural football team

The purpose of this study was to examine the drivers of consumer intentions surrounding a new college football program and its fan base. This study relied on and extended the Theory of Reasoned Action by incorporating variables of identity and loyalty and tested their mediated effect on intention to engage with a newly-fielded college football program at Mercer University in Macon, GA. The findings suggest that attitudes and normative beliefs have the strongest effect on intentions. Further, the analysis revealed partial mediation where students’ identity as football fans in general and intentions to engage in the new football program at their university were mediated by the students’ loyalty toward their university where the football team was developing. Overall, the model tested for this study explained almost 80 % of variation in intent.