Colors and Scarves: The Symbolic Consumption of Material Possessions by Soccer Fans
(2002) Advances in Consumer Research — Vol. 29, p. 511-518 (2002)
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- Authors
- Abstract
- (en) Merchandising today represents a substantial part of the income of professional soccer teams. In this paper, we investigate the reasons why merchandising is becoming so successful: why fans are increasingly buying and consuming shirts, scarves or hats of their preferred colors. The consumption of football-related items is considered from a naturalistic interpretive perspective. Participant observation and interviews are used in order to get a better grasp on this problem. The paper shows that action and possession are strongly connected in football consumption and that merchandise fulfil four symbolic functions: identification, integration, expression and sacralization. Football fans express their identification with their team as a unified community during sacred sport moments.
- Affiliations
Louvain School of Management Marketing
Citations
Derbaix, C., Cabossart, O., & Decrop, A. (2002). Colors and Scarves: The Symbolic Consumption of Material Possessions by Soccer Fans. Advances in Consumer Research, 29, 511-518. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/67990 (Original work published 2002)