Eliciting emotional attachment: Jordan brand and college fan purchasers

It is widely documented that emotions play an important role in product marketing and branding. The current study explores the role that a human brand association can play in eliciting emotional responses and attachments from consumers that drive their subsequent behaviour. The human-centred Jordan Brand was examined because it uses the likeness/image of Michael Jordan. The study revealed the impact of consumer responses and decision-making through survey analysis (N = 1,133) at two Jordan Brand partner university's athletic events. The results demonstrate that the partnership between the university athletic department and Jordan Brand elicits strong emotional responses, the propensity to donate to the university, and increased consumer willingness to pay for merchandise bearing the human brand's likeness. The findings are useful for both scholars and practitioners as evidence that strategies designed to elicit emotional responses can yield positive results in consumer perception of the brand and financial success.