Fandom affiliation and tribal behaviour: a sports marketing application Pedro Dionı ´sio and Carmo Leal ISCTE Business School, GIEM Marketing Center, Lisbon, Portugal, and Luiz Moutinho University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK Abstract Purpose – The aim of this paper is to identify the existence of tribal behaviour in football fans and the impact of this tribalism on the consumption of brands associated with the club. The intention is not to recognize tribal relationships between fans and their club but to identify to what extent the fan commitment level can impact the preference for sponsor brands. Design/methodology/approach – Two focus groups were made with two distinct types of club supporters, namely the members of one supportive organized group and another with highly-devoted fans. Findings – Research questions posed in this study were mostly confirmed: football-devoted supporters have a kind of cult with their club and it is possible to distinguish several distinct fan typologies varying with the level of fan commitment. The associative behaviour of football fans is influenced by affiliation through the need for social recognition, socialization and symbolism. The study also reveals that devoted fans assume an effective knowledge of club association with some brands but they do not manifest an effective preference towards them. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation refers to the restricted research scope, i.e. one country, one club and one supporting associative group. Practical implications – Managerial implications are related to the club needing to maintain an open channel with supporters. Sponsor brands should also develop a long-term strategy and support another sport besides football. Originality/value – This paper provides exploratory research in an area of great popularity, relating tribal behaviours with brand strategies which involve millions of euros all over the world. Keywords Sports, Marketing, Brand loyalty Paper type Research paper Introduction and research context Sport activities have always constituted an essential component of free time occupation in contemporary societies. In Europe, TV broadcasting and live attendance of sport games join together every year millions of supporters. The 2006 World Cup was seen in 154 countries by a total of 345,000 of millions spectators. As a modern sport, football was created in England in the nineteenth century. With time, football supporters have developed tribal behaviours, as the result of a great passion that links fans through shared cult meeting places and a specific terminology and symbolism. In this sport, the link is the club – the love for their club and their team is where these collective and passionate behavioural patterns originate. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1352-2752.htm Fandom affiliation and tribal behaviour 17 Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal Vol. 11 No. 1, 2008 pp. 17-39 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1352-2752 DOI 10.1108/13522750810845531