Summary In developing and transition economies, microlending has become an effective instrument for providing micro businesses with the necessary financial resources to launch operations. In industrialized countries, with their highly developed banking systems, however, there has been ongoing...

Purpose This paper aims to focus on similarity cues that may strengthen bonds among crowd members and that serve as “glue” between individual group members in the context of collective football-viewing events. Design/methodology/approach Study 1 is a qualitative field study that focused on...

Purpose Social media has promoted anti-brand communities, which build around the shared aversion to a specific brand. The purpose of this paper is to investigate social media-based anti-brand communities and their effects on the sports team brand in question. Design/methodology/approach The...

Three experiments conducted in Germany examined the impact of different sports sponsorship messages on the perception of print advertisements. The use of sponsorship in advertising proves to be risky. The use of pictures needs particularly careful consideration. The effectiveness of sports...