Better Together? Examining the Impact of Official Secondary Ticketing Partnerships on Consumers’ Attitudes and Behaviors

Abstract: To overcome the negative stigma due to their association with ticket fraud and price inflation, research has suggested secondary ticket market companies partner with professional sport leagues and teams. Moreover, such a partnership can increase revenues of the ticket market companies. However, additional research is needed to explore how official partnerships influence consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions. Relevant findings clarify the mechanism through which official partnerships affect secondary ticket providers’ financial success and provide insight into consumers’ attitudes toward the ticket resale industry while informing the literature on the effectiveness of sponsorships. Thus, utilizing a multi-study design, the current research examines consumers’ perceptions of official partnerships and assesses their impact on purchase intentions. Also, given historical negative perceptions of the secondary ticket market, the current study investigates the mediating effects of perceived risk and the moderating effects of ticket price.