Impact of Overwhelming Joy on Consumer Demand: The Case of a Soccer World-Cup Victory

28 Pages Posted: 28 Mar 2005

See all articles by Jean-Marc Falter

Jean-Marc Falter

University of Geneva - Department of Economics

Christophe Pérignon

HEC Paris - Finance Department

Olivier Vercruysse

Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) - School of Management

Date Written: August 15, 2006

Abstract

In this paper, we identify the period following a Soccer World Cup victory as a period of overwhelming joy for the winning country and we test the impact of a World Cup victory on the demand for Soccer in this country. Our empirical study is based on all matches of the French Soccer First League during the four seasons surrounding the 1998 World Cup. After controlling for the main determinants of attendance, we find that consumer demand has positively, significantly, and durably shifted following the 1998 World Cup. We also show that the rise in demand is stronger in the nine cities that hosted the World Cup and that the World Cup effect persists for percentage attendance after we control for season-ticket holders. Finally, we find supportive evidence to our claim that exceptional performance improves sport popularity when analyzing Soccer attendance in several control countries, attendance for a potential substitute for Soccer in France, and other episodes of overwhelming joy.

Keywords: Consumer sentiment, demand for sports

JEL Classification: D12, L83

Suggested Citation

Falter, Jean-Marc and Pérignon, Christophe and Vercruysse, Olivier, Impact of Overwhelming Joy on Consumer Demand: The Case of a Soccer World-Cup Victory (August 15, 2006). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=650741 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.650741

Jean-Marc Falter (Contact Author)

University of Geneva - Department of Economics ( email )

102 Bd Carl Vogt
Geneva 4, 1211
Switzerland
+41 22 379 9877 (Phone)
+41 22 379 8293 (Fax)

Christophe Pérignon

HEC Paris - Finance Department ( email )

1 rue de la Liberation
Jouy-en-Josas Cedex, 78351
France

Olivier Vercruysse

Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) - School of Management ( email )

1 place des Doyens
B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Belgium

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