Affinity marketing is a concept that consists of a partnership between a company (supplier) and an organization that gathers persons sharing the same interests to bring a greater consumer base to their service, product or opinion. This partnership is known as an affinity group.

The first academic approach of affinity marketing was provided by Macchiette and Roy in 1992. They described this notion as a combination of affinity and the marketing ideas. They defined the word affinity as "an individual level of cohesiveness, social bonding, identification and conformity to the norms and standards of a particular reference group" whereas marketing is described to be the "expectation of benefit for the individual satisfying consumer wants and needs".

Affinity marketing differs from co-branding. The benefits of co-branding partnerships come from the consequences of the association of multiple companies, whereas the benefits of affinity marketing derive from the mental satisfaction to have profited the affinity group.

An affinity group is a group which has a solid connection with a considerable number of consumers and which has the possibility to target them in a much easier way than what can be accomplished by way of ordinary marketing process. People may recognize themselves in affinity groups such as charitable organizations, football teams, enterprises, companies, and organizations. Thus, affinity group members may be fans, customers, subscribers, or staff members.

Affinity marketing concepts are characterized by three specific features:

The example of prescription discount cards used by football teams' fans help to figure out affinity marketing's characteristics. The first feature as it is stated above is the third party endorsement. In this case, the fact of endorsement by using the club's logo is just considered an endorsement and is passively marketed through newsletters and possibly sponsorship signage and mentions as a means to advertise.

It is only when the affinity group is actively involved in marketing the product that this becomes an example of the second affinity marketing features anan shared incentive type of marketing. The team's manager or captain sends a personalized letter to his fans spurring them to use the prescription discount card. Possibly electronic direct marketing and telephonic marketing can be used to increase utilization of the card. The affinity group receives a share of the revenue generated by the use of the card and are therefore incentivised and motivated to continue the marketing and advertisement campaigns, creating further utilization of the card. Then, the second feature i the shared incentives concept which can be in this example the utilization of the credit card and the enhancement of the brand fidelity for the bank. The football team for its part, benefits from profit share, more games and products sales. Finally, the enhancement package can consist of loyalty rewards distributed after using the card a certain number of times. as well as the former two concepts

There are plenty of benefits for all bodies when employing an affinity marketing strategy.