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Introduction
Sponsorship is an increasingly popular marketing communication tool. During the last decade, sponsorship spending in North America has increased at an average rate of 20 per cent annually as compared to 5.5 per cent and 7.6 per cent for advertising and sales promotion respectively
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. In 1994, sponsorship spending in North America amounted to approximately $4.25 billion. In the marketing literature, there also has been an increase in the number of publications dealing with sponsorship, although some authors have observed that the academic interest has been lagging behind the phenomenon (see, for example
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). In their comprehensive review of the sponsorship literature, Gardner and Shuman
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have noted the lack of empirical studies examining the impact of sponsorship programmes on consumers. There is therefore a need for research aimed at identifying and understanding the factors that influence consumer reactions towards sponsoring activities.
Sponsorship is an element of the communication mix where a firm provides some financial support to an entity, which may be an individual (e.g. sports), an organization (e.g. a humane society) or a group (e.g. an orchestra), in order to allow this entity to pursue its activities (e.g. a cultural event) and, at the same time, benefit from this association in terms of global image and consumer awareness of the firm's market offerings
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. Meenaghan
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reports that the practice of sponsorship is quite developed and has become a standard component of the marketing plan.
Surveys conducted among American and European firms have found that sponsorship investments generally pursue two main objectives: increasing consumer awareness and improving corporate image
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. A study conducted by Phillips International has shown that sponsorship has a significant impact on both consumer awareness and image
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. In that study, sponsoring of the 1986 World Cup by Phillips resulted in a greater perceived association between the firm and the sport event as well as a significant improvement in corporate image. Using a before-after experimental design, Giannelloni
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found that a video document about a firm's involvement in sport sponsorship led to a significant increase in perceptions of the firm's dynamism and attractiveness. Anne and Cheron
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have studied the impact of sponsorship on consumer awareness. They conclude that recall of the name...