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Introduction
Sponsorships are a growing communication form, and are defined by a sponsor (i.e. a brand or firm) providing cash and/or other compensation in exchange for access to an object's commercial potential (i.e. exposure and association with the cause, event, organisation or individual related to a sport, cultural, and/or non-profit entity) ([12] Cornwell et al. , 2005). Annual worldwide spending on sponsorships has grown rapidly to an estimated $33+ billion ([1] Akaoui, 2007), due in part to such factors as increasing restrictions on advertising, higher advertising costs, zapping, and increased media coverage of sponsored events ([41] Quester and Thompson, 2001; [49] Speed and Thompson, 2000; [52] Verity, 2002). The increased media coverage is also one reason that approximately two-thirds of all sponsorship spending is directed at sporting events, leagues, teams, and players ([13] Crompton, 2004; [52] Verity, 2002), although there is also increasing interest in cultural sponsorships ([25] Irwin et al. , 2003; [33] Menon and Kahn, 2003; [39] Polonsky and Wood, 2001; [41] Quester and Thompson, 2001; [42] Rifon et al. , 2004; [45] Ruth and Simonin, 2003; [47] Simmons and Becker-Olsen, 2006). While sponsoring is an increasingly important communication tool, relatively few attempts have been made to measure and understand the effects of sponsorship ([12] Cornwell et al. , 2005; [32] Meenaghan, 2001; [41] Quester and Thompson, 2001; [51] Thjømøe et al. , 2002). Indeed the most common type of sponsorship effects research is the simple measurement of sponsor logo exposure time during coverage of a sponsored event ([12] Cornwell et al. , 2005; [32] Meenaghan, 2001), which is clearly inappropriate for evaluating high-level sponsorship effects such as attitude and/or behavioural change ([15] Currie, 2004; [49] Speed and Thompson, 2000; [51] Thjømøe et al. , 2002).
A difficulty in developing tools that are appropriate for high-level communication goals is the belief that sponsorship effects may depend on such things as the type of object and/or the type of sponsor ([6] Becker-Olsen and Simmons, 2002; [12] Cornwell et al. , 2005; [47] Simmons and Becker-Olsen, 2006). While [12] Cornwell et al. (2005) and [42] Rifon et al. (2004) speculate that different effect models might be required for cultural sponsorships, a review of the sponsorship literature does not find any direct comparisons between sports...