Sponsorship studies have generally been focused on attitudinal measures of fan loyalty to understand the reactions to abstract sponsors. This study examines the relationships between both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty with sponsorship awareness, attitude toward two actual sponsors, and purchase intentions. Data were collected among fans of a professional soccer team, and the results of a structural equation model provide evidence that attitudinal loyalty impacts the attitude toward both sponsors and purchase intentions. Behavioral loyalty influences sponsorship awareness, and impacts differently the attitude and purchase intentions toward each sponsor. Sponsorship awareness influences significantly the attitude toward both sponsors, while the attitude toward the sponsor was the strongest predictor of purchase intentions. These findings highlight the importance of examining actual sponsors and suggest managerial implications, such as the need for sponsors to help attract fans to the stadium and to des...

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Sport sponsorship: The relationship between team loyalty, sponsorship awareness, attitude toward the sponsor, and purchase intentions

Consumer evaluations of CSR authenticity: Development and validation of a multidimensional CSR authenticity scale

Research question/purpose – Instagram has become an increasingly popular tool for sport organisations to share visual content. This study aims to examine how professional team sport organisations use Instagram for branding purposes and to explore the given meaning of Instagram followers’ reactions to the organisations’ Instagram activity. 
Research methods – The study was conducted in two phases. First, we analysed 2017 Instagram photos of two football teams from the English Premier League. Photos were categorised on product- and non-product-related brand attributes. Employing a quantitative content analysis technique, statistical analysis involved intra-case and inter-case relationships between brand attributes and Instagram’s key fan engagement features (Comment and Like). Second, we analysed 2100 Instagram comments from a qualitative perspective in order to gain further insight into the fans’ meanings associated with such posts. 
Results and findings – The findings offer significant insights to sport marketers in their efforts to increase fan engagement through social media. For both of the examined football teams, product-related attributes were used significantly more often than non-product-related attributes and encouraged greater engagement from online followers. Against these brand attributes, fans’ interaction through one of the Instagram’s key engagement features is expressed through ‘aspiring’-, ‘belonging’-, ‘criticising’- and ‘loving’-based comments. 
Implications – The study shows that Instagram facilitates co-branding, while giving fans a more active role in the branding process through comments. We recommend a culture change whereby teams become more market-focused and communications-driven by employing a greater understanding of the semiotics of images and fan comments through the use of social media. 
Keywords – Instagram, brand management, brand attributes, professional team sport organisations, social media

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Branding in pictures: using Instagram as a brand management tool in professional team sport organisations

Purpose – The purpose of the current study is to advance understanding of sponsorship effectiveness by investigating the impact of the quality of the relationship between a consumer and a sport property on sponsorship effectiveness.Design/methodology/approach – A model was developed to examine linkages among relationship quality, sincerity, attitude toward sponsor and intention to purchase a sponsor's product. The measurement model was tested using confirmatory factory analysis. The relationships in the hypothesized model were tested using simultaneous equations.Findings – The results indicate that positive attitude toward a sponsor and intention to purchase said sponsor's product(s) are more likely to occur among the customers who perceive a higher degree of relationship quality with the sport property and believe the sponsor motives are sincere.Research limitations/implications – A conceptual model of sponsorship effectiveness was developed and empirically tested. The tested model provides an expanded v...

The impact of relationship quality on attitude toward a sponsor

This study investigated whether sponsorships can have negative brand effects in some subgroups in the target market. The study focused on European football (soccer), and results showed that fans of the Stockholm team AIK transferred their dislike of the rival team Hammarby to its sponsor, the beer brand Falcon. Mean scores on brand variables were considerably lower for AIK fans than for a control group who were fans of neither AIK nor Hammarby. Researchers and managers are recommended to consider possible negative effects of sponsorships in subgroups and to evaluate the target audience's attitude toward the sponsored object.

The Flipside of the Sponsorship Coin: Do You Still Buy the Beer When the Brewer Underwrites a Rival Team?

This study examined theoretical relationships between key variables of sponsorship effectiveness that include sponsor awareness, corporate image and future purchase intention Involvement in the sport of soccer was also examined as a key consumer variable Results suggested that favourable purchase intentions were more likely to occur when consumers held a positive image of the sponsoring companies and had a high level of sports involvement; and that consumers' sports involvement positively influenced sponsor awareness, corporate image and purchase intention

The Effects of Sport Involvement, Sponsor Awareness and Corporate Image on Intention to Purchase Sponsors' Products

Marketers worldwide consider athlete endorsement a highly effective promotional tool. However, little is known about consumers' responses towards athlete endorsement in global markets - particularly the bi-directional image transfer mechanism. This study examines the image match between athlete endorsers and products using a three-dimensional visual map and comparing image perceptions towards athlete endorsements among respondent groups from Japan, Korea and the United States during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The results show that image perceptions of selected athlete endorsers, endorsed products and their match are significantly different in these markets.

Tae Hee Kim

Papers

The Effects of Sport Involvement, Sponsor Awareness and Corporate Image on Intention to Purchase Sponsors' Products

Strategic Match of Athlete Endorsement in Global Markets: An Associative Learning Perspective