Involvement and Image Transfer in Sports Sponsorship

Abstract

Sponsorships have become one of the most important marketing tools. Data show that a majority of sporting events is sponsored and that investment in sponsorship is increasing every year. Companies are demanding more research to better understand their investment efficacy. Involvement is a key element in processing sponsorship information in consumers' minds. This variable affects consumer behavior and moderates the sponsor image transfer. The study of involvement could give guidance for the design of appropriate and functional advertising campaigns. The research proposes segmenting and modelling sport consumer behaviour in sponsorship by their level of involvement with the event. For this task, we propose a model for image transfer between the sponsored entity and the sponsor. Using Finite Mix Partial Least Square methods, two sample segments are achieved. The data were obtained with a web banner during an international tennis event. In conclusion, the least involved individuals do not process the image transfer effect, as opposed to the individuals who are more involved. In the theoretical field, this paper is the first to include segmentation by Finite Mix in sponsorship research. Finally, attraction and involvement strategies are proposed based on the characteristics for each of the variables in this model, for example, regular meetings for fans, autograph signings and weekly chat sessions on the web site. This study provides guidance for companies about how to increase their customers' willingness to purchase, how to improve their image, how to increase supporters' involvement and finally, how to design effective communication for supporters according to their level of involvement.

Creation of a brand model through SEM to predict users’ loyalty and recommendations regarding a public sports service

“…In a purchasing context, the solution could be not to buy that product and opt for another product or the user can convince himself or herself that the purchase is positive in some way. This congruence is also effective in the advertising actions carried out by a brand ( Hirsh et al., 2012 ; Zdravkovic and Till, 2012 ), in sports sponsorships ( Close et al., 2009 ) and in the image transfer process between the aspects inherent in sports events and the sponsors of the said event ( Alonso-Dos-Santos et al., 2016 ). Furthermore, in the sporting context, congruence has been shown to be important for improvement in aspects such as the effectiveness of sports sponsorships ( Alonso Dos-Santos et al., 2019 ; Alonso Dos-Santos and Calabuig, 2018 ); similarly, congruence is important for improving the perception of performance in sports services, proving to be a suitable starting point for improvement of user's loyalty through credibility, the trust generated by the credibility and attitudes towards the brand ( Alguacil et al., 2019 ).…”

Sport Events Customers’ Behavior in the Light of Hedonic Consumption

“…In the opinion of the specialists, from the theoretic point of view, the involvement is associated with a variable differentiated at an individual level, a variable of causal and motivational nature. The consequences of the involvement at the level of purchasing behavior and the communication one, are taken into account the appearance and manifestation of differences over the stages of the purchasing decision process or in people's processing of communications (Singh et al, 2017;Teng & Lu, 2016;Alonso-Dos-Santos et al, 2016;Zucco et al, 2015).…”

Sponsoring Sports Teams with Low Media Exposure: An Exploratory Investigation on Small and Medium Sized B2B Firms

“…Sporting events are followed by an increasing number of spectators, some of them are so involved that they decide to fly also oversee in order to support their teams and / or their favourite athletes (Alonso Dos Santos, 2016). In the present days, sports involvement, generally defined as a personal interest and personal importance ijms.ccsenet.org Vol.…”

“…Consequently to the above, the involvement is the first key element in processing information of the sponsor in the minds of future customers (Alonso Dos Santos et al, 2016). It varies for each one according to his/her own characteristics, situations and by stimuli resulting from the product (Alonso Dos Santos et al, 2016).…”

“…It varies for each one according to his/her own characteristics, situations and by stimuli resulting from the product (Alonso Dos Santos et al, 2016). The evaluation of the degree of involvement of the fans should always be a priority for the sponsor.…”