A Tale of Two Sponsors: Comparing Channels of Sponsorship Effectiveness Using a Local Charity-linked Event

Abstract

The current study uses a local, charity-linked running event that attracts attendants with different motivations to participate and attitudes toward corporate social responsibility (CSR) to examine the effectiveness of sponsorship decisions for two primary, concurrent sponsors. Using a structural equation model for each sponsor, we find that the importance attached to various channels that influence sponsorship effectiveness to be sponsor specific. For the luxury automobile sponsor in our study, an attendant's motivation to participate is the only statistically significant and direct path to intention to purchase. Furthermore, although CSR also links to fit, the fit has no direct path to intention to purchase. This finding could potentially indicate that participants view the luxury automobile sponsorship as a positive expression of CSR, rather than through the event's lens. This finding implies that the luxury automobile dealer's sponsorship gains are not dependent on the event but the cause's support. In contrast, the sponsorship gains for the sports retailer are dependent on the event, where event satisfaction, event leverage, and event fit all have indirect paths to intention to purchase. Additionally, motivation to participate and the importance of CSR operates through different, indirect paths to intention to purchase for the sports retailer. Although motivation to participate positively impacts event satisfaction and event satisfaction positively influences intention to purchase, CSR's importance operates through fit, which positively impacts intention to purchase. Our results for the sports retailer indicate an increased fit with the event enhances the sponsor's perceptions as socially responsible and enhances the intentions to purchase the sponsor's goods. Furthermore, a well-liked event increases the likelihood a participant will purchase the sports retailer's products.