Media exposure and sponsor recall: Cricket World Cup 2003

Abstract

This paper reports on a study into the relationship between media exposure and sponsor recall relating to an international event, namely the Cricket World Cup 2003 (CWC 2003). The application of sponsorship as a communication construct and recall as a media vehicle effect is investigated. Recall has been widely acknowledged as a measure of the effectiveness of a sport sponsorship. A convenience sample of university students was exposed to a self-administered questionnaire that required them to report their exposure to CWC 2003 events. Respondents were also required to list the main (global) sponsors of CWC 2003 through unaided recall. The findings indicate that there was a relationship between media exposure and sponsor recall for one sponsor, namely LG. The main conclusion is that an event sponsor has to leverage its sponsorship expenditure through the integration of other marketing communication elements to increase the recall rate. Keywords: Cricket World Cup 2003, Event sponsorship, Media exposure, Sponsor recall South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation Vol.26(2) 2004:131-140