Patriot games? Determinants of responses to Chinese and foreign sponsors of the Beijing Olympics

Abstract

The paper assesses the generalizability of Speed and Thompson's (2000) model of the determinants of sponsorship response to an important and growing market for sponsorship (China). It extends the model by considering differences in effects for foreign and domestically owned sponsors and the role of patriotism. The findings confirm that personal liking for the sponsored event, status of the event, attitude to the sponsor, perceived sincerity of the sponsor and perceived fit between the sponsor and the event are significant factors underpinning positive responses. In contrast to Speed and Thompson (2000), ubiquity of the sponsor is not significant for China. Whether the sponsor is of domestic or foreign origin is identified as an important moderator of sponsorship effects but there is no consistent evidence that foreign sponsors suffer from relatively poorer outcomes in emerging markets compared to domestically owned rivals.