The Question of Sponsorship Effectiveness

Abstract

This chapter summarises the effects of sponsorship on consumer behaviour. Sponsorship is a marketing communications strategy that pairs a brand with an event to enable the brand to benefit from the audience of the event and from the target audience’s positive associations with the event. The effects of sponsorship have been widely researched. Pascale Quester has contributed significantly to research in this area, having published more than 20 papers on event sponsorship, substantially improving knowledge to enable managers and event organisers to maximise sponsorship benefits. This chapter reviews prior research relating to the effects of sponsorship and its moderating variables. Specifically, this chapter recaps the findings about the main effects of sponsorship and identifies some avenues for further research. Then, it reviews the role of perceived brand-event fit, consumers’ event involvement and self-congruity with the event, consumer nationalism, consumers’ gender, education and age, as well as sponsorship activation in sponsorship effectiveness.