This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of ambush marketing research, utilizing data indexed in the Scopus database. Ambush marketing, a tactic employed by brands to gain visibility without official event sponsorship, has emerged as a significant area of inquiry in marketing and sports management. Using Biblioshiny, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace, the analysis maps the intellectual, conceptual, and social structures of the field. The results reveal a consistent growth in scientific output over the years, with notable contributions from researchers such as Burton and Séguin. Prominent journals like the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship serve as key dissemination platforms. Country-wise analysis highlights the dominance of research output from the United States, Canada, and Australia. Network visualizations of co-citation and bibliographic coupling indicate strong theoretical foundations and interdisciplinary intersections. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identifies major themes such as guerrilla marketing, sponsorship effectiveness, and consumer response. The thematic map highlights emerging and niche areas requiring further exploration, including legal frameworks and ethical considerations. The study concludes by identifying research gaps and suggesting practical implications for policymakers, sponsors, and marketers to navigate ambush marketing’s evolving landscape.

This paper explores the ethical and legal aspects of guerrilla and ambush marketing in modern sports, with particular emphasis on their impact on brand integrity and the value of sports sponsorships. Based on relevant literature, a qualitative analysis and a case study of the BrewDog campaign during the 2022 FIFA World Cup were conducted as a paradigmatic example of “dissociative” ambush marketing. The research results confirm that such strategies, while increasing media visibility and the perceived authenticity of the brand, simultaneously undermine ethical principles and the exclusivity of official sponsors. The degree of ethical acceptability depends on the transparency of communication and compliance with intellectual property regulations. The paper highlights the need for an integrated approach that connects legal, communicational, and ethical mechanisms to protect market fairness and the sustainability of the sports system. The limitations relate to the insufficient number of empirical studies after 2023, indicating the need for future quantitative research on consumer perceptions and the long-term effects of ambush strategies on brand value and public trust.

This study investigates how guerrilla marketing benefits SMEs operating in saturated markets, with Liquid Death serving as an illustrative example. While existing literature extensively examines guerrilla tactics for large corporations across diverse media platforms and consumer segments, scant attention has been paid to how small, yet successful, brands have used guerrilla marketing to establish its brand awareness among the public within a saturated market. In this study, five types of guerrilla marketing used by Liquid Death have been studied, including viral, street, ambient, experiential, and ambush marketing. Additionally the research analyzed YouTube performance indicators like view counts, comment-to-view ratios, and audience responses to evaluate Liquid Death's campaigns. The findings show that Liquid Death has greatly increased audience engagement by strategically leveraging bold humor, emotional provocation, niche targeting, and social media expansion. These findings indicate that marketing tactics such as viral marketing can enhance SMEs ability to penetrate an already saturated market.

This study aims to identify the impact of guerrilla marketing dimensions on enhancing the competitive position of local travel and tourism companies in the city of Samarra. To achieve this objective, seven main dimensions of guerrilla marketing were identified: ambient marketing, ambush marketing, stealth marketing, sensory marketing, viral/buzz marketing, graffiti advertising, and word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing, which represent the independent variables. The competitive position represents the dependent variable of the study. The researchers adopted the descriptive-analytical approach and designed a special questionnaire to measure the research variables after presenting it to a group of professors and experts to ensure its validity and reliability. The value of Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient reached (0.879), indicating a high level of internal consistency. A total of (50) questionnaires were distributed to employees of travel and tourism agencies operating in the city of Samarra, all of which were retrieved and found valid for statistical analysis. Using (SPSS Ver. 26), both descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted, including correlation and simple and multiple linear regression analyses. The results revealed a significant and positive correlation and impact between the dimensions of guerrilla marketing and the competitive position, indicating that adopting these strategies contributes to enhancing the agencies’ ability to compete in the local tourism market. The study concluded with several recommendations, most notably the need to encourage travel and tourism agencies to use creative, low-cost marketing methods, adopt guerrilla marketing strategies that suit the characteristics of the local market, and promote a culture of marketing innovation among management and employees due to its direct impact on improving the agency’s competitive position.

This study examined social media posts by athletes from eight nations (Australia, Brazil, Germany, Iran, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom, and United States) with varied applications of the International Olympic Committee Rule 40 during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Guided by the concept of ambush marketing, we sought to determine to what extent Olympic athletes followed or violated Rule 40 during the Tokyo Games and what impact that had on engagement with their posts. Our quantitative content analysis of 9,387 Instagram posts from 622 athletes revealed that 4.32 percent of posts violated Rule 40, and these posts received significantly less engagement than non-violation posts. Theoretically, our findings contribute to the ambush marketing literature by offering confirmation that athletes from several nations engage in ambush marketing via social media, and athletes developed a new way to circumvent Rule 40 by tagging their personal sponsors within images.

Ambush marketing has emerged over the past twenty years as a key concern of sponsors and rights holders. As sponsorship investment has grown, so too have the efforts of non-sponsors and competitors to associate with major sporting properties. The evolution of ambushing – adapting to counter-ambush strategies and identifying greater opportunities to ambush – has signaled a need for researchers and practitioners alike to better understand the nature of ambush marketing, and perhaps most importantly, the strategies available to rights holders and sponsors to counter these efforts. The aim of this paper will be to identify what ambush marketing is, what form it takes, and what is the impact of ambush marketing on Commercial sponsorship. Specifically, the paper will examine ambush marketing from a historical perspective, identifying the common strategies and efforts employed over the past two decades, and to explore the impact of of ambush marketing on events, customers and sponsorship.

Ambush marketing, a tactic non-sponsors use to associate with major sporting events, raises ethical, legal, and strategic questions. This paper explores the phenomenon from historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives, highlighting its dual nature as a creative marketing tool and a controversial threat to official sponsorships. Drawing on case studies, it categorizes ambush marketing strategies into direct, indirect, and destructive forms, examining their effectiveness and consequences. While ambush marketing enables brands to leverage the visibility of events without official sponsorship costs, it challenges the exclusivity and financial stability of event organizers and sponsors. The discussion considers legal frameworks, consumer perceptions, and the broader impact on sports sponsorship markets. Ultimately, the analysis suggests a balanced approach to regulation, acknowledging ambush marketing’s potential to drive innovation while emphasizing the need for fair competition and protection of sponsorship rights. This paper contributes to a nuanced understanding of ambush marketing’s implications in the evolving landscape of sports marketing.

The Sumptuary Impulse in the Law of Modern Sports Sponsorship against Ambush Marketing

Abstract The rise of digital technology and social media platforms has made traditional marketing approaches less effective in capturing the attention of the tech-savvy Generation Y. There has been an increased interest in guerrilla marketing tactics, which employ unconventional strategies to engage consumers. This study investigated the impact of guerrilla marketing, brand image, and brand awareness on the purchasing decisions of Generation Y consumers. The study adopted the Hierarchy-of-Effects Theory and conducted an empirical study the following constructs: viral marketing, ambush marketing, buzz marketing, street graphics marketing, brand awareness, brand image, and purchase decision. Data was collected from 442 Generation Y respondents in Thailand. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to analyse the model and construct's reliability. At the same time, the partial least squares structural equation modelling technique was adopted to explore the relationship of the study constructs. The results indicated that the purchase decision of Generation Y was significantly influenced by ambush marketing, buzz marketing, and street graphics marketing. The research revealed that brand image and brand awareness exerted a substantial impact on purchase decisions and served as key mediators in the relationship between guerrilla marketing and purchase decisions among Generation Y. The study emphasised the importance of guerrilla marketing techniques and leverage of the power of social media to influence purchase behaviour. Marketing managers should consider these techniques to attract Generation Y.

This study aims to see the development of research on the topic of "Marketing Law" and research plans that can be carried out based on journals published on the theme. This research uses a qualitative method with a bibliometric analysis approach. The data used is secondary data with the theme "Marketing Law" which comes from the Scopus database with a total of 192 journal articles. Then, the data is processed and analyzed using the VosViewer application with the aim of knowing the bibliometric map of "Marketing Law" research development in the world. The results of the study found that in bibliometric author mapping, the authors who published the most research with the theme "Marketing Law" were Petty R. D; Yahelson Y; Pressey A. D; Renke S.; Steennot R; and Shimpock-Vieweg K. Furthermore, based on bibliometric keyword mapping, there are 3 clusters with the most used words are legislation, product, ambush marketing, strategy, change, and implementation. Then, the research path topics related to marketing law are Future trends in marketing law, Legal implications of brand advertising and EU law and ambush marketing.

The current study details how marketing campaigns featuring event-typical ads adapted to sporting events (e.g., a car ad that displays its brand logo on an Olympic podium) affect brand attitudes and incentive-aligned brand choice in more positive ways than proven advertising strategies such as product category consistency. Presenting four field and lab experiments across a total of 3 events and 32 ads, we show that these effects are driven by the combination of 3 mechanisms: event-typical ads’ capacity to trigger a sufficient feeling of knowing what the ad is about, provoke curiosity, and transfer attributes from the event to the brand, even with very short ad exposures. Advertisers, brand managers, or event organizers can thus exploit the creative potential around sporting events by using event-typical ads. Furthermore, when these stakeholders know the most typical elements of an event, they can either adapt their marketing activities or register them to avoid ambush marketing (i.e., advertisers willing to associate their brand with the event in the absence of any legitimate link with it).

In the pursuit of maximizing interests in commercial activities, a new form of trademark infringement known as “reverse confusion” has become increasingly prevalent. In contrast to the traditional concept of “forward confusion” in trademark law, “reverse confusion” involves a reversal of the confusion direction, changes in the relative strength of the parties involved in infringement, confusion in the cognitive association of consumers, blurred boundaries of trademark protection, and potentially more severe consequences. These distinct forms of infringement, different from “forward confusion,” pose challenges to traditional trademark confusion theories and legal frameworks. Since the emergence of “reverse confusion,” there have been numerous disputes regarding legal issues in this area both domestically and internationally. However, no country has explicitly legislated on this matter. In China, judicial practices often refer to the identification standards and relief systems of traditional confusion, lacking objective and unified judgment criteria. This undermines the specificity of reverse confusion, leading to issues such as inconsistent judgments in similar cases and imperfect damage compensation. This, to some extent, affects the credibility of judicial decisions. This article, based on the analysis of typical cases of reverse trademark confusion, legislative disputes, and issues related to legal application, reevaluates the theoretical foundations, elements of infringement, recognition standards, judicial remedies, penalties for “ambush marketing,” and registration review concerning the regulation of reverse trademark confusion. It aims to provide insights into supplementing and improving China’s trademark law from the perspectives of maintaining legal stability and enhancing traditional confusion theories.

The practice of ambush marketing continues to proliferate around mega sport events, notably during the Olympics. The ongoing commercial threat to official sponsors and event organizers threatens the sponsorship model on which the events rely. The current situation is further complicated by increased social media activity and engagement by competing athletes to engage not only with their followers on social media but also with endorser brands who may not always also be official sponsors of the event. The increasing role of Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter as a regulatory tool on social media to prevent ambush marketing is discussed as an additional brand protection measure beyond traditional legal enforcement. The commentary explores advances in recent scholarship related to ambush marketing and suggests directions for future research. Legal, policy, and practical implications for social media in sport are discussed.

This research discusses how to apply ambush marketing to 10 local Indonesian brands in the “Paris Fashion Week 2022” phenomenon. This study argues that this phenomenon is part of ambush marketing, where 10 (ten) local Indonesian brands hold independent fashion shows in Paris on behalf of Paris Fashion Week 2022. The focus of the problem in this research is on how ambush marketing in this phenomenon is viewed from the business side, the communication side, the ethical and moral side, and the legal side. Of the 10 (ten) local brands, the ones that had the most attention are the ayam geprek and skincare brands. This study argues that ambush marketing generally occurs at major sporting events in the world, but this time it is something relatively new at fashion shows. This research uses a qualitative descriptive approach with a case study method. This method was carried out by observing and studying internet news regarding 10 (ten) local Indonesian brands appearing at the 2022 Paris Fashion Show. Data collection techniques were carried out by collecting references and data literature from various sources, such as books, journals, and the internet, related to ambush marketing. This study uses the concept of “ambush marketing” as an analytical tool to explain the practices carried out by 10 (ten) local Indonesian brands in ‘riding’ the Paris Fashion Week 2022 event. The urgency of this research is to add to the literature on ambush marketing in the Indonesian context, which is rarely discussed in communication studies.

Sport is an attractive business platform for communication not only with customers, but also with all stakeholders. It can be observed not only in advertising communication of the producers operating on the broadly understood sports market, sponsors or companies using ambush marketing. It is also used in brand marketing by companies which, despite their lack of connotation with sport, willingly benefit from a number of sports attributes, values and connotations. The study aims to present the image of a man in marketing communication based on sports motives. The selected aspects subjected to analysis will help to define the role of a man in advertising sports communication and verify the declarations of the companies that pursue their goals using this level of communication. The author analysed selected advertising campaigns (audio-video format) containing sports accents. Communications of 1,270 advertisements representing 254 brands were analysed. The analysis covered six different areas: image and product advertising, share of sports disciplines, sports accessories, the man's attitude, an area of the sports involvement, and the valued presented. The analysis showed that the man presented in a sports advertisement is multidimensional, just as sport is. Traditional areas connotated with sport, such as competition and team support, are not the only ones to penetrate the advertising’s contents. While the former area is very common in general, this is one of the least frequently used sports motives. Much more often, sport appears as an element to build man’s identity, his inner strength, heroic spirit. The sport spirit and values underlying such an identity appears to be more important than most of the sport disciplines presented in advertisements. Exception to the rule is football, which continues to be the number one, regardless of whether it concerns the man’s image promoted by a male sports star or by an anonymous man.

The livelihood of the International Olympic Committee, owner of the Olympic Games, depends on the protection of its brand against ambush marketing which has the potential to compromise future contracts with official partners and reduce the economic return and the effective possibility of hosting the games and to finance the Organizing Committee. This need leads to potential imbalances between public and private law, with measures aimed at protecting the specific interests of the IOC. The further criticality is given by the interference on the whole society of otherwise unnecessary legislative interventions that have social, economic and political repercussions on the host country with the IOC that requires long and anticipated planning within the bid process. Following the assignment of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, the introduction in Italy of a special law highlights the critical issues of the legislator's intervention to counter the threat of ambush marketing. The examination of the law decree n. 16 of 11 March 2020 of the Italian Republic, the documents that deal with the foundation of Italian law and the positions of scholars, aim to verify how Italy has handled the requests of the IOC. It will be concluded that this legislative intervention is characterized by minimal measures that guarantee the hosting of the Games but leave almost unchanged the need for the IOC to develop its own autonomous defense strategies. There will be food for thought to consider whether it is possible to satisfy the IOC's request in a manner consistent with legal codes or if it poses an unfair threat to other private and public interests.

Ambush Marketing and Protection of Investments

The Morality of Ambush Marketing and Its Impact on Sports Organizations' Reputations

Purpose This research explores ambush marketing on social media during the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Australia. Two social media platforms – Twitter and Instagram – served as the dataset to uncover how official sponsors of the Canadian and Australian Commonwealth Games teams were ambushed.Design/methodology/approach Employing a content analysis of all official team sponsors and their competitors, the study’s findings offer an original and multi-national look into social media ambushing.Findings Results indicated that promoting Games’ links was the most common social media post type used by official event sponsors, followed by sharing results of their endorsed athletes and behind-the-scenes information.Research limitations/implications In an effort to provide connection to the event, posts by ambushers focused on promoting athletes endorsed by their brand. All ambushers were more likely to use Twitter to promote their endorsed athletes. Instagram, however, was not fully embraced in their ambush marketing.Originality/value Discussion and implications of the results provide sport marketers with information on how to leverage one’s link with a major sporting event.

This is the first part of a three-part article which critically evaluates the everincreasing trend of commercial monopolization of major sporting events by sports governing bodies and their commercial partners such as sponsors. This first part of the article will provide a background description of the various forms of protection against ambush marketing of events, as an area where such increased calls for the creation and ring-fencing of commercial rights to events have been (and remains) at the forefront. The second part of the article will evaluate the legitimacy of such protections (especially in the form of special legislation) critically in the context of such commercial monopolization, with reference to constitutional, intellectual property and competition-law arguments in the South African context, and will conclude with some observations regarding current developments elsewhere.