Sponsoring Brand Research Articles

Esports fan identity toward sponsor–sponsee relationship: an understanding of the role-based identity

PurposeDespite to useful relevance to better understand how group-level identity develops, few studies have explored the identity theory in the esports field and, in particular, considering the impact of a fan's role identity. The current study aims to explore esports fan role-identity vis-à-vis the relationship with the sponsor and the sponsee so as to understand the effects on their behavioral intentions.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 356 esports fans who attended the 2021 FPF eFootball Open Challenge, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) analyzed the psychometric properties of the constructs and a subsequent Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) examined the effects of fan identity on two types of behavioral intentions and sponsor–sponsee relationship.FindingsResults indicate that fans who highly identify with esports have the highest attachment to the event and tend toward having a positive word-of-mouth intention. Esports fans who have a higher brand identification reported a positive attitude toward the event's sponsor brand and tend to purchase its products. Moreover, the study findings also provide evidence of the bidirectional interaction between the way in which fans attach with the esports event and its sponsor brand, leading to greater reciprocity in their identity formation.Originality/valueThis study helps to understand how the fan identity process can enhance its fate and develop mutually, building role overlapping identity in the esports sponsor–sponsee relationship. Complementarily, it supports of how the marketeers and managers must analyze the importance of being a fan to the individual in order to understand how its self-identity can shape the future behavior.

“You got a new name!” how does renaming a music festival with a brand affect the festivalgoer's purchase intention

PurposeThis study aims to examines how renaming music festivals with brand names affect festivalgoers' purchase intention in a Southwestern European country.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses 291 festivalgoers' responses attending five music festivals in a Southwestern European country with structural equation modeling.FindingsThe study shows that the brand experience at the music festival directly influences brand attitude, which in turn positively influences purchase intention. The results also show the direct impact of event-sponsor fit on brand image transfer (BIT), positively affecting purchase intention.Research limitations/implicationsThe study examined only five music festivals in a Southwestern European country. Further studies can investigate multiple music festivals in different geographic regions. Four of the five sponsoring brands of the music festivals are telecommunication operators. Also, this study did not explore the differences in the effect of destination image, artist image and festivalgoers' attachment to music festivals.Practical implicationsThe brand sponsorship of music festivals should ensure the event-sponsor fit to impact BIT and purchase intention positively. A synergy between events and sponsors must be created to involve consumers with the brands.Originality/valueThis study uses congruity theory in a music festival setting. The investigation is unique as it is conducted at five music festivals in a Southwestern European country.

Tourists’ perceptions, emotions, and attitudes during a mega sport event

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to explore the perceptions and emotions of the sports-fan tourists experienced during a mega sport event to analyse the influence exerted by a sports event on a sponsoring brand. An empirical study was performed by collecting information from 364 sport-fan tourists during the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe. Results show that fans’ emotions, event perceived value, fans’ attitudes and sponsor perceived value are related terms. Moreover, to explain the success of a sponsoring brand, there are three relevant antecedents (attendees’ motivation, exposure to the event, and team identification). In comparison, two antecedents seem to be irrelevant (event involvement and sponsor familiarity). This investigation has made progress in researching the backgrounds that determine the sports-fan tourist behaviour in an integrated way to explain how a sponsoring brand can benefit from it.

The dynamics of esports crowdfunding campaign success: a social exchange perspective

Esports—a professionalized, commercialized, and spectatorial form of video game competition—is a burgeoning industrial sector that has relied on entrepreneurial community support and multi-platform media distribution modalities to catalyze its growth. In particular, the esports industry is increasingly turning towards grassroots crowdfunding to gain access to financial resources that can be used to facilitate tournament prizes. However, what remains unclear is which factors contribute to grassroots esports crowdfunding campaigns’ success. We used social exchange theory to identify important social and economic attributes that may influence the outcomes of esports crowdfunding projects. For methods, we scraped crowdfunding data from Matcherino using Octoparse 8. A total of 14,497 esports crowdfunding projects were analyzed by using multiple regression analysis, as well as robustness checks that were estimated through machine learning techniques. We find that equal distribution of prize rewards, the endorsement of big brand sponsors, and genres of games significantly influence the success of esports crowdfunding. This contributes to our theoretical understanding of 1) the process of esports crowdfunding campaigns as a complex mechanism that incorporates financial incentives and social values, 2) esports as an emerging industry that is institutionalizing, 3) the heterogeneity of genre-based community, and 4) the importance of distributive justice of prize rewards for organizing grassroots esports tournaments and events. Furthermore, we discussed methodological implications regarding the use of econometrics approach and machine learning for future crowdfunding and esports research as well as managerial implications for esports entrepreneurs, esports teams and organizations, and sponsors and investors in terms of developing strategies tailored to the dynamics of esports communities.

Brand sponsorship effectiveness: how self-congruity, event attachment, and subjective event knowledge matters to sponsor brands

Brand sponsorship effectiveness: how self-congruity, event attachment, and subjective event knowledge matters to sponsor brands

Championship and Sponsor Analysis in Intercollegiate Athletics: A Case Study Examining the Effects of Identification, Expectations, and Game Outcomes on Event Sponsorship Evaluations

To examine the relationship among identification, fan expectations, and sponsorship outcomes, this study examined Alabama and Clemson fan expectations and responses to the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) football championship game outcome. This case study sought to understand how fans of winning and losing teams evaluated a sporting event’s sponsor following the conclusion of an event, positing that highly identified fans would demonstrate a halo effect, and report favorable attitudes toward the sponsoring brand as suggested by previous research. However, there is a lack of theoretical evidence regarding consumer expectations when applied within the context of sport. Thus, using the theoretical framework of identification and expectation violation theory, the authors inquired to what extent the outcome of the game and one’s expectations of the outcome influenced their evaluation of the event sponsor. The results support previous research regarding potential halo effects, but also add nuance to earlier work demonstrating that a halo effect is not unilaterally applied for all fans. Given the unpredictable nature of sport and the increasing cost of sponsoring sporting events, these findings help explain the extent to which violations of one’s expected outcome affect subsequent evaluations of a sponsor.

What drives sponsorship effectiveness? An examination of the roles of brand community identification, brand authenticity, and sponsor–club congruence

AbstractThis research examines the influence of brand community identification (BCI) on three measures of sponsorship effectiveness—brand advocacy, purchase intention, and sponsor‐brand choice. Additionally, we investigate the psychological mechanism and the moderators between BCI and sponsorship outcomes. We collected data from members of two brand communities, across four experiments (2 × 2 between‐subject designs), during soccer league events. Our findings demonstrate that BCI increased brand advocacy and purchase intention. It shows a novel psychological mechanism (brand community engagement) between BCI and brand advocacy; both brand authenticity and sponsor–club congruence serve as boundary conditions. Counter‐intuitively, our study revealed that both high‐congruent and low‐congruent sponsor brands could be effective, depending on consumers' identification with the brand community. Our research makes several meaningful theoretical and practical contributions. Sports clubs and sponsors must cultivate consumers' identification with the club's brand community, which offers two‐fold benefits; it leads to greater effectiveness, measured in terms of club brand engagement and sponsor‐brand advocacy. Moreover, our research demonstrates that consumers, regardless of their identification with the brand community, will stop supporting a sponsor brand if they perceive it as less authentic.

The effect of articulation in sports posters on betting behavior

Several studies argue that sponsorship promotes and normalizes gambling behavior because commercial gambling providers (CGPs) act as sponsors for many sports entities. This study examines the effect of articulation on sports sponsorship, sincerity, and congruence as perceived by consumers and betting behavior by comparing a CGP brand with a congruent sponsor brand. Data were collected through an experiment combining the factor of the inter-subject type of sponsor (CGPs sponsor vs. congruence sponsor) and articulation (commercial articulation and no articulation) in 518 subjects from the United Kingdom. The analysis was performed using structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis. Subjects showed a greater willingness to bet when the CGP sponsor was perceived as congruent and sincere compared with congruent sponsorship, suggesting that this type of sponsor could encourage sports betting. However, the elimination of CGPs’ sponsorship is complex because of the significant funding they provide.

Sponsorship and social justice: brand positioning on diversity and inclusion in sport marketing during the 2020 UEFA European football championship

PurposeContextual changes in communications, social activism and perceptions of commercialization have changed the dynamics in sponsorship. This paper investigated the patterns in sponsorship and social justice within the context of a major sports event.Design/methodology/approachThe European Football Championship serves as an impactful platform for sponsors due to its global reach. The sponsorship activations of the twelve official sponsors were investigated by analysing sponsorship expressions on the LED boarding during every match of the tournament. Furthermore, additional data on sponsorship characteristics and brand positioning was collected for every sponsor to define relevant factors to understand the differences in sponsorship communications.FindingsDuring UEFA EURO 2020, five official sponsors changed their sponsorship activations. Adjustments were made in sponsorship expressions to position the brand on diversity and inclusion. The analyses of over 90,000 press photos and 51 official match videos clarified the dynamics of brand positioning, sponsorship characteristics in perspective of globalization patterns and different sponsorship approaches in different geographical, social and political contexts.Practical implicationsDecision makers in the global sports industry are challenged in their brand management and sponsorship approaches for the social good. This study supports to understand the sponsorship approaches and factors affecting these different strategies.Originality/valueDespite the growing attention to social justice issues in sports, there is a need to understand inclusive marketing strategies in sponsorship relationships. Using data triangulation, the findings enabled to clarify differences in sponsor approaches to social justice and illustrate the complex dynamics of brand positioning on diversity and inclusion in the sponsorship ecosystem.

Influencers Vs. Celebrity Endorsement: Understanding brand preferences and sponsorship disclosure

Influencers Vs. Celebrity Endorsement: Understanding brand preferences and sponsorship disclosure

The Negative Effect of Team Performance on Sponsorship Brand Performance: The Mediating Role of Social Identity Threat

Nowadays, sports sponsorship has become an important marketing method and means for enterprises to improve brand image and visibility. Previous studies focused on the positive effects of sponsorship on brand and consumer factors, but the performance of the sponsored team may also be an important factor for audiences to evaluate the sponsored brand and products. Moreover, the poor performance of a team may have potential negative effects, which is worth exploring in depth. This article explores how poor team performance affects sponsors negatively in the context of sports sponsorship. Through experiments, it was verified that compared with high win rate, poor performance of sponsored teams significantly reduces the brand performance of sponsors, and social identity threat plays a mediating role. In addition, compared with men, the negative impact of poor team performance on brand performance is more significant for women. This study reveals the potential negative effects of implementing sponsorship for enterprises and introduces social identity threat as a mediator to explain the impact mechanism of team performance on brand performance in sports sponsorship. It has certain enrichment and enlightenment effects on related research of sports sponsorship.

Sponsor effectiveness and its impact on League of Legends fan buying attitude

Introduction: The Brazilian League of Legends Championship is currently one of the main competitive tournaments in the eSports scene. For companies, being present in this niche expands a wide window of visibility for the sponsoring brands, so it is at this moment that they expose their products or services, and it is important to analyze the sponsor's effectiveness in the purchase attitude. Objective: To analyze the effectiveness of sports sponsorships in the League of Legends environment in Brazil and its influence on the purchasing attitude of sports consumers. Methodology: It is characterized as a quantitative approach. Composed of 215 fans, who watched at least one CBLOL game, in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, and who are at least 18 years old. An adapted instrument was used that seeks to analyze the sponsor's effectiveness in the purchase attitude. The collection took place online during the years 2021 and 2022. Results and Discussion: According to the sociodemographic profile of the sample, most were men, young people, with complete high school and employed. All dimensions were positively evaluated, which leads to a good effectiveness of brand sponsorship strategies. According to the global model, the results of the analysis showed a valence of 64% in the variation of purchase intentions. Thus, it is important that brands have strategies to be remembered by fans, because it is through this action that the buying attitude will occur. Conclusion: The dimensions analyzed here determined the effectiveness of sponsorship, which positively influences the purchasing attitude of League of Legends fans in relation to the products and services of the sponsoring brands.

How a Sensational Event Influences Sponsorship Effects: Applying Neuromarketing

PURPOSE Neuromarketing measures and analyzes the unconscious response of consumer brain waves to marketing stimuli in real time. This study examined how a sensational scene (accident) in a sport game influences the sponsorship effects through electroencephalography (EEG) analysis. METHODS The current study uses an experimental method. First, as an experimental stimulus, a video of F1 racing edited in a total of 9 min and 39 s was used, and an accident scene was inserted in the middle of the video. A total of 46 people participated in the experiment, and all participants watched the F1 video, including the accident scene. Participants' brain waves were observed in two prefrontal and two occipital lobes. The relationship between scene sensation and sponsorship effect was analyzed based on alpha waves and the sponsor brand recall measured by questionnaires. RESULTS First, the accident scene of the race caused the power of alpha wave to be abruptly reduced (i.e., alpha blocking). Second, the difference between the alpha power level of the group that recalled the sponsor brand and that of the group that did not recall was statistically insignificant; hence, the hypothesis was rejected. Third, the right-brain dominance (negative emotion) in the accident scene of the race was statistically insignificant; therefore, the hypothesis was rejected. Finally, the group that recalled the sponsor brand showed a left-brain dominance (positive emotion), which was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS This study confirmed the marketing communication and neuromarketing theories on the sponsorship effects created by stimulation, attention, and memory in a sport sponsorship setting, observing alpha blocking phenomena in a sensational scene (accidents). In addition, it was revealed that the group that watched the same accident scene relatively positively and exited remembered the sponsor brand better than the group that did not watch it. The result implied that sport fan’s personal trait (e.g., sensation seeking) to sensation in sponsorship activities affects the sponsorship effect. The results also emphasized the importance of selecting target customers of sports fans in sponsorship to maximize sponsorship effects.

Multilayer fuzzy cognitive maps for the management of the professional sports product based on the “par conditio” principle

Multilayer Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (MFCM) represents an approach for analyzing situations, which allows the simulation, inference, theorem proving of tendencies, and verification of theories, among other things. This paper reviews the promise of this method in a novelty case study of management of professional sports clubs. Professional sports clubs have the possibility of making their management profitable through the proper management of their commercial product portfolio. This possibility is conditioned by the adequate configuration of each component of the commercial product portfolio, namely: Brand licensing, sponsorship, television and media rights, sporting and training rights, and hospitality. Each component of the commercial portfolio must maximize its attractiveness and desirability for each target customer segment. For these purposes, tools that contribute to manage the sports products will be vital to guarantee their commercial success. This article proposes a model based on MFCMs for supporting the management of products in professional sports – an intelligent decision-making system –, conceptually based on the “par conditio” principle. The model considers different aspects related to the “par conditio” principle, such as the socioeconomic environment where the sports activity is carried out, the legal bases of the professional competence, and other sporting aspects (stadium, fans, etc.), which are organized in layers, to analyze the behavior of the different components of the commercial portfolio. It is tested for the two most common sports in Latin America, football and baseball, considering countries of this region where these sports have good economic performance, both to analyze and understand the current situation of the sports products, and infer more appropriate configurations. Several specific case studies are carried out with encouraging results. The paper successfully shows the potentialities of MFCM for diverse purposes, particularly those named above.

Examining the outcomes of influencer activism

Academic research on influencer marketing is becoming more prevalent. The majority of this research, though, takes the perspective of a sponsoring brand, advising companies on how best to partner with an influencer to reap brand benefits. As influencers are also brands, research is needed to aid influencers with their own brand management strategies. Thus, we examine influencers as brands, exploring activism efforts by influencers. Results from three studies show that while activism positively affects consumers’ attitudes toward the influencer, expectations for future activism activities also increase. Furthermore, improved consumer attitudes are predicated upon continued support. Specifically, failure to meet activism expectations results in reduced perceptions of authenticity and attitudes, suggesting that activism as a means to benefit the influencer is only effective if it is continued. Implications for influencers and traditional brands and contributions to theory are discussed.

Influence of High-Performance Composite Sports Equipment on Brand International Sports Marketing Strategy

With the continuous development of society, people are paying more attention to sports. In order to make sports brands go to the international market, it is necessary to adopt an international marketing strategy for sports brands. However, due to the late development of most sports brands, the main sports brand market is the mid-to-low-end market. Sports brands have little investment in scientific research and technology and build the market with celebrity endorsements or ultra-low prices. This leads to the lack of an international market for most sports brands, and the sports brands cannot be fully developed. Sports equipment is the core of sports brand marketing, and better quality sports equipment can affect the marketing strategy of sports brands, which improves their international sales capability. High-performance composite sports equipment has many advantages. Compared with traditional sports materials, it has high tensile strength, high wear resistance, and high corrosion resistance. High-performance composite materials were applied to sports equipment and were compared with traditional sports equipment. The quality of the sports equipment, the promotion of the sports brand, the positioning of the sports brand, and the sponsorship of the sports brand were compared between the two sports equipment brands. The test results showed that high-performance composite sports equipment could improve the quality of sports equipment by 25% and had greatly improved sports brand promotion, sports brand positioning, and sports brand sponsorship. Therefore, high-performance composite sports equipment can improve the marketing ability of sports brands in the international market by affecting the quality of sports equipment, promotion of sports brands, positioning of sports brands, and sponsorship of sports brands.

Make It Count: Examining Outcomes of Activation and Advertising-Like Event Sponsorship

Empirical investigations on an effective sport event sponsorship format have remained sparse. The purpose of this research is to compare the outcomes of activation and advertising-like event sponsorship, explaining the factors that drive change in sponsor brand attitudes among event attendees. We propose that 1) activation should lead to a significantly stronger increase of sponsorship perceptions and sponsor brand attitudes than advertising-like sponsorship, 2) changes in sponsorship perceptions should influence changes in sponsor brand attitudes, and 3) self-congruity with the sponsor should play a mediator role in the relationship between consumers' sponsorship perceptions and attitudes toward sponsor. To test our assumptions, we conducted a field experiment at an international sport event with two waves of surveys (before/after the event). We compare longitudinal changes in sponsor–event fit, sponsorship authenticity, sponsor brand attitude, and self-congruity with the sponsor for two brands: one pursuing activation and the other one pursuing advertising-like sponsorship. Hypotheses were tested using paired samples t tests and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings reveal that for activating sponsor, improvements in sponsorship perceptions were significantly stronger and explained more variance in changes of sponsor brand attitudes. Self-congruity with the sponsor was a mediator between sponsorship perceptions and sponsor brand attitudes. The study contributes to event sponsorship literature by longitudinally demonstrating that activation is more effective than advertising-like sponsorship in brand promotions and highlights the mediating role of self-congruity in the relationship between sponsorship inferences and sponsor brand outcomes.

How short film ads improve brand attitudes: The roles of viewing experiences and consumption visions

AbstractThis article proposes a model to predict how the content of short film ads might trigger hedonic and eudaimonic experiences, which then contribute to positive changes in attitudes toward the sponsoring brand, through two processes. In the first process, people seek branded entertainment to break away from their mundane reality. The ultimate purpose is to enjoy hedonic experiences, as might be triggered by a funny plot that induces perceptions of humor, which in turn can evoke positive affect. In the second process, consumers search for meaning through vicarious experiences, which enable them to achieve personal growth. In this process, the purpose is to find meaning or acquire eudaimonic experiences. Because a meaningful story plot explicitly encourages consumers to reflect on their lives, it helps them feel inspired and develop sentimental feelings, thus leading to eudaimonic experiences. The proposed dual process model suggests that gratification derived from viewing short film ads, due to hedonic or eudaimonic experiences, can prompt positive brand attitude changes. Moreover, consumption visions triggered by short films contribute to product changes; they moderate the first process but not the second.

Marketing solutions to promote branding in eSports

This study aims to identify marketing solutions that contribute to the improvement of brand image as a result of sponsorship participation in eSports. Since eSports is an activity that attracts millions of viewers worldwide, its development involves attracting sponsors and donors for its development. That is why marketing is a special tool that can promote this sport's endemic and non-endemic goods and services. The research aims to determine the special importance of eSports for promoting and selling goods and services advertised on virtual sports grounds. The object of the study is the influence of the brand's sponsorship participation in eSports tournaments on its image. A conceptual framework for the study was created and then refined with empirical data. This quantitative study analyzed 110 eSports fans who were selected using a non-probability heterogeneous method. Empirical data were collected through an online and closed-ended survey. Thus, more accurate and updated empirical data were collected to increase the conceptual framework's quality, reliability, and detail. In particular, special attention was paid to determining the subtleties that contribute to the improvement of the sponsors' brand image by the above-mentioned elements. The data showed that eSports sponsorship provides several main elements that enhance the sponsor's brand image. These elements include brand recognition, brand trust, building loyalty, referrals, willingness to try a new product, association with famous athletes. The field of eSports sponsorship is largely ignored by academia. As such, this study is first step in better understanding the benefits of eSports sponsorship and lays the groundwork for future research. Knowing the main brand image benefits of eSports sponsorship will help build confidence for brands that are still reluctant to enter this new market. Research has shown that the use of marketing strategy in eSports for brands of any scale corresponds to the stages of marketing strategy in traditional sports, in particular defining the target audience, and searching for channels of communication with the target audience, collaborating with celebrities, team sponsorship, holding an event with a white label.

Creating Brand Experiences Through Activational Sponsorship Leverage

A commonly accepted notion is that companies should leverage their event sponsorships with promotional and communication activities beyond the sponsorship contract. Activational sponsorship leverage is an experiential marketing strategy that encourages consumers to engage actively in brandrelated activities. The main purpose of this article is to investigate how level of consumer participation in brand-related activities at a sponsored event can improve brand evaluations by creating brand experiences. The article presents findings from a field quasiexperiment conducted at a sponsored sporting event, in which three levels of consumer participation with the sponsoring brand (active, passive, or no participation) were examined. Drawing on brand experience theory, the main prediction is that active participation represents the highest level of consumer brand engagement, and therefore should have the greatest potential for creating impactful brand experiences. The study provides valuable information for brand managers who seek to create memorable brand experiences through sponsorship-linked brand communication and activities.