Building Brand Image Through Event Sponsorship: The Role of Image Transfer

TLDR

Past sponsorship research has focused on awareness building and largely ignored brand image, leaving firms without guidance on using sponsorship for brand positioning. The study investigates whether event sponsorship transfers brand image by having undergraduate students assess brand‑event similarity. The experiment measured the degree of image transfer from a sporting event to a brand through sponsorship activity. The results showed that sponsorship pairing increased perceived brand‑event similarity, and that matching event and brand on image or function further enhanced image transfer.

Abstract

Abstract Past sponsorship research has primarily focused on awareness building strategies, and has virtually ignored brand image issues. As a result, little guidance is available for firms that seek to use sponsorship opportunities to aid in brand positioning. This study reports the results of an experiment using undergraduate student subjects, who assessed the degree to which a sporting event's image was transferred to a brand through event sponsorship activity. Subjects in the sponsorship pairing treatment were more likely to report similarities on brand-event personality components than subjects who were not exposed to the event-brand sponsorship link, thus supporting the notion that sponsorship results in image transfer. Further, we found that when event and brand are matched on either an image or functional basis the transfer process is enhanced. Management implications for sporting event sponsorship and future research directions are discussed.