The Impact of Sport Sponsorship Activities, Corporate Image, and Prior use on Consumer Purchase Intention

Sport sponsorship is used to support marketing and corporate objectives, such as improving a company or brand image and increasing consumers’ intentions to purchase a company's product or service. Consumers’ intention to purchase derives from two main influences, a positive attitude towards the brand itself and brand familiarity, obtained from brand exposure and prior use. This suggests a relationship between sport sponsorship activities, brand exposure, and attitudes towards the brand itself. This relationship was explored in this research by considering the impact of three factors on the level of intention to purchase a company's products or services. The factors considered were corporate image, prior product use, and belief that the company sponsors a sport or sports. Subjects were asked to rate their intention to purchase products or services from 10 companies in five product groups. Companies were also assessed for corporate image, belief that the company was a sponsor of sport, and prior use. The relationships between these variables were examined using ANOVA. Significant effects on purchase intention were found from the brand, from the belief that the company sponsored sport, and from the corporate image of the company. No interaction effects between the independent variables were found.