Sponsorship : a behavioural analysis : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masterate of Business Studies at Massey University

Abstract

There has been spectacular growth in the use of sponsorship as a communication medium over the last two decades that has not been accompanied by increased knowledge of evaluation methods. Studies documenting management practice have revealed widespread use of informal sponsorship feedback measures, such as awareness and image, which suggests that sponsorship managers have relied heavily upon cognitive information processing models, in which these measures are assumed to have a sequential relationship with behaviour. This cognitive approach has attracted increasing criticism, with some studies suggesting that most marketing actions are undertaken to change, modify or reinforce consumers' behaviour. Therefore, it is logical to examine whether sponsorship has any behavioural consequences. The research reported in this thesis outlines a choice modelling experiment designed to investigate how sponsorship affected consumers' choice behaviour for two products: milk and bank investments. In both categories, sponsorship had a strong influence on the behaviour of a small group of consumers, however, overall, its influence was slight compare to the other attributes examined, and depended heavily on the cause promoted. The key implication that arises from these findings is that managers who hope to attract new customers via the sponsorship vehicle need to carefully consider the cause they support.