Determinants of Consumers’ Attitudes Toward a Sport Sponsorship: A Tale from College Athletics

Abstract

Although sponsorship is considered one of the most important revenue sources, there have been surprisingly few attempts to explain how sponsorship works in the mind of a consumer in the nonprofit business segment. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that determine consumers’ attitudes toward sponsorship in college athletics. A conceptual model includes factors related to the sports property/event/team and sponsors. This study also examined the role of a perceived congruence between the sponsor and the sponsored property. A structural equation model test using a convenience sample of 460 students enrolled in a division I-A university suggested that specific characteristics of both the sponsor and the sponsored event are significant determinants of attitudes toward a college athletic sponsorship, and the perceived congruence plays an important part as moderator of a sponsorship perception–attitude link.

KEYWORDS:

• sponsorship
• consumer attitude
• image congruence
• college athletics