Congruency and Engagement Test in an Event Marketing Sponsorship Context

Abstract

Intercept survey data collected at a medium-size Midwestern ethnic festival are used to assess how top-of-mind and aided brand recall are influenced by ethnic congruence among attendees, brand sponsors, and the event, and by the use of passive or engaging sponsor tactics. The results are contextualized by the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Attendees who identify as ethnically congruent are shown to perform significantly better on the aided brand recall instrument. Engaging tactics are shown to produce higher brand recall than passive tactics, as well as more favorable evaluations and higher purchase intent.

KEYWORDS:

• event marketing
• event sponsorship
• congruence
• elaboration likelihood model