A Resource-Matching Based View of Sponsorship Information Processing

Abstract

This study presents a resource-matching perspective in explaining consumer processing of sponsorship information. Our results confirm social identification with the event and need for cognition (NFC), two variables thought to motivate greater elaboration, independently influence sponsor-event fit perceptions. Greater perceived fit, in turn, is strongly associated with favorable sponsorship response. The social identification-NFC interaction also strengthens individual perceptions of fit. Consistent with ELM's notion of peripheral processing, when an individual's cognitive resources are insufficient relative to the demands of the fit-identification task, social identification may still result in a similarly favorable affective response.