How the Anticipation Can Be as Great as the Experience: Explaining Event Sponsorship Exhibit Outcomes Via Affective Forecasting

Abstract

Via field surveys of attendees at a multiday professional sporting event (n = 1,089), the authors contribute an interesting finding—that the anticipation of participating in an event sponsor's exhibit area is just as great as the experience itself when it comes to evaluating the sponsor. The study's results suggest that the mere presence of event marketing activities (in addition to sponsorship communications) improves sponsorship outcomes. Affective forecasting theory is introduced to the advertising/event marketing literature here, and is used to explain the study's findings and provide implications for advertisers who engage in sponsored event marketing.