Recreational golfers' attitudes and awareness of sponsorship: a case study of the 2008 Ryder Cup

Abstract

The Ryder Cup is a unique sporting event compared to other professional golf events in that it is a team competition. The purpose of the present study is to examine sponsorship awareness and the attitude of recreational golfers toward sponsorship relating to the 2008 Ryder Cup. Because the Ryder Cup is one of the premier professional golf events, and is positioned as one of the biggest sporting events in the world, many corporations are interested in sponsoring the event. This research highlights that sponsorship awareness of the Ryder Cup is relatively low compared to other major sporting events. It also points to the need for further segmentation of target markets to increase awareness of sponsorship. Investigating the effectiveness of sponsorship on consumers' awareness and attitudes to sponsorship presents an interesting avenue of study for sports marketers to evaluate their sponsorship strategies.

Keywords:

• sponsorship awareness
• attitude
• purchase intention
• Ryder Cup