eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

Abstract

Purpose of the study:

The main purpose of this thesis is to describe the effects of sports spon-sorship on the sponsor firm´s customer-based brand equity in the context of Finnish team sports fans. The popularity of sports sponsorship as a marketing tool has increased enormously during the past few decades and thus the knowledge that I'm able to provide by conducting this research has a great significance for the marketing managers, as well as the future research. The conceptu-al framework of the thesis is based on different interactions between the sponsor and the sponsee, as well as the fan engaging with both of these parties. As a result of these interac-tion processes, the sponsorship relationship affects the sponsor firm's brand awareness, brand image & brand associations, perceived quality, and brand loyalty. Thus, eventually also the overall brand equity of the firm is enhanced in the eyes of the customer.

Methodology:

This is a qualitative research. The data was gathered by conducting eight (8) theme interviews (semi-structured). The interviewed fans were chosen from a focus group of men aged between 25-35 years old. The gathered data was analyzed with the principles of content analysis.

Findings:

Sports sponsorship has a significant effect on the different factors of brand equity in the context of Finnish team sports fans. At least some kind of effect can be seen in all the different factors. Thus, also the all around brand equity of the sponsor firm is enhanced as a result. The positive effects of sponsorship can be seen more clearly on the so-called common factors of brand equity (brand awareness & brand image) than on the disjunctive factors (perceived quality & brand loyalty).