Communication Effects in Sponsorships: : An Assessment Of How Different Communication Strategies Can Enhance Incongruent Sponsorships
Abstract
Collateral communication of sponsorships is considered a prerequisite for sponsorship success. Sponsorship is a communication form that is passive and indirect by nature and is therefore increasingly leveraged with additional communication effort through more active channels.
This dissertation focuses on traditional advertising as a sponsorship leverage tool.
Compared to sponsorship, advertising offers a more controlled communication environment. Thus, communicating a sponsorship through advertising means that the sponsorship message appears as more direct, explicit, and persuasive. In general, little is known about how consumers process sponsorship information, and even less about how sponsorships are processed when they are presented through controlled communication channels. Based on the commonly held notion that fit between sponsor and sponsee is associated with positive consumer responses, the dissertation proposes that communication may improve incongruent sponsorships through the ability to enhance perceptions of fit. By suggesting that strategic communication can influence fit perceptions, the dissertation adapts to the conceptualization of fit as a malleable construct.