infonet-economy

One of the most frequently studied concepts in sponsorship research is the notion of congruence (also referred to as fit, match, or relatedness) between the sponsor and the institution or activity being sponsored (e.g., Gwinner and Eaton 1999; Rifon, Choi, Trimble, and Li 2004; Roy and Cornwell 2004; Johar and Pham 1999). Congruence between the sponsor and the sponsee has been shown to lead to more favorable consumer responses and greater sponsorship success, whereas a lack of congruence usually entails less positive consequences. However, it has also been pointed out that many companies may not have logical, native links to sports, events, and causes and may therefore end up sponsoring properties that are not a natural match (Cornwell, Humphreys, Maguire, Weeks, and Tellegen 2006; Simmons and Becker-Olson 2006). This raises the question whether incongruent sponsorships are necessarily doomed to fail or whether evaluations of incongruent sponsorships can be improved through adequate marketing activities. The purpose of this research is to investigate to what extent (1) the articulation of the sponsorship relationship and (2) the active participation of the audience in the sponsorship experience can lead to improved responses to incongruent sponsorships.