The multichannel effects of sponsorship: an empirical analysis

Sport sponsorship is gaining increasing attention in marketing research and practice. While the industry of sport sponsorship is booming, sponsoring companies are increasingly practising multi-site sponsorship strategies by combining traditional forms of sponsorship with an online presence. Yet, although scholars have suggested the investigation of the synergistic effects between traditional and online sponsorship as an emergent stream of research, any research to date have been issued of this topic. By drawing on previous studies in the multichannel retailing literature the aim of this research is primarily that of investigating if positive feelings and attitude toward a sponsoring brands receivers form in traditional settings, affect sponsorship receivers intention to purchase online sponsoring brands when multi-site sponsorship strategies are performed. Findings suggest the existence of interactive effects between traditional and online sponsorship.