Sport Management Studies

Sponsoring Iran's Football Pro-League; Sponsorship or Ambush Marketing?

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Tarbiat Modares University

2 University of Tehran

Abstract
Sponsorship is one of the most important sources of income for football clubs and one of the best ways to promotion for sponsors, but today, ambush marketers are considered as a threat for sponsoring companies. The purpose of this study was to investigate effectiveness of sponsoring Iran Football Pro-League. Descriptive-survey method was used. Research sample included 515 spectators of pro-league that selected by stratified random sampling. The result showed that 80.6% of respondents recognized Irancell as pro-league sponsor. Also, chi-square test showed that significantly Irancell was recognized more than ambushers as official sponsor of pro-league. Persons that watched live broadcasting of pro-league matches more than others, incorrectly recognized ambushers as sponsor. Finally, also Irancell acquired high awareness via sponsoring pro-league, but Hamrah-e-Avval by ambushing gained an impressive recognition as pro-league sponsor.

Keywords

  1. Kumar, A. (2013). Conquering the Spiraling Sponsorships through Ambush Marketing, Tenth AIMS International Conference on Management, January 6-9, 2349-58.
  2. Cornwell, T. B., Humphreys, M. S., Quinn, E. A., & McAlister, A. R. (2013). Memory of sponsorship-linked m­arketing communications: The effect of competitor mentions. Downloaded from sgo.sagepub.com at Ministry of Sci Rsrch & Tech on September 18, 2013.
  3. Cornwell, T. B., Weeks, C. S., & Roy, D. P. (2005). Sponsorship-linked marketing: Opening the black box. Journal of Advertising, 34(2): 21–42.
  4. Crimmins, J., & Horn, M. (1996). Sponsorship: From management ego trip to marketing success. Journal of Advertising Research, 36: 11-21.
  5. Crompton, J. (2004). Conceptualization and alternate operationalization of the measurement of sponsorship effectiveness in sport. Leisure Studies, 23: 267-81.
  6. Ellahi, A. (2004). Investigating Iran football pro-league o­rganization performance and comparing with J-League. (Unpublished Doctoral Disseration). Tehran University, Faculty of Educational and Sport Science. (Persian).
  7. Farrelly, F., Quester, P. G., & Burton, R. (1997). Integrating sports sponsorship into the corporate marketing function­–­an international comparative study. International Marketing Review, 12: 14-33.
  8. Garland, R., Charbonneau, J., & Macpherson, T. (2008). Measuring sport sponsorship effectiveness: Links to existing behavior. Innovative Marketing, 4(1):      46-52.
  9. Graham, P. J. (1994). Ambush marketing: An American perspective. Third Annual Conference on Sports Marketing Law, Tax and Finance. Lausanne; Switzerland, available at Olympic Studies Centre Library.

10. Grohs, R., Wagner, U., & Vsetecka, S. (2004). Assessing the effectiveness of sport sponsorships–An empirical examination. Schmalenbach Business Review, 56: 119-38.

11. Gupta, S., & Pandey, S. (2007). Impact of ambush marketing on sponsor identification. Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. Working Paper, 256, 1-29.

12. http://www.irancell.ir/Portal/Home/Default.aspx?CategoryID=626491e6-d896-4481-9efe 78c405fb3b75//.Irancell.ir 2013/12/001

13. International Events Group Sponsorship Report. (2013, January 7). Sponsorship Outlook: Spending Increase is double-edged sword. Retrieved from http://www.sponsorship.com/iegsr/2013/01/07/2013-sponsorship-Outlook--Spending-Increase-Is-Dou.aspx.

14. Kumar, A., & Tripathi, V. (2013). Conquering the spiraling sponsorships through ambush marketing. Tenth AIMS International Conference on Management, India, Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), The Association of Indian Management Scholars International. 2349-58.

15. Kuzma, J. R., & Shanklin, W. L. (1994). Corporate sponsorship: An application for analysis. In P. J. Graham (Eds.), Sport business, operational and theoretical aspects. Madison, Wisconsin: Brown and Benchmark.

16. Lardinoit, T., & Derbaix, C. (2001). Sponsorship and recall of sponsors. Psychology and Marketing, 18(2): 167-90.

17. Madrigal, R. (2001). Social identity effects in a belief attitude- intentions hierarchy: Implications for corporate sponsorship. Psychology and Marketing, 18: 145-65.

18. McDaniel, S. R., & Kinney, L. (1996). Ambush marketing revisited: An experimental study of perceived sponsorship effects on brand awareness, attitude towards the brand and purchase intention. Journal of Promotion Management, 3(1/2): 141-67.

19. McDaniel, S. R., & Kinney, L. (1998). The implications of regency and gender effects in consumer response to ambush marketing. Psychology & Marketing, 15(4): 385-403.

20. Meenaghan, T. (1991). The role of sponsorship in the marketing communications mix. International Journal of Advertising, 10: 35-47.

21. Meenaghan, T. (2001). Sponsorship and advertising: A comparison of consumer perceptions. Psychology and Marketing, 18: 191-215.

22. O’Reilly, N., & Horning, D. L. (2013). Leveraging sponsorship: The activation ratio. Sport Management Review, 16(4):424-37.

23. Pitt, L., Parent, M., Berthon, P., & Steyn P. G. (2010). Event sponsorship and ambush marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics. Business Horizons, 53: 281-90.

24. Razavi, S. M. H. (2005). Privatization and sport development in physical education managers’ thoughts. Journal of Sports Science, 3: 11-22. (Persian).

25. Sandler, D. M., & Shani, D. (1993). Sponsorship and the Olympic games: The consumer perspective. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 2(3): 38-43.

26. Sandler, D., & Shani, D. (1998). Olympic sponsorship vs ’ambush’ marketing: Who gets the gold? Journal of Advertising Research, 29(4): 9-14.

27. Shani, D., & Sandler, D. M. (1998). Ambush marketing: Is confusion to blame for the flickering of the flame? Psychology & Marketing, 15: 367-83.

28. Thjomoe, H. M., Olson, E. L., & Bronn, P. S. (2002). Decision making processes surrounding sponsorship activities. Journal of Advertising Research,42: 6–15.

29. Thwaites, ­D. (1995). Professional football sponsorship­–­Profitable or profligate? ­ International Journal of Advertising, 14(2): 149-64.

30. Walliser, B. (2003). An international review of sponsorship research: Extension and update. International Journal of Advertising, 22: 5-40.

31. Weeks, C. S., Cornwell, T. B., & Drennan, J. C. (2008). Leveraging sponsorships on the Internet: Activation congruence and articulation. Psychology & Marketing, 25(7): 637-54.

32. Woodside, F., Summers, J., & Morgan, M. J. (2006). Sponsorship of fast moving consumer goods – does packaging endorsement contribute to brand attitude? A Conceptual Paper, in International Conference of the Academy of Business Administration. Munich; Germany. Available from: Melissa Johnson Morgan, May 30, 2014.

33. Yong Jae, K., Kyoungtae, K., Cathryn, L. C., & Tae Hee, K. (2008). The effects of sport involvement, sponsor awareness and corporate image on intention to purchase sponsors' products. International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, 9(2): 79-92.

Sport Management Studies
Volume 8, Issue 36
June & July 2016
May and June 2016
Pages 57-72

  • Receive Date 28 September 2013
  • Revise Date 13 June 2015
  • Accept Date 27 July 2014

Home

Publication Ethics

Submit Manuscript

News

Journal Metrics

Contact Us