Background and objective
Today, sponsors are well aware of the fact that the legitimacy perception of hosting a mega sport event has decreased, and that people's perception of the sponsors partly depends on their support for leading institutions that operate behind the hosting of the event. This study investigates whether environmental CSR-linked mega sport event sponsorship influences attitude toward the sponsor depending on regulatory fit. This concept of regulatory fit—applied to the sponsorship context, when sponsorship communication's regulatory focus matches (or mismatches) the message recipient's regulatory focus—is argued to be important for perceived motives for sponsorship. The authors postulate positive (negative) effects when there is a match (mismatch) between individuals' goal orientation and the means used to approach the goal in the sponsorship context, mediated by sponsorship motives (perceived philanthropy-driven vs. profit-driven).
The study
In two experimental studies, regulatory focus was manipulated (Study 1) and measured (Study 2). Participants were assigned to one of three experimental conditions, informing participants about a sponsor's sport sponsorship engagement: environment-linked sponsorship with a promotion focus, environment-linked sponsorship with a prevention focus, or non-linked sponsorship. The linkage increased perceived philanthropy-driven motives for sponsorship. When gain (loss) as a regulatory focus was matched with a promotion (prevention) orientation of the sponsorship, there was a reinforcement of attitude toward the sponsor via perceived motives. Thus, sponsorship-linked marketing message processing in environmental domains can depend on regulatory fit.
Implications
Regulatory fit can be an advantage for sponsors broadcasting their environmental CSR activities within a mega sport event. Thus, one key implication for the management of sponsors is to take into account the message content (promotion or prevention focus) when designing communication strategies for CSR-linked sponsorship depending on the mindset of individuals. As the consideration of regulatory fit is important, driven by people's gain or loss orientation toward a goal and how firms (here, sponsors) aim to reach a certain goal (here, protection of the environment via a promotion or prevention focus), sponsors should be interested in how to create fit (and avoid non-match situations) for persuasive communication. The framing of communication messages can be done via reference to pictures and words relating to promotion or protection are widely available in the environmental CSR domain.
Contact
Chair of Sport and Health Management
Prof. Dr. Jörg Königstorfer
Secretary: Mirjam Merz
Uptown Munich Campus D
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 Munich Germany
Phone: +49.89.289.24559
Fax: +49.89.289.24642
info.mgt@sg.tum.de