How does sponsorship of a high-involvement sports event mark the sponsor brand? An application to public institutions

Abstract

The study examines brand awareness, recall and bonding between the brand and the sponsored event, event involvement, value and the reputation of the institutional brand, as well as the perception among local attendees, using the Trinidad Alfonso Marathon celebrated in Valencia (Spain). A sample of 507 attendees (runners and viewers) was obtained and the results showed the relevance of the transfer of the perceptions of the sponsored activity to the institutional brand. Also, it was found that the type of event participation, the gender and the exposure determine different responses. The findings reveal a series of implications for brand managers in the public administration domain regarding the design of effective communication strategies aiming at building the desired positioning to one of the most relevant stakeholder groups: the residents in the territory which the institutional brand represents. Existing literature on sponsorship of participant sport-based events has generally focused on private brands and only with the perception of participants; the present research provides value by analysing perceptions from the heterogeneity of the public and in a public sphere.