| Summary: | This study is an exploration of sponsor awareness, including its antecedents and outcomes. Five research questions were explored in the context of three professional sports franchises in Auckland, New Zealand. More specifically, the aim was to explore (i) sponsor awareness within the contexts of three elite sport franchises; (ii) any sponsor awareness differences across the three contexts; (iii) any attitude or behaviour differences between full members and non-full members (iv) any attitude or behaviour differences between males and females; and (v) the relationships amongst loyalty, awareness, attitudes and intentions. Two focal sponsors (Barfoot & Thompson for the Blues as well as the Northern Mystics contexts and Suzuki in the New Zealand Warriors context) were associated with the measurement of attitudes towards the sponsor and sponsor purchase intentions. Across the three contexts, 495 questionnaire respondents took part in this quantitative study. Of the 495 respondents, 303 were classified as full-members (members who have access to all home games) and the remaining were identified as non-full members (other members or fans of the team) of each of the three franchises. The sample was obtained via an electronic questionnaire disseminated using the email database of each of the three franchises. The constructs tested within this study were; behavioural loyalty, attitudinal loyalty, sponsor awareness, attitudes towards the sponsor and purchase intentions towards the sponsor. High levels of aided sponsor recognition were apparent in all three contexts. Overall, the sample also reported high levels of attitudinal loyalty, neutral levels of attitudes towards the sponsor and low levels of purchase intentions towards the focal sponsor in each of the contexts. Significant differences were found between full-members and non-full members in all three contexts. Significant differences were also found between full members and non-full members on all five constructs. The only significant difference between males and females was on behavioural loyalty. All correlations among the constructs were statistically significant except for the relationship between sponsor awareness and sponsor purchase intentions. Attitudes towards the sponsor and purchase intentions had the strongest relationship in all three contexts. Findings of the study reinforce the existence of relationships amongst these constructs reported in previous literature. Insights have also been generated that will be useful for both sponsors and sponsee?s in sport contexts.
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