Improving Incongruent Sponsorships through Articulation of the Sponsorship and Audience Participation

The degree of congruence between the sponsor and the event has generally been regarded as one of the most critical factors of sponsorship effectiveness. However, many companies may not have logical links to sports, arts and causes and may find it difficult to find a matching property to sponsor. We posit that incongruent sponsorships are not doomed to fail and demonstrate that the negative effects of low congruence can be mitigated through articulation of the sponsorship relationship and audience participation. Results from two studies, a laboratory experiment and a field study at a sport event, provide converging results and reveal that articulation and audience participation lead to improved sponsorship evaluations, more favourable brand attitudes and an increased image transfer from the event to the sponsoring brand.