Predicting Sponsorship Outcomes from Attitudinal Constructs: The Case of a Professional Basketball Event

The objective of this study was to test the degree to which three sponsorship outcomes—sponsor's image, word-of-mouth, and purchase intentions—may be predicted by three attitudinal constructs: attitude toward the event, sport activity involvement (centrality and attraction), and beliefs about sponsorship. The data were collected from a Greek basketball all-star game. The results indicated that purchase intentions were significantly predicted by beliefs about sponsorship, attitudes toward the event, and the centrality dimension of involvement. The word-of-mouth and image outcomes were significantly predicted by beliefs about sponsorship and the centrality dimension of involvement. In all three regression analyses, beliefs about sponsorship made the strongest contribution to predicting outcomes. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of theoretical development of sponsorship evaluation and developing sponsorship strategies.