How can customer-based brand equity be increased through sports sponsorship? Master of International Business (MSc.) in Strategic Marketing Maastricht University School of Business and Economics Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management Presented by Bianca Frank ID: 18022790 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Martin WetzelsTable of Content Abstract... 1. Introduction... 1.1 Building Competitive Advantage 1.2 Facts and Figures 1.3 Status Quo in Research and Problem Statement 14 Contribution of the Study. 1.5 Structure 2. Literature Review and Hypotheses Development... 2.1 Sports Sponsorship. 2.1.1 Sponsorship Definition 2.1.2 Sponsorship as a Marketing Instrument 2.1.3 Sponsorship Objectives 2.1.4 Processing of the Sponsorship Message 2.2 Brand Equity 1 Brand Equity Definition. Customer-based Brand Equity Definition 2.3 Conceptual Framework and Hypothesis Development 14 2.3.1 Building Customer-based Brand Equity 14 2.3.2 Effectiveness Moderators 7 2.3.3 Outcomes of Customer-based Brand Equity. 19 24 Conclusion 1 3. Research Design .... . 3.1 The Sponsorship of Golf 2 3.2 Measurement Development 2 3.3 Manipulations 3 3.4 Data Collection 4 4, Data Analysis and Results 4.1 Descriptive Statistics 4.2 Measurement Validation 4.3 Hypothesis 1 - Paired-Sample T-test 26 44 Hypothesis 2? - ANOVA 28 45 Hypothesis 3 - Multiple Regression. 29 5. Discussion. 6. Conclusion... 6.1 Theoretical Implications "33 6.2 Managerial Implications 35 6.3 Limstations and Further Research 37 7. Summary. Appendix References..Abstract ‘As the sponsorship of sports is growing as an altemative communication form, the evaluation of the right sponsorship form and the interaction between different communication tools is becoming increasingly important. Although the investments in sponsorship increase year by year, literature still lacks a precise tool to measure its effectiveness. In order to investigate this effect, the present study develops a conceptual framework testing the effects of different sponsorship forms on customer-based brand equity, and customer's buying behavior, with respect to several moderators, Customer-based brand equity is defined as the incremental added value and differential effect of consumer's response to a brand, relative to am unbranded alternative. Three main questions are addressed by the research at hand being (Q) Which sponsorship form is most efficient to increase brand equity and a customer's purchase intention? (2) Which customer characteristics influence the effect of sponsorship on customer-based brand equity? and (3) Which factors of customer-based brand equity are most important to increase sales? The findings suggest, that the combination of title sponsorship and sponsorship-linked marketing has the most efficient effect on customer-based brand equity and the factor brand image has the strongest effect on an increase in customer’s buying behavior. The relationship between sponsorship and customer-based brand equity however is moderated by the customer’s perception of it