Spectators’ perceptions of official sponsors in the FIFA 2010 World Cup^TM and purchase intentions of sponsors products or brands

Abstract

Sponsorship evolved from a small-scale activity to a major industry world-wide both in terms of money spent and adoption levels by companies. In South Africa, millions of rands are spent on sponsorship every year and on sport sponsorship in particular. The purpose of the study was to determine spectators’ perceptions of official sponsors towards the FIFA 2010 World Cup™ and their purchase intentions of the sponsors’ products or brands. The target population of the study was restricted to spectators, fans and followers of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup™ in South Gauteng. A convenience sample of 462 respondents was surveyed. Five factors were extracted using exploratory factor analysis, namely, favourability and interest, personal liking of the event, attitude towards sponsors, status of event and perceived sincerity. The correlations indicated high level of association between spectators’ perceptions of the official sponsors and their propensity to purchase sponsors’ products or brands. The regression results confirm future purchase intentions of the sponsors’ product or brands can be predicted by favourability and interest, perceived sincerity of the sponsor and attitude towards the sponsor suggesting that these are the key factors in generating a favourable response from sponsorship.