The communication effects of positioning brands with sporting events: An experimental study of schema-triggered affect in consumer response to event sponsorship advertising

This research utilized a pretest/posttest design to examine consumers' use of schema-based information processing and the potential influence it has on their perceptions of print advertising which positions brands with sporting events. More specifically, it explored the moderating influence of involvement with product categories and sporting events on the perceived congruence between events and brands in advertised sponsorship relationships. Ten hypotheses were formulated to test certain theoretical propositions regarding Fiske's (1982) theory of schema-triggered affect in explaining sponsorship advertising response. A total of 216 undergraduates viewed print ads manipulated to position known brands from three different product categories with three different major sporting events. The subsequent effects of sponsorship ad treatments were gauged using thought-listings, attitudinal, behavioral intention and memorability measures.;Of the study's ten hypotheses, eight resulted in a failure to reject the null. The research provides very limited support for Fiske (1982), in terms of explaining sponsorship advertising response. However, it does add to the growing body of literature on the general notion of consumer advertising schemas. The significant findings concerning the effects of manipulated ad schema congruence on measures of attitude-towards-the-ad, as well as the content of a number of thought-listing responses, suggests that consumers do have well defined schematic templates with regards to the structure and content of advertising (including relationships in event sponsorship). Moreover, it appears that sponsorship ad schemas may have public policy implications as subjects' attitudes towards sponsorship ads involving cigarettes were found to be significantly related to the perceived incongruence of positioning healthy activities with an unhealthy product. An increased understanding of sponsorship response may one day aid in the creation of health communication campaigns to help offset potential effects from sponsorships that "indirectly" promote alcohol and tobacco use by underage consumers.