How perceived image of a sponsorship event influences on the brand perception: An international research of the America´s Cup and Louis Vuitton

ricerca internazionale con dati raccolti dagli autori in Italia, Germania, Francia, Spagna. On the basis of an extended review of literature dedicated to experimental studies of sponsorship effects on brand perceptions, this paper introduces a detailed framework of sponsorship persuasion process. Considering the central “transfer” between event and brand perceptions, the model also includes moderating effects (such as congruency) and focuses on specific components of functional, affective and symbolic customer value. In Spring 2007, a Web survey was conducted to evaluate the impact of Louis Vuitton’s sponsorship of America’s Cup. A total sample of 1,400 European respondents was developed thanks to the collaboration of eight Universities in France, Germany, Italy and Spain, working together within the “International Network on Consumer Behaviour Studies”. The model and hypotheses were tested with P.L.S. regression and textual data analysis. Very interesting results come out, demonstrating the importance of affective and symbolic components within the transfer process between the perceptions of the sponsored activity and the brand.