Are gambling company sports sponsorships a losing game? Investigating consumer responses on gambling, brand and team outcomes

Abstract

The current study investigates the causal relationships between exposure to gambling sports sponsorship and consumers’ gambling-linked, team, and brand outcomes, as well as the underlying explanatory mechanisms. We conducted two single-factor between-subjects experiments (sponsoring brand: banking company vs. commercial gambling provider), among 200 adult participants per experiment. The results reveal that the participants did not see a good fit between a commercial gambling provider and a soccer team, they perceived gambling sponsorship as morally inappropriate (among people who did not experience any risks or problems with gambling) and found the gambling sponsor insincere. We also found that gambling (vs. banking) sports sponsorships directly negatively influenced the sponsoring brand and sponsored team. Finally, gambling-linked outcomes were indirectly negatively affected by gambling sponsorships via sponsor moral appropriateness and normalization and risk perceptions about gambling.