The Impact of Events Sponsorship on Attendee’s Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Brand Image

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of sponsorship events on the purchase intent of attendees, mediated by brand image. For the purpose of this study, attendee's purchase intention is treated as a dependent variable and brand image as a mediated variable. Independent variables are: brand awareness, attitude towards the event and event-sponsor fit. The study relied on collecting primary data through a self-prepared questionnaire. In total (400) questionnaires were distributed randomly to the sponsoring event attendees who could be reached by the researcher. Response rate was (96.75) percent. The results revealed all the variables under investigation have a significant effect on attendee’s purchase intention. The major effect on the attendee’s purchase intention was for brand awareness followed by attitude towards the event, the weakest effect was for event–sponsor fit. While the major effect on the attendee’s perception of the sponsoring brand image was for attitude towards the event followed by brand awareness, the event–sponsor fit was excluded. Furthermore, it is found that brand image mediates the relationship between brand awareness, attitude towards the event and attendee’s purchase intention.