SPONSORSHIP EFFECTIVENESS ON PURCHASE INTENTION

FAN INVOLVEMENT, CONGRUENCE AND CORPORATE IMAGE

BY

CHEN LIANG DA

11050101

AN HONOURS PROJECT SUMMUTTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF

THE

REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF ARTS

IN

PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND RECREATION MANAGEMENT (HONOURS)

HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY

APRIL, 2014

HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY

25th

April, 2014

We hereby recommend that the Honours Project by Miss. CHEN Liangda entitled

“Sponsorship Effectiveness on Purchase Intention: Fan Involvement, Congruence, and

Corporate Image” be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor

of Arts Honours Degree in Physical Education and Recreation Management.

Dr. Seungmo, Kim Dr. Chen Kuan Chou

Chief Adviser Second Reader

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this honours project “Sponsorship Effectiveness on Purchase

Intention: Fan Involvement, Congruence, and Corporate Image” represents my own work

and had not been previously submitted to this or other institution for a degree, diploma or

other qualification. Citations from the other authors were listed in the references.

Chen Liang Da

25th

April, 2014

ACKOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratefulness to my chief advisor, Dr. Seungmo Kim, for

his patience, encouragement and professional guidance throughout the whole project.

Special appreciation is given to Dr. Chen Kuan Chou as my second reader. Besides, I

would like to thank you all my friends for their help and advice.

Chen Liang Da

Department of Physical Education

Hong Kong Baptist University

Date: 25th

April, 2014

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the sponsorship effectiveness of Li Ning

sponsoring China Basketball Association (CBA) games in season 2013-2014. Purchase

intention was selected as the outcome of sponsorship effectiveness. Three antecedents

were used to predict purchase intention, which were fan involvement, congruence and

corporate image. Li Ning is a local leading sports brand in China and CBA is one of the

most popular sports competitions in China also. This study by researching partnership

relationship between these two parties could bring people a specific idea of sports

sponsoring performance in China’s Sports Marketing. The data was collected through

online questionnaire from game audience in Mainland China and was analyzed by

multiple regression analysis. Findings of this study showed some disagreements with past

researches. Fan involvement which was believed as a strong factor to predict purchase

intention displayed a negative influence and congruence was tested as no impact. Only

corporate image had a positive influence on purchase intention which was similar to past

researches.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER Page

1. INTRODUCTION 1

Statement of the Problem………………………………………….…... 3

Definition of Terms……………………………………………….…… 3

Delimitations…………………………………………………….…….. 4

Limitations…………………………………………………………….. 5

Hypotheses…………………………………………………………….. 5

Significance of the Study……………………………………………… 5

2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 6

Sponsorship…………………………………………………………… 6

Conceptual Framework………………………………………………... 9

Fan Involvement…………………………...……………………… 9

Congruence………………………………………………………... 11

Corporate Image…………………………………………………… 12

Purchase Intention…………………………………………………. 12

Summary………………………………………………………………. 13

3. METHODS 14

Collection of Data……………………………………………………... 14

Development of the Questionnaire………………………….………… 15

Sample of Selection……………………………………..…………….. 15

Procedures……………………………………………………………... 16

Method of Analysis……………………………………………………. 16

4. ANALYSIS OF DATA 17

Results…………………………………………………………………. 17

Discussions……………………………………………………………. 29

5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 33

Summary of Results…………………………………………………… 33

Conclusions……………………………………………………………. 34

Recommendations for Further Study………………………………….. 34

REFERENCES. 36

APPENDIX 40

A. Questionnaire (English Version)……………………………….... 40

B. Questionnaire (Chinese Version)………………………………... 42

C. Review Questionnaire 1…………………………..…………….. 43

D. Review Questionnaire 2…………………………………………. 44

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE Page

1. Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Gender of the Subjects

(N=200)………………………………………………………………..

17

2. Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Age of the Subjects

(N=200)……………………………………………………………….

18

3. Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Occupation of the Subjects

(N=200)………………………………………………………………..

18

4. Frequency and Percentage Distribution of the Number of CBA

Games Watched of the Subjects (N=200)………………….………….

19

5. Frequency and Percentage Distribution of the Frequency of Playing

Basketball of the Subjects (N=200)……………………………...……

20

6. Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Ways to Watching Games

of the Subjects (N=200)……………………………………….………

20

7. Mean and Standard Deviation of Each Item in Fan Involvement of

Subjects (N=200)……………………………………….……………..

21

8. Mean and Standard Deviation of Each Item in Congruence of

Subjects (N=200)……………………….……………………………..

23

9. Mean and Standard Deviation of Each Item in Corporate Image of

Subjects (N=200)………………………….…………………………..

24

10. Mean and Standard Deviation of Each Item in Purchase Intention of

Subjects (N=200)………………………………..…………………….

26

11. Reliability of All Variables by Cronbach’s Aplha………..…………… 27

12. Correlations between Dependent Variable and Independent Variables

(N=200)……………………………………………………………….

28

13. Multiple Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Purchase

Intention (N=200)…………………………….……………………….

29

LIST OF FUGURES

FIGURE Page

1. A Conceptual Framework of Sponsorship Antecedents and

Outcomes……………………………………………………….……..

9

2. Frequency of Mean Score of Fan Involvement (N=200)……………... 22

3. Frequency of Mean Score of Congruence (N=200)…………………... 23

4. Frequency of Mean Score of Corporate Image (N=200)………….….. 25

5. Frequency of Mean Score of Purchase Intention (N=200)……….…... 26

1

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Sponsorship is known as a part of communication mix, apart from advertising,

sales promotion and public relations (Ukman, 2004). It is now on the rise of importance

since corporates are using sponsorship to reach potential consumers as well as improve

their brand image (Javalgi, Traylor, Gross & Lampman, 1994). According to International

Events Group (IEG), expenditures for sponsorship in North America were around $17.2

billion and $46.3 billion worldwide in 2009. Over recent two decades, annual growth

rates of sponsorship have been greater than advertising and sales promotion.

Sports sponsorship is all the time the most popular sponsorship. Sports attribute to

more than 60 percent of total money spent on sponsorships (Fetchko, Roy & Clow, 2013).

Corporates who sponsor sporting events, they report that through sponsoring in sports, it

is easier to reach larger and more diverse consumers and through the process of sports

sponsorship, they can have more media exposure because of the flexible nature of

sporting events (Ko, K. Kim, Cathryn, T. H. Kim, 2008). Besides, Ko et al. also drew a

result form their study that sponsors were generally satisfied with the cooperation with

sports leagues, teams and organizations. This is believed as another reason why sports

sponsorship is driving more investments than other possible categories.

Since sponsorship has been one of the favorites of corporate managers, it is

important and critical for them to actually know how their sponsorships perform.

However, evaluating the effectiveness of sponsorship is difficult because sponsorship is

usually part of integrated communication plan. Meenaghan (2001) said that to do

evaluation is the most challenging work facing the sports industry. In the IEG

2

Sponsorship Report 2013, 72 percent companies reported nothing or less than one percent

on measurement. On the other hand, through the constant efforts made by some experts,

lots of researches regarding sponsorship effectiveness have been done by far. There are

some existing models provided by past researches for us to better understand the

antecedents and outcomes of sports sponsorship. Purchase intention, which is one of

important values out of several sponsorship outcomes, is highly reviewed by researchers.

(Ngan, Prendergast & Tsang, 2009; Tsiotsou & Alexandris, 2008).

China now is having a great rise in sports industry. According to Annual Report

on Development of China’s Sports Industry (2008-2010), China’s sports industry product

output only accounts for 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent of China’s GDP. It is almost 10 times

less than western countries. However, the huge gap also means China’s sports industry

has a big future, and to be frankly, in 2004, China’s sporting goods market size was 42

Billion but it was 62 Billion in 2008. Yang and Spartacus (2005) pointed out that,

although there is a fast development in sports sponsorship, still China does not have a

clear market of sports sponsorship. They also stated that because of inadequate and

disordered regulations in China, there is not very much freedom for sponsors to

manipulate. As a result, the sports sponsorship effectiveness in China sports market lacks

enough attention. It is beneficial to borrow the existing studies from other countries to

understand sports sponsorship effectiveness in China.

LI NING is a leading sports brand company in China and China Basketball

Association (CBA) is nowadays the most popular sporting events in China. By analyzing

LI NING’s sponsoring behavior in CBA games, this study is going to make an advanced

view of sponsorship effectiveness in China sports marketing. The results drawn from this

3

study can be used for other corporates as well who are potential sponsors for sporting

events in China so as to make their sponsorship optimally valued.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this study was to investigate the purchase intention towards Li Ning

in the China Basketball Association (CBA) games. There were three major independent

variables (i.e. fan involvement, congruence and corporate image) to predict purchase

intention. The goal was to find the relationship between each independent variable and

purchase intention and determine a multiple regression between them.

Definition of Terms

Congruence. Prendergast, Poon and West (2010) highlight that two component of

congruence emerge: 1) image congruence, when the sponsor and the property have

similar brand images, and 2) functional congruence, when the sponsor’s product is

aligned with the event or more explicitly and relevantly has a participatory role in the

event.

Corporate image. The impressions of a particular company held by some segment of

the public (Johnson & Zinkhan 1990, p. 347).

Corporate social responsibilities (CSR). Organization’s status and activities with

respect to its perceived societal reputation (Brown & Dacin, 1997, p.68).

Effectiveness. The quality of being effective (in various senses). (Oxford Online

Dictionary).

Fan involvement. A term refers specifically to the extent to which consumers identify

with, and are motived by, their engagement and affiliation with particular leisure

activities (Meenaghan, 2001).

4

Image transfer. It occurs in sponsorship when the meaning consumers hold for a sports

property is assigned to a brand that in linked to the property (Fetchko et al., 2013).

Li Ning Company Limited. It is a company which is one of the leading sports brand

companies in China and established in 1990. It has been the very first Chinese sports

brand which sponsored the Chinese national team in Asian Games and Olympic Games.

It also is the first Chinese sports brand one who showed up in the National Basketball

Association games. (Li Ning official website)

Purchase intention. An individual’s conscious plan to make an effort to purchase a

brand (Spears & Singh, 2004, p.56).

Sponsorship. A cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically sports,

entertainment, non-profit event or organization) in return for access to the exploitable

commercial potential associated with that property (IEG, 1982).

Delimitations

The delimitations of the study were listed below:

1. The study only analyzed the Li Ning out of several sponsors in CBA games in

season 2013-2014.

2. The study only focused on CBA games in season 2013-2014.

3. The outcome of sponsorship effectiveness was directed into purchase intention

rather than other potential outcomes.

4. Only three antecedents which may affect purchase intention were studied

5. The questionnaires collected were within the period of CBA 2013-2014 finals and

a following week.

6. The questionnaires were distributed to random people in Mainland China who

5

have watched CBA games in season 2013-2014.

Limitations

The limitations of the study were listed below:

1. The sample size (N=200) is small.

2. It is possible that Li Ning’s sponsorship effect was greater onsite than through

screen, but the investigator was unable to collect all data totally from onsite.

3. The accuracy of translating the questionnaire form English into Chinese.

4. The degree of participants’ understanding the questionnaire.

5. The degree of participants’ reliability of answering the questionnaire.

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were made in this study:

1. There would be a positive relationship between fan involvement and purchase

intention.

2. There would be a positive relationship between sponsor congruence and purchase

intention.

3. There would be a positive relationship between corporate image and purchase

intention.

Significance of the Study

There have been a lot of researches studying the effectiveness of sports sponsorship

up to now. In spite of the difficulty to measure the effectiveness of sponsoring behavior,

researchers have developed some ways to do the measurements, such as brand recall or

recognition.

However, the sports sponsorship effectiveness in China sports market is still not

6

clear. It is beneficial to borrow the existing studies related to sponsorship effectiveness

from other countries to understand sports sponsorship effectiveness in China. Li Ning is a

leading sports brand company in China and CBA is nowadays the most popular sporting

events in China. By analyzing Li Ning’s sponsoring behavior in CBA games, this study is

going to make an advanced view of sponsorship effectiveness in China sports marketing.

The results drawn from this study can be used for other corporates who are potential

sponsors for sporting events in China so as to make their sponsorship optimally valued.

Chapter 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This study is focused on sponsorship effectiveness of corporates’ sponsoring

behavior in sporting events. An example of Li Ning sponsoring in CBA games in

2013-2014 season will be used regarding this topic. The related literature is organized

into following sections: 1) sponsorship; 2) conceptual framework of sponsorship

effectiveness.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is a business communication tool, it is a part of an integrated marketing

plan along with advertising, sales promotion and public relations (Ukman, 2004).

According to IEG, expenditures for sponsorship in North America were around $17.2

billion and $46.3 billion worldwide in 2009. Over recent two decades, annual growth

rates of sponsorship have been greater than advertising and sales promotion. It is more

and more obvious that sponsorship is taking an important role among a communication

mix. Scholars also summarized several features that drive sponsorship the most popular

one, Meenaghan (2005) stated that sponsorship is dealing with three parties: sponsor,

7

property, and consumer and it aims at benefiting all three parties and Christensen (2006)

said that sponsorship is less direct in passing the information to consumers, it is in a more

reflective way and brings more conscious feedback to consumers; Fullerton (2007) also

mentioned that sponsorship can have more ranges of publics and relative objectives,

especially in sporting events. Practically, to sponsor means a negotiation between a

sponsor and a property, a sponsor provides compensation and a property provides

association (Cornwell & Maignan, 1998), and through this exchange, a sponsor is hoping

to get more brand exposure, better corporate image or eventually increase in sales while

property is getting revenue (Fortunato, 2013). This exchange also makes sponsorship

different form philanthropy, in which a corporate is giving without the intention to be

noticed (Piewa & Quester, 2011).

Nowadays, sponsorship is a global business given that sporting event has been the

most popular one which receives more than two-third of total sponsoring spending among

all kinds of sponsorship categories (Fetchko et al., 2013). Christensen (2006) put that

sport ties audiences from local, regional or global area and brings more than just

cognition but also emotional response towards sponsors. It is easy to find out how

credibly sponsoring plays in sporting event. For example, Coca-Cola paid $65 million to

be associated with International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2007 while IOC had its 45

percent revenue source from corporate sponsorship during a four year Olympic cycle

(Fortunato, 2013; Fullerton, 2007). Sponsoring in sports usually covers specific players,

teams, associations or leagues and generates a strong base of highly involved, passionate

and loyal audience (Madrigal, 2001). It is apparent that sports sponsorship is a solid

bridge for corporates to communicate with their potential consumers and build up their

8

brand equity (Aaker, 1991; Marshall & Cook, 1992).

In light of growth of sports sponsorship, it is important to understand the

effectiveness of sponsorship for marketing managers. Researchers recently have raised

their interest towards the antecedents and outcomes of sponsorship. In an empirical study

of Grohs, Wagner and Vsetecka (2004), their results indicated that event-sponsor

congruence, event involvement and exposure are the dominant factors leading to sponsor

awareness. Others also made attempts to reveal causes of a better sponsorship, in the

study of Cornwell and Coote (2003), organizational identification is positively related to

consumers’ purchase intention, which means the buying intention is driven by the

consumers’ identification with organizations’ goals and missions. Meanwhile, the

pre-event corporate image and attitude toward the sponsor also been tested frequently by

researchers to see the relationship between sponsorship effect and them. Form the results

of Dees, Bennett and Villegas (2008) they concluded that there is no doubt that better

image and attitude will facilitate a higher evaluation. Marketing practitioners believe that

sponsorship effectiveness is based on the product sales (Carrillat, Lafferty & Harris, 2005)

while Javalgi et al. (1994) pointed out that rather than evaluate the effectiveness of

sponsorship with a sale direction, it is better to measure the communication effect, such

as sponsorship awareness and image transfer. Studies also have shown that sponsorship

can make a significant impact on both consumer awareness and corporate image (Otker &

Hayes, 1987). Therefore, the outcomes of sponsorship believed by most researchers are

generally divided into sponsorship awareness and purchase intention.

9

Conceptual Framework

As previously mentioned, there are several antecedents and outcomes of sponsorship,

such as congruence, exposure, attitude as antecedents; corporate social responsibility

(CSR) and purchase intention as outcomes (Cornwell & Coote, 2002; Dees et al., Grohs

et al., 2004; 2008; Javalgi et al., 1994). However, those factors have not been tested in

an integrated way so far. This study with the intention to analyze the relationship between

those two groups, a proposed integrated model is presented, in this model, the middle part,

awareness, attitude and CSR are as mediators of the left end five antecedents and the

right end purchase intention. However, the relationship between three selected

antecedents and purchase intention will be analyzed in this study, the mediators are not

focus.

Figure 1. A conceptual framework of sponsorship antecedents and

outcomes.

Fan involvement

Meenaghan (2001) defined fan involvement as “the extent to which consumers

identify with, and are motivated by, their engagement and affiliation with particular

leisure activities”. Consumers can establish a range of relationship with sponsors based

10

on how much they love the sports or a team (Quester & Thompson, 2001). Meenaghan

(2001) put that sport generates more intense and enduring fanship. High-involvement

fans are very knowledgeable about the sport and more sensitive towards sponsors, they

experience the failings and achievements of the teams or players they support as their

own (Ashforth & Mael, 1989). This kind of loyalty is believed to be long-lasting and is

supported by time and money (Sutton, McDonald, Milne & Cimperman, 1997). Thus, if

High-involvement fans are satisfied with the performance of the sponsored event, they

will thus experience a positive feeling with the sponsors (Meenaghan, 2001). However,

once the supported team or player does not perform well, the sponsor will suffer more

from high-involvement fans than low-involvement fans (Dees et al., 2008).

Lots of studies have found positive effect of fan involvement. For example, a

research done by Lascu, Giese, Toolan, Mercer and Guehring in 1995 found that

high-involvement fans are more easily to identify sponsors of a golf tournament than

low-involvement fans. Dees et al. (2008) also concluded that fans who are highly

involved in the game hold a more positive attitude towards the sponsors and more willing

to consider a sponsor’s product (Speed & Thompson, 2000). In the study by Gwinner

and Swanson (2003), their results showed fan involvement increases attitude toward

sponsors and sponsor patronage and satisfaction with sponsors. Wang, Jain, Cheng and

Aung (2012) found fan involvement stimulates sponsor credibility and consumer

purchase intention as well. In addition, fan involvement is also related to the

event-inducing involvement, if the event is interesting itself, fans will be more involved

in the event (Fransen, Rompay & Muntinga, 2013). In the study by Fransen et al., the

authors found if the participants have a great experience with the sponsors, they will

11

enjoy the events more and have a better recall of the brands.

Congruence

Congruence is how fit between a sponsor and a property. It has generally two

components, functional congruence and image congruence (Gwinner, 1997). Common

sense and empirical studies all suggest that consumer attitude is more favorable when

there is a good match between a sponsor and a property than incongruence (Crimmins &

Horn 1996). Besides, if there are both functional and image congruence, it represents a

better fit (Fortunato, 2013). For example, if Adidas sponsors World Cup, it will be

functional congruence, since Adidas is making its own sports product otherwise if Red

Bull sponsors extreme sports, it will be image congruence, because Red Bull’s promotion

of their product as stimulating for exaggerated action fulfills the image of an extreme

sport (Grohs et al., 2004). However, the ability of an individual to perceive congruence

between a sponsor and a property is depended on their knowledge on both parties

(Meenaghan, 2001).

Studies have shown that functional congruence has positive effect on brand recall,

purchase intention, market share and share price. (Chandon, Wansink & Laurent, 2000;

Johar & Pham, 1999). The result drawn by Grohs et al. (2004) showed a significant

positive relationship between perceived fit and sponsor recall. In the specific research of

Close and Lacey (2013) on the impact of event-sponsor fit, they also concluded that fit

matters for the sponsor in many ways, it facilitates the relationship between product

knowledge and perceived CSR and brand commitment and therefore, it finally intensifies

the purchase intention.

12

Corporate image

Image of a sponsor weights a lot in directing a positive or negative attitude towards

the sponsor (McDonald, 1992), it refers to “the impression of a particular company held

by some segment of the public” (Johnson & Zinkhan, 1990 p.347). According to

Meenaghan (2001), the image of a sponsor transfers during event. Image transfer is by

definition the transfer of associations attribute to the sponsored activity to the sponsoring

brand (Gwinner, 1997). Grohs et al. (2004) pointed out that image transfer aims at

incurring positive attitude towards sponsors by highly related to a valued event.

Meenaghan stated that the largest factor distinguishing sponsorship from advertising is

goodwill. Sponsors benefit not only themselves but also where the sponsorship occurs. In

the focus-group research of Meenaghan, results showed that perceived goodwill has a

positive effect on corporate image.

Past studies measured corporate image as a factor of sponsorship effectiveness,

but methods used were different, there was no certain standard to measure corporate

image by far (Gilaninia, Moussavian & Rezvani, 2011). Some researchers use the pre and

posttest to compare the potential difference before and after an event, while others use

brand image to indicate sponsorship effectiveness (Gwinner, 1997). In this study, more

broad view of corporate image is focused rather than short-term improvement of brand

image. Accordingly, researchers (Dees et al., 2008 & Gwinner, 1997) found consumers

were more likely to purchase sponsors’ products if they have a favorable image of a

sponsor.

Purchase intention

Purchase intention is believed as one the most important measures for the cognitive

13

level of consumer behavior (Rosenberg & Czapial, 1983). It is selected as the outcome of

sponsorship in this research. Purchase intention is not the same as actual purchase but it

strongly affects consumers’ future behavior (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). A definition by

Spears and Singh (2004, p.56) of this term is that, “Purchase intentions are an

individual’s conscious plan to make an effort to purchase a brand”.

There have been tons of sports marketing researches focusing on purchase intention,

marketing managers are always eager to know what will cause an increasing purchase

intention (Tsiotsou & Alexandris, 2009). Howard and Crompton (1995) said the most

useful indicators of the impact of sponsorship on future sales are intent to purchase

studies, and they used stages in the communication process to measure sponsorship

effectiveness which suggests that consumers’ final purchase decision is made from first

awareness of a company and through a series of conscious stages. Furthermore,

researchers (Aaker, 1991; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) believe that attitudinal variable is

foundation of purchase intention. Meenaghan (2001) also concluded that attitude towards

sponsor, fan involvement and goodwill perceived make huge influence on sponsor

evaluation. In addition, according to Peyrot and Van Doren (1994), consumers purchase

behavior is often repeated. Therefore, once consumers form a positive attitude towards a

brand, it is more likely they do a repeated purchase than a new customer (Rosenberg &

Czapial, 1983).

Summary

Above literatures have illustrated some relationship between sponsorship

antecedents and outcomes, but there are still more causes and results regarding

sponsorship effectiveness. It is important to understand the effects of sponsorship for both

14

corporate and property wise. A company puts aside financial planning for sponsorship

in order to gain either more prestige or increasing sales while a property needs financial

support to run well. It will always be a prudent decision for both parties to choose each

other.

Purchase intention is determined by several aspects as mentioned above. Different

researches tested the relationship between different variables and purchase intention.

Therefore, this study aims to analyze relationships between three variables (i.e., fan

involvement, congruence and corporate image) and purchase intention as well, but also

want to determine a multiple regression to better integrate the relationships.

Chapter 3

METHOD

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of sponsoring behavior

of LI NING in the China Basketball Association (CBA) games. Specifically, the

relationship between fan involvement, congruence, corporate image and purchase

intention will be determined and a multiple regression equation will be generated

regarding the four variables. The method of this study is divided into following five

sections: 1) Collection of data, 2) Development of the questionnaire, 3) Sample of

selection, 4) Procedures, 5) Methods of analysis.

Collection of Data

All the data collected in this study were in questionnaire format. The questionnaires

were distributed online during CBA games season 2013-2014 finals and one week

followed by. Online questionnaire was easier to distribute and can reach more diverse

groups of people.

15

Development of the Questionnaire

The questionnaire was based on two past researches, one (Appendix C: Review

Questionnaire 1) studied the constructs of sport sponsorship effectiveness based on

football fans in Iran (Gilaninia, Mousavian & Rezvani, 2011), and another (Appendix D:

Review Questionnaire 2) studied the effectiveness of sponsorship of an elite

intercollegiate football program (Dees, Bennett & Villegas, 2008). After combining these

two questionnaires, modifications (i.e. the event was CBA games and the sponsor was Li

Ning) were made in order to better fit the background of this study. At last, the

questionnaires were translated into Chinese so as to make more sense for respondents.

The questionnaire has five parts and contains 23 questions. The first part investigates

fan involvement which asks the importance of basketball game to an individual. The

second part talks about congruence, the questions investigate individual’s perception of

the link between CBA games and Li Ning. The third part is about corporate image, it

aims to know people’s opinions on Li Ning’s public image. The fourth part is focused the

purchase intention towards Li Ning products or services. The last part is collecting

general information of respondents, such as gender, age etc. but information relating to

the frequency of playing basketball and watching CBA games in season 2013-2014is also

collected.

A five-point Likert scale is used in the first four parts. The scoring system is “one”

refers to “strongly disagree”, “two” refers to “disagree”, “three” refers to “no comment”,

“four” refers to “agree” and “five” refers to “strongly agree”.

Sample of Selection

Respondents were randomly chosen, anyone who had watched CBA games

16

2013-2014 season from Mainland China was eligible to be a respondent. A target of

200 valid questionnaires was set. Therefore, a slightly more than 200 respondents would

be approached since there might be a dropout rate.

Procedures

The online questionnaire was available during March 17th

to April 6th

and it was

spread to anywhere in China as much as possible. The link of online questionnaire is at

https://qtrial2014.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3WdBCDvIV07hThj. All the

questionnaires were kept privately and confidentially.

Methods of Analysis

The data was adopted by the Statistical Package for the Social Science, version 21

(SPSS 21.0). Descriptive statistics (i.e. frequency, percentage, mean. and standard

deviation) and multiple regression analysis were used in the study. The level of

significance was all set at 0.05.

Chapter 4

ANALYSIS OF DATA

The purpose of this study was to investigate the Li Ning Company Limited

sponsorship effectiveness on purchase intention. Three antecedents (i.e. fan involvement,

congruence and corporate image) were decided to be tested for the relationships between

each of them and purchase intention. In addition, a multiple regression analysis was used

to determine the impact of three antecedents on purchase and indicate the strength of

relationship between them and purchase intention. A total of 200 questionnaires were

collected. Analyses of data are conducted in this chapter, they are presented as following:

1) Description of first level background information, including gender, age and

17

occupation; 2) Description of second level background information, including the number

of CBA games watched, the frequency of playing basketball in a week and the ways how

the games were watched; 3) Description of independent variables, including fan

involvement, congruence and corporate image; 4) Description of dependent variable,

purchase intention; 5) Reliability tests for fan involvement, congruence, corporate image

and purchase intention; 6) Multiple regression analysis to determine the impact of fan

involvement, congruence and corporate image on purchase intention.

Results

Description of first level background information, including gender, age and

occupation

First level background information was presented in Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3. In

this study, 200 respondents were involved, 105 of them were male and 95 were female,

the percentages were 52.5% and 47.5% respectively.

Table 1

Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Gender of the Subjects (N=200)

Frequency Percent

Male 105 52.5

Female 95 47.5

Total 200 100.0

Table 2 presents age distribution among all 200 respondents, 34 of them were under

19 years old, which accounted for 17% and 159 respondents (79.5%) were between 20-29

years old and 6 people (3%) were between 30-39 years old and only 1 person (0.5%) was

18

in 40-49 years old group.

Table 2

Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Age of the Subjects (N=200)

Frequency Percent

<=19 years old 34 17.0

20-29 years old 159 79.5

30-39 years old 6 3.0

40-49 years old 1 0.5

Total 200 100.0

In Table 3, among 200 total respondents, 65.5% (N=131) were full-time student,

28.5% (N=57) were full-time employed, 4% (N=8) were self-hired and 2% (N=4) were

under others.

Table 3

Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Occupation of the Subjects (N=200)

Frequency Percent

Fulltime student 131 65.5

Fulltime employed 57 28.5

Self-hired 8 4.0

Others 4 2.0

Total 200 100.0

19

Description of second level background information, including the number of CBA

games watched, the frequency of playing basketball in a week and the ways how the

games were watched

For the question, ‘how many CBA games have you watched this season’, 144

respondents answered less than 5 games, 48 respondents watched 6-20 games and 8

respondents watched 21-35 games, the percentages were 72%, 24% and 4% respectively.

Results were showed in Table 4.

Table 4

Frequency and Percentage Distribution of the Number of CBA Games Watched of

the Subjects (N=200)

Frequency Percent

<=5 games 144 72.0

6-20 games 48 24.0

21-35 games 8 4.0

Total 200 100.0

The results of the frequency of playing basketball were displayed in Table 5, 25%

(N=50) of respondents never played basketball, 59% (N=118) of respondents played 1-3

days per week, 15.5% (N=31) of them played 4-6 days per week and 0.5% (N=1) of

respondent played every day.

20

Table 5

Frequency and Percentage Distribution of the Frequency of Playing Basketball of

the Subjects (N=200)

Frequency Percent

Never 50 25.0

1-3 days 118 59.0

4-6 days 31 15.5

Everyday 1 0.5

Total 200 100.0

The question ‘how did you watch CBA games this season’ was a multiple choice. One

way was onsite watching, 27 people (13.5%) chose this, another alternative was screen

watching, all people (100%) checked for this (see Table 6).

Table 6

Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Ways to Watching Games of the Subjects

(N=200)

Frequency Percent

How did you watch CBA

games this season? (onsite)

27 13.5

How did you watch CBA

games this season? (screen)

200 100.0

21

Descriptions of independent variables (fan involvement, congruence and corporate

image)

A five point Likert scale was used in these three parts where “one” refers to “strongly

disagree”, “two” refers to “disagree”, “three” refers to “no comment”, “four” refers to

“agree” and “five” refers to “strongly agree” respectively.

Fan involvement. In the questionnaire, 4 questions were included in this part.

Respondents were asked about how they think themselves as a basketball fan. The mean

score for each question was 4.04, 4.05, 4.00, and 4.10 respectively (see Table 7). The

mean score of the sum of total 4 questions was displayed in Figure 2. The mode of this

statistic was 5.00 and there was an inverted U-shaped frequency curve, which indicated

normal distribution for the mean score of the sum among all respondents was found.

Table 7

Mean and Standard Deviation of Each Item in Fan Involvement of Subjects (N=200)

M SD

It is important to me to be a part of

basketball.

4.04 1.053

My friends view me as a strong fan of

basketball.

4.05 1.079

It is very important for me that

basketball games are played.

4.00 1.015

I see myself as a strong fan of

basketball.

4.10 1.070

22

Figure 2. Frequency of mean score of fan involvement (N=200).

Congruence. In the questionnaire, 3 questions were included in this part.

Respondents were asked about how they think the link between CBA games and Li Ning

Company. The mean score for each question was 3.47, 2.94 and 2.59 respectively (see

Table 8). The mean score of the sum of total 3 questions was displayed in Figure 3. The

mode of this statistic was 3.00 and there was an inverted U-shaped frequency curve,

which indicated normal distribution for the mean score of the sum among all respondents

was found.

23

Table 8

Mean and Standard Deviation of Each Item in Congruence of Subjects (N=200)

M SD

I see a link between the CBA games

and LI NING

3.47 0.862

My associations with the CBA games

are similar to those I have with LI

NING.

2.94 0.849

The ideas that come to my mind when

asked about LI NING are related to the

ideas I have about the CBA games.

2.59 0.840

Figure 3. Frequency of mean score of congruence (N=200).

24

Corporate image. In the questionnaire, 6 questions were included in this part.

Respondents were asked about how they think of the image of Li Ning Company. The

second item in the part had been done a reverse scoring when analyzing. The mean score

for each question was 3.20, 3.11, 3.47, 3.37, 3.20 and 3.54 respectively (see Table 9). The

mean score of the sum of total 6 questions was displayed in Figure 4. The mode of this

statistic was 3.00 and there was an inverted U-shaped frequency curve, which indicated

normal distribution for the mean score of the sum among all respondents was found.

Table 9

Mean and Standard Deviation of Each Item in Corporate Image of Subjects

(N=200)

M SD

LI NING provides quality

products/services.

3.20 0.770

LI NING only wants to make money.

(reversed)

3.11 0.769

LI NING tries to help doing sport

activities with the intention of

improving sports.

3.47 0.679

LI NING is good company to work for. 3.37 0.746

LI NING cares about the consumer

needs and responds to them.

3.20 0.624

25

Figure 4. Frequency of mean score of corporate image (N=200).

Description of dependent variable (purchase intention)

A five point Likert scale was used here also where “one” refers to “strongly disagree”,

“two” refers to “disagree”, “three” refers to “no comment”, “four” refers to “agree” and

“five” refers to “strongly agree” respectively. There were 3 questions in this part,

respondents were asked about how they are willing to buy a Li Ning products/services.

The mean score for each question was 3.40, 3.12 and 3.46 respectively (see Table 10).

The mean score of the sum of total 3 questions was displayed in Figure 5. The mode of

this statistic was 4.00 and there was an inverted U-shaped frequency curve, which

indicated normal distribution for the mean score of the sum among all respondents was

found.

26

Table 10

Mean and Standard Deviation of Each Item in Purchase Intention of Subjects

(N=200)

M SD

I would consider purchasing

products/services from LI NING.

3.40 0.763

If LI NING presents a new

product/service, I will try it.

3.12 0.900

My overall attitude toward purchasing

products/services from LI NING that

sponsors CBA is positive.

3.46 0.849

Figure 5. Frequency of mean score of purchase intention

(N=200).

27

Reliability tests for fan involvement, congruence, corporate image and purchase

intention

Cronbach’s Aplha was used in reliability test, all variables were over 0.7 would be

considered as reliable and consistent (see Table 11).

Table 11

Reliability of All Variables by Cronbach’s Aplha

Variable Cronbach’s Aplha

Fan involvement 0.956

Congruence 0.753

Corporate image 0.716

Purchase intention 0.857

Multiple regression analysis to determine the impacts of fan involvement,

congruence and corporate image on purchase intention

Means of each variable were used in the multiple regression analysis. The results in

Table 12 showed that Hypothesis 1 (R=-0.149, Sig=0.018) was rejected, it means there

was no positive relationship between fan involvement and purchase intention, and

conversely, there was a negative relationship between them. Hypothesis 2 (R=0.061,

Sig=0.197) was rejected also, which means there was no positive relationship between

congruence and purchase intention. Hypothesis 3 (R=0.168, Sig=0.009) was accepted, the

result showed there was a positive relationship between corporate image and purchase

intention.

28

Table 12

Correlations between Dependent Variable and Independent Variables (N=200)

Purchase

intention

Fan

involvement

Congruence

Corporate

image

Purchase intention 1.000 -.149* .061 .168*

Fan involvement -.149* 1.000 .028 .021

Congruence .061 .028 1.000 .080

Corporate image .168* .021 .080 1.000

Note. *p<0.05.

Table 13 presents the multiple regression analysis for fan involvement, congruence

and corporate image predicting purchase intention. The results, correspondingly to

correlations showed that fan involvement (B=-0.115, Beta=-0.1548, p<0.05) and

corporate image (B=0.268, Beta=0.167, p<0.05) were useful to predict purchase intention,

whereas congruence (B=0.055, Beta=0.052, p>0.05) was not. The 5 percent R Square

indicated that there was 5 percent shared by all these four variables and the F value

(F=3.741, p<0.05) manifested the whole regression was significant.

29

Table 13

Multiple Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Purchase Intention (N=200)

Purchase intention

Variable B SE B Beta

(Constant) 2.738 0.464 --

Fan Involvement -0.115 0.052 -0.1548*

Congruence 0.055 0.074 0.052

Corporate image 0.268 0.112 0.167*

R Square 0.054

F 3.741*

Note. *p<0.05.

Discussion

The goal of this present study was to determine the relationship among fan

involvement, congruence, corporate image and purchase intention. Hypotheses 1 to 3

were set to determine the relationship between each independent variable and purchase

intention. The three hypotheses were all expected to be positively related to purchase

intention, however, the results showed a huge difference to the prediction. Hypothesis 1

was rejected and even displayed a negative relationship between fan involvement and

purchase intention. Hypothesis 2 was rejected also and the results showed no relationship

between congruence and purchase intention. Hypothesis 3 was accepted but the results

showed a relatively weak positive relationship between corporate image and purchase

intention. The potential causes or reasons of failing or successful predictions will be

30

discussed below.

H1: There would be a positive relationship between fan involvement and purchase

intention

This hypothesis was rejected but the analysis displayed a negative relationship

(r=-0.149, sig=0.035) between fan involvement and purchase intention. This result was

far beyond expectation because almost all past researches had found a positive

relationship between them. The answer to this situation will possibly be the fierce

competition among several sports brands, such as Nike and Adidas. The market share for

sporting goods of Li Ning is still behind Nike and Adidas in China. It is obviously to find

that the mean (4.05) for fan involvement was high. It suggests that among all respondents,

they thought themselves love basketball to some extent, but they would not buy Li Ning

products/services. What have to be mentioned is that Nike has been the very first leader

in terms of basketball goods for so long, it is difficult to defeat it, even though in China

and Li Ning is a Chinese local brand. According to Meenaghan (2001), fan involvement

has several dimensions. One can be very involved in a specific sports simply because

he/she loves it or one can be very involved because his/her affection towards a certain

player or a team. This kind of high-involvement fans will better notice the sponsors,

however, for basketball fans in China, though they watch CBA games, but the attraction

is far less than NBA games in fact and the affection towards some NBA stars is far strong

towards CBA stars. Thus, being a head of basketball goods, Nike sponsorship will totally

win over Li Ning. Consequently, high-involvement fans would rather purchase Nike

products rather than Li Ning’s. Therefore, it is important for Li Ning to first identify a

certain target fans or even try to create a fan base. Certainly, Li Ning has their target

31

groups, but in term of sponsoring an event, they need to think more, especially about the

potential participants in the event. The marketing director of Li Ning would better to

allocate their sponsoring resources to more appropriate events to ensure they reach the

greatest percentage of people in the events.

On the other hand, the fanship is based on the amount of spectators and the amount

of spectators is generated from a mature market (Fortunato, 2013). Nowadays, in China,

there is not a mature enough sports market, though it has gotten better since 2008 Beijing

Olympic Games, and lots of sports marketing agencies emerged these years (Annual

Report on Development of China’s Sports Industry, 2008-2010). However, these agencies

tend to be new and small in size, they may not have enough capitals to promote the

development of sports marketing. Therefore, companies like Li Ning are encouraged to

help them, they can outsource some events to those agencies, it would be a win-win

situation, because agencies can get more experience and help to spread out the brand of

the company from whom they get support. Thus, finally, the whole market is going to be

more dynamic.

H2: There would be a positive relationship between congruence and purchase

intention

This hypothesis was rejected also, suggests there was no relationship (r=0.061, sig=

0.393) between congruence and purchase intention. From past researches, congruence

was studied for different sponsors and during comparison of selected sponsors, if the

sponsor fit more with the event, the more awareness the sponsor will get and in the end,

facilitates sales (Astous & Bitz, 1995). The mean score for congruence was 3.0 which

means among all respondents, they did not know about the congruence between Li Ning

32

and CBA. In fact, Li Ning signed a 5 years contract with CBA, there should long being a

connection between them. The reason why this happened is probably that the

communication between both parties was not good enough. For a company to win

congruence, Prendergast et al. (2010) said a sponsor can build up image congruence or

functional congruence or both. Besides, there are lots of ways to increase fit between

sponsor and property, for example, providing free souvenirs or inserting interesting

moments during breaks of games etc. Li Ning is the title sponsor of CBA games for 5

years, it should have lots of opportunities to create more congruence during games, other

than just print its logo on the floor or just put LED signage. Another reason why fit was

not perceived here is maybe the limitation of data collection. The respondents were

mostly who watched games through screen, thus they might be less exposed to sponsors.

Questions in the questionnaire regarding this part were mainly asking for the personal

association with Li Ning and CBA. It was hard to make a link between them when people

buy a pair of Li Ning shoes on Monday, but watch a CBA game on Tuesday. Only if Li

Ning did design some memorable activities during the games, the audience would be able

to better aware the brand and to see the link.

H3: There would be a positive relationship between corporate image and purchase

intention

Hypothesis 3 was accepted, which suggested that there was a positive relationship

(r=0.168, sig=0.017) between corporate image and purchase intention. The mean score

for corporate image and purchase intention were 3.31 and 3.33. The results indicated that

Li Ning is regarded as a good company all in all, and most respondents believed this

company does good to the society. This positive relationship is similar to past findings.

33

However, the relationship was not strong. From the mean scores of corporate image and

purchase, we can see neither of them was high. Li Ning still needs to build up their image

both for the brand and the company. It is better for Li Ning to let people think of anything

good when they see their logo or brand name other than just realize it is Li Ning. For

example, when think of Apple Inc., people will regard it as the leading innovative pioneer,

the meaning of an Apple product to people’s life style values lot more than the value itself.

For Li Ning’s marketing director, attaching sincere meanings to their brand is what they

need to do in a first place to make Li Ning a leading lifestyle influencer in China Sports

Marketing. What’s more, it is useful to tell a brand story before take actions to build up

corporate image (Aaker, 1991). The funder of Li Ning, Mr. LI Ning was a world famous

gymnast, there would be a lot worth-knowing story behind him, he himself can be the

symbol of the brand. Therefore, to build up the brand image, it is not the disadvantage for

the marketing director to excavate stories behind LI Ning or players they already

sponsored.

Chapter 5

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Summary

This study was focused on sponsorship effectiveness of corporates’ sponsoring

behavior in sporting events. An example of Li Ning sponsoring in CBA games in

2013-2014 season was used in this research.

The summary of results is elaborated here, first, a negative relationship between fan

involvement and purchase intention is observed. At the same time, a positive relationship

between corporate image and purchase intention is found, however, no relationship is

34

found between congruence and purchase intention.

Conclusion

Based on the results, conclusion of the study is made here. First of all, the results

drew from the data are different from the hypotheses made at the very beginning. Past

researches most tell that when predicting purchase intention, fan involvement will be a

strong indicator. However, in this study, the statement is not true and the result tells us

that fan involvement (i.e. fans of CBA games) reduces the purchase intention towards Li

Ning products/services. Congruence is proved to be unimportant to predict purchase

intention in this study either because consumers do not consider there is a strong fit

between CBA games and Li Ning. This perception later leads to an insignificant

relationship between congruence of CBA games and Li Ning and purchase intention

towards Li Ning products/services. On the other hand, the positive relationship between

corporate image and purchase intention is established in this study, which tells us that

people are more willing to buy products/services from Li Ning because they think Li

Ning in general is a good company. All in all, the findings of this study tell that there are

still a lot more improvements which Li Ning have the chance to achieve.

Recommendations for Further Study

Due to the delimitations and limitations of this study and the unexpected results drew,

here are some recommendations for further study regarding sponsorship effectiveness or

sponsoring behavior of a certain company.

1. Purchase intention is the final end of sports sponsorship effectiveness in the

conceptual model provided at the beginning of this paper, it is recommended that

awareness, attitude and corporate social responsibility will also be tested to find out

35

sponsorship effects in different ways.

2. There are still lots of factors that affect the outcomes of sports sponsorship

effectiveness, such as exposure and prominence, as for sports products company,

these are also very important factors.

3. To add comparison between different sponsors. There will always be more than one

sponsors in sporting events, it is useful and interesting to compare sponsoring

behavior between different kinds of companies, such as Li Ning and UPS in CBA

games.

4. Sponsorship effectiveness should be different when onsite and through screen, it is

better to isolate sponsorship effectiveness onsite or through screen to understand

better the performance of sponsors.

36

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40

APPENDIX A

Questionnaire of the Study (English Version)

SD D N A SA

1 2 3 4 5

Fan involvement

1. It is important to me to be a part of

basketball.

2. My friends view me as a strong fan of

basketball.

3. It is very important for me that

basketball games are played.

4. I see myself as a strong fan of

basketball.

Congruence

5. I see a link between the CBA games

and LI NING

6. My associations with the CBA games

are similar to those I have with LI

NING.

7. The ideas that come to my mind when

asked about LI NING are related to

the ideas I have about the CBA

games.

Corporate image

8. LI NING provides quality

products/services.

9. LI NING only wants to make money.

10. LI NING tries to help doing sport

activities with the intention of

improving sports.

11. LI NING is good company to work

for.

12. LI NING cares about the consumer

needs and responds to them.

13. LI NING is famous and creditable.

Purchase intention

14. I would consider purchasing

products/services from LI NING.

15. If LI NING presents a new

product/service, I will try it.

16. My overall attitude toward purchasing

products/services from LI NING that

sponsors CBA is positive.

Background information

Gender Male Female

Age <=19 20-29 30-39 40-49 >=50

Occupation Full-time student Self-employed Retired

Full-time

employed

Unemployed Other

How many CBA games <=5 6-20 21-35 36-49 >=50

41

have you watched this

season?

How did you watch CBA games this season? (You

can choose more than one)

On site TV or Internet

How many days do you play

basketball every week?

Never 1-3 4-6 Everyday

42

APPENDIX B

Questionnaire of the Study (Chinese Version) 非

常

不

同

意

不

同

意

没

意

见

同

意

非

常

同

意

1 2 3 4 5

你对于自己作为一个篮球爱好者的意见

1. 对我来说参与篮球运动很重要

2. 我的朋友认为我是篮球爱好者

3. 篮球比赛对我很重要

4. 我认为我是篮球爱好者

你对于李宁品牌与 CBA联赛关系度的意见

5. 我觉得 CBA联赛和李宁品牌有联系

6. 李宁品牌给我的印象与 CBA联赛相

似

7. 当我被问起关于李宁的想法时我会

联想起关于 CBA联赛的想法

你对于李宁公司形象的意见

8. 李宁提供一流的产品或服务

9. 李宁只是想赚钱

10. 李宁尝试帮助体育活动是为了加强

宣传体育运动精神

11. 李宁是一个值得为之工作的公司

12. 李宁关注消费者的需求并且回应他

们

13. 李宁是一家著名的并且可靠的公司

你对于购买李宁产品或服务的意向

14. 我会考虑购买李宁的产品或服务

15. 如果李宁出新产品，我会尝试它

16. 总体上，基于李宁赞助 CBA联赛这

个行为，我对购买李宁公司产品或服

务的意向是正面的

基本背景资料

性别 男 女

年龄 <=19岁

20-29岁

30-39岁

40-49岁

>=50岁

职业 全职学生 自雇人士 退休

全职员工 失业 其他

这个赛季你看过多少场

CBA球赛？

<=5场

6-20场

21-35场

36-49场

>=50场

你通过何种方式观看 CBA球赛？(可多选) 现场 电视或网络

你每个星期打多少天篮

球？

从不 1-3天 4-6天 每天

43

APPENDIX C

Review Questionnaire 1

44

APPENDIX D

Review Questionnaire 2