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THE EFFECTS OF REGIONAL IDENTIFICATION ON THE SPORTS SPONSOR’S BRAND EQUITY

ABSTRACT

Since it was chosen as the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games host country, the amount of sport sponsorship revenues in Brazil have grown significantly, however, without the managerial practice and academic research having evolved at the same pace. The present study, that aims to develop the knowledge about the theme, investigated the impact of the sponsor’s regional identification and team-sponsor fit on the sponsor's brand equity. The study’s main theoretical references are the Social Identity Theory (TAJFEL; TURNER, 1979TAJFEL, H.; TURNER, J. C. An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations, v. 33, n. 47, p. 74, 1979.), the Schema Theory (AXELROD, 1973AXELROD, R. Schema theory: An information processing model of perception and cognition. American Political Science Review, v. 67, n. 4, p. 1248-1266, 1973.), the Associative Network Theory (COLLINS; LOFTUS, 1975COLLINS, A. M.; LOFTUS, E. F. A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing. Psychological Review, v. 82, n. 6, p. 407-428, 1975.) and the customer-based brand equity (KELLER, 1993KELLER, K L. Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, p. 1-22, 1993.). Research was conducted in Porto Alegre, capital of the Rio Grande do Sul (RS), state marked by the appreciation of its regional culture. The sample was non-probabilistic, composed by 2,116 fans of Grêmio and Internacional. The relation between the two teams and the brands Banrisul and Unimed Porto Alegre, sponsors of both clubs for over ten years, was analyzed. Data analysis was performed using Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis; and the reliability, convergent; discriminant and nomological validity of the constructs were verified. To test the substantive hypotheses, Structural Equation Modeling using the ADF technique was applied. The empirical results suggest that the sponsor’s brand equity is indirectly influenced by the sponsor’s regional identification, since this effect is partially mediated by the team-sponsor fit.

Keywords:
Sports Marketing; Sports Sponsorship; Regional Identification; Brand Equity; Team-Sponsor Fit

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