Sport league website: an effective marketing communication tool for corporate sponsors

Abstract

Purpose

Although high-profile sport league website sponsorships have increased in popularity over the last decade, academic research on the topic has not kept pace, resulting in little knowledge of ways to improve the effectiveness of this sponsorship type. This paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study examined the influence of three website-related variables (i.e. website interactivity, website fit, and website credibility), while controlling for a sponsor-related variable (i.e. sponsor familiarity), on consumer attitude toward the sponsor ad and willingness to click on its banner ad. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated three main effects. Practical implications are discussed with limitations and suggestions for future research.

Findings

This study found three important things. First, website interactivity played an important role in attitude toward the ad and willingness to click on the banner ad. Second, website fit influenced attitude toward the ad and willingness to click on the banner ad. Third, website credibility influenced attitude toward the ad.

Originality/value

The findings suggest that in order to maximize online sports sponsorship outcomes, companies must keep in mind that the interactivity between the web users and the site should be regarded as the most pragmatic result which could come from the online sports sponsorship territory.

Citation

Kim, D., Walker, M., Heo, J. and Koo, G.-Y. (2017), "Sport league website: an effective marketing communication tool for corporate sponsors", International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 314-327. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-08-2017-097