SPORT SPONSORSHIP

Understanding the Impact of Sport Sponsorship: The Saudi Telecom Company and Manchester United (Chapter 02: Literature Review)



Table of Contents

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW1

2.1Introduction1

2.2Sport in the Middle East2

2.3Brand Image Transfer and Event Sponsorship5

2.4Sponsorship and Returns10

2.5Sponsorship and Ethnocentrism13

2.6Sponsorship and Market Expansion14

2.7Link between sponsorship and purchase intentions19

2.8Mapping the Hypotheses to the research objectives22

2.9Summary24

REFERENCES25

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

The chapter will examine important issues related to sponsorship, image transfer and the returns that the sponsor can obtain in sponsoring sports events. The chapter will also examine if sponsorship provides a competitive advantage to the sponsor and if it is possible to quantify the returns from the sponsorship. These issues become very important since the objective of the research is to understand whether STC can obtain any advantage by sponsoring a UK football team. Each section provides a brief overview and where possible, hypotheses are formed. These will be tested later in the research during the survey.

In Chapter 1, a number of research objectives had been framed and these are revisited here. In this chapter, a literature review will be conducted to find out what other authors have written about the subject. While football clubs and events had hundreds of sponsors, the case of STC and MU is unique. This is unique because it is the first time that a Middle East and Arab owned company is sponsoring a premier cup UK football club. The objectives were to understand the perceived benefits that sponsorship of MU has on the brand image of STC. The literature review will examine from a theoretical perspective, if by sponsoring MU, STC has taken the right business decision.

To answer this question, the literature review will cover a number of important subjects. These are image transfer from event sponsorship, obtaining a competitive advantage, quantifying the returns from sponsorship and the link between sponsorship and purchase intention. Five hypotheses have been framed and these will be tested using a survey instrument. The paper will also examine if Middle East football fans would like STC sponsoring a UK club (Barros, 2007, p. 161).

Sport in the Middle East

The number of sporting events and participating teams is increasing every year. The Middle East in the earlier decades did not have much involvement with sports. However, lately, a number of international sporting events are being staged in the area. The F1 races, Dubai Open Golf, Dubai Open Tennis event, Sharjah cricket cup matches, etc. are some examples. International sportsmen participate in the events because they get a good exposure; the remuneration is good and because the spectators like the game and sportsmen like to be appreciated (Quester 2007, p. 1). The amount of funds being invested to encourage games in the Middle East is huge. Given the large exposure from the international events, sponsors pay money to have their logos displayed on player's uniforms, equipment, stands and through other promotional strategies (Barros, 2007, p. 161).

According to Hassan (2008, p.12), football is the first national sport in Saudi Arabia and people there love ...