Sponsorship: associating image attributes with specific sports and particular teams

Keywords
sports sponsorship image attributes image dimensions

Gary Tribou
Professor and Head of Professional Masters Programme in Marketing and Sport Management Strasbourg University, France Tel: +33 (0) 3 68 856 453 Email: [email protected]

Abstract
This paper examines different means of associating image attributes in sport. The findings reveal that an attribute strongly associated with a specific sport can have almost no association with the sponsor, and vice-versa. Conversely, a low profile attribute can have a strong reference to the sponsor.

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Research teams from Strasbourg Business School

Social Sciences of Sport Humans and Management in Society

Peer reviewed

Executive summary
This study offers a means to help sports sponsorship operations managers assess both the attractiveness of image attributes in sports and the fit between endorser and endorsed product. It examines the importance of image dimensions (with respect to sponsors objectives and conditions to be met) when there is a transfer of image attributes from an event to a sponsor. It includes a survey of image attributes of different sports in France that may align with brand image objectives (carried out from a sample of 1,011 individuals). This study proposes a tool for decision-making inspired by the Fishbein (1967) compensatory additive model. An example of its application is given in the sponsorship of the Association Sportif Nancy Lorraine (ASNL) football league in France. Two questionnaires were completed by two samples of 150 league subscribers. The aim of the first questionnaire was to recognise the image attributes associated with football played by the league members. The aim of the second questionnaire was to assess the degree of acceptance when assoicating these image attributes with seven of the leagues major sponsors. Findings indicate that even though the audience clearly associates an attribute to football and the league itself, the same attributes can only be weakly associated with a particular sponsor, and vice-versa. Consequently,

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sponsors who align their marketing strategy with a strongly linked attribute need to confirm that the association with its brand is accepted. The limit of such an approach is that it does not incorporate consumer perception of brands independent of sponsorship actions. Therefore, it is difficult to isolate the contribution of an image ascribable only to sports sponsorship. In France typical sports sponsorship levels range from 4%, where only sponsorship contracts are taken into account, to about 10%, where other activities are carried out during a sporting event such as public relations, poster advertising, direct marketing etc. Certain companies rely more on sports sponsorship (Ferrand et al, 2006). For instance, BNP-Paribas, Frances largest company and the fifth largest in the banking industry worldwide, dedicates one quarter of its annual marketing budget of 20 million to sponsoring tennis. The amount committed to sports sponsorship varies depending on the type of sport and media coverage, but ranges from about 100,000 to sponsor a sports federation to more than 50 million for a Fomula 1 racing stable. Such expenditures require streamlining investments. A sponsor has multiple options that are generally connected to its field of activity, expertise and reputation (McCook et al, 1997). The objectives can be aimed internally from a managerial perspective (e.g. mobilising human resources) or externally from a marketing perspective in the context of a competitive market (i.e. influencing clients and suppliers to increase sales and market share), (Crowley, 1991; Cegarra, 1994). One of the main objectives is to acquire positive image attributes conveyed by a sporting event and/or its participants in order for the sponsor to enrich its brand identity. This is achieved by either reinforcing the association of image attributes shared between the sponsor and the sponsee or transferring specific attributes to the sponsee and, in turn, towards the sponsor to enrich the sponsors image (Ferrand & Pags, 1999; Grimes & Meenaghan, 1998). However, these image elements are usually accompanied by particularly intense psychological and

emotional reactions that can influence the attribution process (Holbrook & Batra, 1987). These psychological reactions touching the sponsor (Speed & Thompson, 2000) depend on the uncertainty of the sports results and its fundamentally unpredictable nature (Ferrand et al, 2006). Hence, a sponsor integrated into the emotional halo specific to the event is indirectly the object of sentimental appreciation, provided that its presence is considered legitimate (Speed & Thompson, 2000). The investigation proves to be complex. The aim of this paper is to suggest a means to help sports sponsorship operations managers assess audience perception of image attributes in different sports and audience acceptance of the association between sponsor brand and image attributes. This paper is structured into three parts. The first part conceptualises the managerial function of sponsorship in terms of image perception brand positioning and brand proximity in the form of a literary review. The research findings then outline the process of image attribute transfer (from the sporting event to the sponsor).The second part explores a method of improving efficiency in image sponsorship. It examines a tool for decision-making inspired by the Fishbein (1967) compensatory additive model, before presenting its application to a case of sponsoring a French football league. A set of image attributes associated with different sports was chosen for the research completed in France. Finally, the third part presents concluding remarks and recommendations for management, as well as some limitations to the tool and perspectives on future research.

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Literature review on image sponsorship

This paper refers to a relatively consensual definition of sports sponsorship as a global communication technique that aims at persuading the spectators attending a sporting event that there is a link between the sporting event (a team or individual engaged in the event) and the company communicating, to create

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brand and product awareness and to collect equity in terms of image (Okter, 1988; Meenaghan, 1991; Derbaix et al, 1994; Tribou, 2007). The objective is to transfer some or all of the related sports image attributes to the company (as an institution) or to certain of its products and brands in order to make them more effective in the market (Quester, 1997). Meenaghan (2001) has shown that the aim of sponsorship is not limited to memorising a brand and associating its image elements, but also to modifying buying attitudes and intentions. The two main conditions for the image transfer to be successful are, firstly, that the sponsor and sponsees image be closely related and, secondly, that the sponsors visibility must be high at the time of the event (Stipp & Schiavone, 1996) Each sport has specific image attributes (Meenaghan & Shipley, 1999). These attributes are of the sport itself (tennis, football etc) but also of a particular sporting entity (a particular tennis champion or football league). In fact, celebrity endorsement does not imply association to tennis in general, for example, nor does it entail associating a brand to a particular football league endowed with local history and culture (Derbaix, 1987). According to specialised sponsors (manufacturers and service providers specialising in sports products or playing sports), the aim is to provide proof of expertise and know-how. At the end of the day, sponsorship provides financial support either in the form of goods or services. The message conveyed by a sponsor is usually implicit and limited solely to recollection of the brand and its presence compared to its competitors (Hasting, 1984). This results in a message being conveyed to the target audience that is explicit in meaning and effectively decoded (i.e. what the sponsor wanted to say). However, a spectator captivated by a sporting event is distracted and therefore it becomes difficult for them to pay attention to so many sponsors and engage in real cognitive work to process the information. For instance, despite there being typically more than 10 billboards on a football field, as well as the players jerseys, Walliser (1995) outlined that the

number of sponsors cited spontaneously after a sporting event is only 1.88 on average. As a result, the message needs to be conveyed over a longer period of time; getting the audience to recognise immediately the association between a brand and a sport requires time, given the quantity of stimuli to which the audience is subjected. Furthermore, the sentimental nature of the relationship means the sponsor must be committed, as in a marriage contract; suddenly taking up another sport would seem like betrayal to the fans, while multiplying the number of sporting activities sponsored may be seen as fickle behaviour (Cheng & Stotlar,1999). Brand positioning To position a brand means to give it an identity that will distinguish it from competitor brands and bring it closer to a privileged category of prospects (Ries & Trout, 1981; Trout & Rivkin, 1997). But the nature of a product itself and its qualities rarely suffice to distinguish the brand from its competitors. For example, nothing specific differentiates one type of spring water from another. Spring water products are almost identical (except for some differences of opinion among experts), the packaging is quite similar and the advertising is often almost identical. However, sponsorship may be used a means to distinguish two products or brands. A consumers purchasing behaviour is not only based on practicality but also on symbolic representations of products and brands (Baudrillard, 1970). Sport is very present in our western societies, if not worldwide, even if its so-called universality is debatable. It therefore constitutes a powerful reservoir of symbols for companies to draw on and use to reach all categories of consumers (Ohl & Tribou, 2004). If we continue with our example of the spring water market, one brand may be associated with tennis and its elitist and individualistic image (e.g. Perrier), while another brand may be associated with football and considered, therefore, as popular and communal (e.g. Volvic). (See results from recent studies in France by companies such as Occurence and Carat Sport.)

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The positioning of a product is generally accompanied by a targeted objective for one category of consumers as priority in the communication process (the core market consisting of great opinion leaders). In France, for instance, younger consumers are known to have little loyalty to brands. This forces the brands to finely adapt their communication campaigns to specific groups. These groups are likely to comprise: children less than 12 years old, whose consumption is more and more autonomous; adolescents aged 12-18 (middle school and high school students), who are the main target of sports brands and whose buying power is weak but very focused on certain highly symbolic products; and 18-25 year olds, who want to show their difference by breaking free from adolescent standards (Tribou, 1999). Under these conditions sponsorship seems to be a very well adapted tool. As a result, telephone, video game and internet site brands, known to be of interest to those interested in action sports, have invested heavily in sports sponsorship. Ultimately, sponsorship is a good means to target a brand message to one category of prospects to increase brand visibility. Brand proximity The second objective of sports sponsorship is to bring a brand closer to its target market. This is because marketing managers main concern today is to develop brand proximity, rather than increase brand notoriety. The concept of brand proximity can be defined as the result of sharing image elements between a brand sponsor and a sporting event, thus reinforcing association due to the brands presence at the event (Ferrand & Pags, 1999; Speed & Thompson, 2000). Indeed, a brand is directly related to what interests the spectators, bringing them pleasure and emotion within the scope of what Ferrand et al (2006) call experiential sponsoring (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982). The spectators live a unique experience while experiencing advanced brand visibility. This way, they feel closer to the brand having acquired an experience based on strong feelings and emotions.

This is notably the case for well known sponsors worldwide whose objective is no longer notoriety, but rather the creation of heightened visibility among consumers and maintenance of an emotional link with them. For instance, the telephone company Neuf Telecom is a sponsor of the French football league Olympique de Marseille. Appearing on the players jerseys is a big step towards coming closer to supporters and acquiring a certain form of sympathy and connivance from them (according to BVA Sport, in 2008, only 25% of Olympique de Marseille supporters subscribed to Neuf Telecom). This is sometimes referred to as relationship marketing, in which sponsorship stands out head and shoulders above other activities (Lardinoit, 2001). A spectators motivation in attending a sporting event is partly to share an emotional fulfilment with the competitors and the audience (Pons et al, 2001). A great show seen on television may feature beautiful gestures, techniques, high quality performances etc. but without the accompanying enthusiasm and animation of a live experience, it is likely elicit a diminished spectator reaction. On the other hand, a show of lesser sporting quality but experienced live, with great animation (music to set the mood, giant screens etc.) is likely to generate more spectator emotional reaction than when seen on the television screen, especially on the terraces (cheering, screaming, whistling etc.). Under these conditions, a sponsor can take advantage of the audiences attachment to collect profit for the brand (Walliser, 1996). This question of proximity with the audience of an event is a problem for the brands of products that have no real-life direct relationship with sport such as food, finance and IT products. As a result, sports brands such as Nike or Adidas can claim legitimacy in basketball or football that non sports-related brands, such as Vittel or Orange, in principle, do not possess. Consequently, non-sporting brands need to commit larger investments, and for longer periods of time, in order to be successfully associated with an event and for the audience to perceive them in a positive way.

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Therefore, greater expenditure on direct sponsorship to guarantee visibility and gratitude (by buying more space than the legitimate brands) would be beneficial for these types of sponsor. These brands should focus on investing in fast follow-up operations after an event (store promotions and especially commercials) in order to guarantee recall of their presence.This type of communication campaign, consisting of an integrated mix of specifically targeted complementary actions, is often referred to as differentiated marketing (Hallberg, 1995) and was developed in contrast to mass marketing (Schultz et al, 1994). Its purpose is to use sponsorship as a means to reinforce efficiency by gaining closer access to the audience in order to attain customer loyalty. The importance of a marketing mix in parallel with event promotion to increase efficiency refers to the theory known as the encoding variation (Unnava & Burnkrant, 1991). The theory assumes that the association of several communication sources (press releases, television, radio, internet, publicity, cinema etc.) in various contexts at different times (directly following the event on television, in the press the following day, interviews on television several days later, sports websites or sponsors store promotions etc.) reinforces the impact of stimuli due to the stronger cognitive work required to process the connections. However, increasing the communication vectors exponentially also creates some budget constraints for a sponsoring company. The transfer of image attributes from the sporting event to the sponsor The sponsor and sponsee are both endowed with brand equity (Aaker, 1991; Kohli & Leuthesser, 2001). According to Aaker (1991), this is about positive or negative brand attributes, primarily regrouping elements of notoriety and perceived quality and image. By definition, image is a subjective representation that is built on connotations, association of environmental elements and, particularly, elements from the sporting environment. Ferrand and Pags (1999) have shown that

complexity exists when associating image attributes between the brand sponsor and sponsee. Firstly, image transfer commences when an audience attends a sporting event and acquires information pertaining to the event itself and its direct environments, including the sponsors, while paying no particular attention to their surroundings (Giannelloni, 1993; Ganassali & Didellon, 1996). Usually, this knowledge transfer is accompanied by psychological and emotional reactions connected to their interest in the sport. Secondly, a spectator who appreciates the event (or dislikes it) and recognises that the event conveys a certain number of positive attributes (courage, fraternity, social prestige etc.) or negative ones (violence, cheating etc.), can transfer all, or part, of his feelings and judgements to the associated sponsor. In practice this is used with the psychological conditioning model (Walliser, 1996). Nonetheless, there is no guarantee that the image attributes will be associated with the sponsor, even if the audience appreciates the event and perceives its image attributes in a positive way. In fact, a spectator may like football, especially a particular league, but at the same time ignore promotions from a sponsor or even feel manipulated and therefore resent the sponsor. Under these volatile conditions a sponsor must assess if the audience perceives a true association between the sports image attributes and its image. In other words, the sponsor needs to confirm fit compatibility of the association taking place (McDaniel, 1999). To do this Speed and Thompson (2000) have shown that two fundamental conditions have to be met. Firstly, the audience must perceive the sponsor as sincere (i.e. loyal and hence deserving gratitude) and secondly, they must experience similarity. Speed and Thompson (2000) define similarity as a certain form of resemblance between the sponsor and sponsee, as perceived by the audience. According to their study there is similarity if a sponsor and an event are perceived as well chosen and harmonious for each other. This issue has been the subject of much research, with results converging to state that the stronger the similarity, the more

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favourable the impact on the sponsors image (Gwinner, 1997; Gwinner & Eaton, 1999). The first generally accepted criterion for similarity is if a product is linked to a sponsored field of activity (e.g. a bathing suit manufacturer sponsoring a swimming competition). The similarity may be perceived as more or less strongly depending on whether the product is directly associated with the sport (e.g. a football shoes manufacturer sponsoring a football team) or indirectly (a towel manufacturer sponsoring players in a tennis tournament). If the product is directly associated, then Becker-Olsen and Simmons (2002) infer that there is a natural link created that is particularly efficient. The second criterion for similarity is that of image similarity i.e. when the sponsor emphasises image attributes associated with the event. An example of this would be a luxury brand sponsoring a golf tournament in France, where golf is considered rather an elitist sport. This type of similarity pertaining to a sponsor whose field of activity is only slightly, or not at all, related to sports can be reinforced by target similarity. Target similarity refers to a similarity between the sponsor and the target audience, representative of the socio-demographic characteristics of the event, (e.g. a feminine cosmetics brand sponsoring figure skating in France where 70% of spectators are women). In cases where neither similarity is present, promotional opportunities can help to create it (e.g. a food processing manufacturer sponsoring a boat). Similarity is also a function of the audiences experience as sports spectators (Jagre et al, 2001). Sponsors names promoted during past events make it difficult for an audience to become acquainted with new sponsors as they expect to see the same sponsors again. This seniority principle is easy to assess. It is important to recognise that this effect increases with the degree of individual involvement (Meenaghan, 2001). In fact, the number of shows attended by an audience member has to be counterbalanced by his or her involvement, interest and knowledge of the sport

as well as the sponsors field of activity (a person may be familiar with the sponsor from its non-sporting activities). Fleck-Dousteysier (2004) has shown that in the absence of a logical link between the sponsor and the event, and where there is a high probability for the image transfer to occur the incongruousness of the association can incite the audience to further investigation. The audience will cognitively try to resolve the problem of an inappropriate sponsor. If the incongruousness is limited, then the cognitive work can increase the impact of the sponsorship and perpetuate it. The audience will try to understand why the unexpected sponsor is present and will remember it longer. However, if the incongruousness is qualified as strong, there is a risk the audience will reject the sponsor. The success of image transfer also depends on a sponsors exposure and the audiences opinion of sponsorship in general. The number of times an audience notices a sponsors presence tends generally to ease the image transfer effect (Stipp & Schiavone, 1996). But a negative perception of sponsorship in principle, resulting in hostility, would deprive the sponsor of expected brand image recognition. This is an issue particularly for Olympic sponsors, whose sports ethics are based on amateur sport values and impartiality. Spectators can be rejecting of a commercial sponsor of amateur events. However, a spectator will be more likely to accept a sponsors presence in an event if the economic dimension is evident. Furthermore, the audiences knowledge is acquired particularly via publicity (Stipp & Schiavone, 1996). Thus, sports sponsorship is aimed primarily at transferring sports image attributes in order to increase brand image visibility. Prior to outlining the conditions for the image transfer to be successful, the image attributes need to be clarified.

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Creating positive publicity/ heightening visibility

Image attributes of principal sports in France Two research companies provide information nationwide on the principal sports in France: Carat Sport, produces the Sports Image analysis of associations among 41 type of sports and 63 image attributes; and Occurrence produces the Sports and Valeurs Observatory covering 21 types of sports and 16 image attributes. This study uses information from Sports et Valeurs which is provided, each year, based on a face-to-face survey conducted in January from a sample of 1,011 individuals aged 15 and over who are representative of the French population according to the quota method (age, gender, town size, occupation and socio-professional class). This study refers to the 2002 survey, which was based on 21 sports (athletics, basketball, cycling, climbing, football, Formula 1, golf, handball, judo, swimming, figure skating, ptanque (French boules), rallies, rollerblading, rugby, hiking, skiing, tennis, mountain-biking, sailing and volleyball) and 16 attribute tests (enthusiasm, good for health, surpassing oneself, youth, conviviality, authenticity, audacity, serenity, clean of drug use, creativity, elegance, modernity, virility, originality, violence and sensuality). As it is a survey aimed at recognising evolving change, one can question the choice of categories. In fact, it is important to retain the same criteria from one year to the next to ensure that the comparisons make sense. Furthermore, social representations are not carved in stone and it is therefore just as vital to continually adapt the assessment tool. The chosen solution is to retain a large majority of criteria while introducing new items every year that correspond to emerging image attributes. As for the selection, an exploratory study has been carried out to avoid bias of purely subjective choices. In fact, the interviewers influenced by their strong social culture, inevitably express part of their beliefs in a way which is damaging from a scientific perspective. Therefore, the preliminary study to build the assessment tool is

conducted based on interviews from a sample group of experts (journalists, sociologists, publicists, trend spotters etc.). The choice of sporting activities does not represent any particular methodology other than sponsors requests (sports they are interested in) and the suggestions of researchers on the lookout for emerging sports presently ignored by other sponsors, but which the study results could render interesting. Maintaining a framework of common sports allows changes to be followed as they evolve and some obsolete practices to be replaced by new ones for an up-to-date analysis. How to read the results in the matrix Table 1 Columns: the analysis starts with the different image attributes and leads to the sports associated with these attributes. An index of 100 means that the sport is situated within the average of the 21 sports tested. An index of less than 100 means that the attribute is associated less with one sport than with others. An index of higher than 100 means that the attribute is associated more with this sport than others. For instance, a sponsor whose communication is aligned with the youth attribute can choose from football, figure skating, basketball and rollerblading, all of whose indices exceed 125. Budget will be undoubtedly a criterion in the final decision-making, particularly if the media coverage budget is also taken into account. Rollerblading is cheap but is not broadcast by French television channels, unlike football (more than 613 hours in 2003), basketball (101 hours) and ice skating (27 hours). Rows: the analysis starts with a list of activities and leads to the associated attributes. A sponsor deciding between two types of activity with similar budgets for instance, golf and tennis will highlight the attributes of each in order to refine its choice. Tennis is considered less elegant than golf (141 vs 184) but wins by far with respect to the youth attribute (105 vs 16). Thus, each type of sport is associated with some meaningful image attributes and not with others.

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TABLE 1 Image attributes in sporting activities (indices)

AUTHENTICITY

CONVIVIALITY

ENTHUSIASM

SURPASSING ONESELF

ORIGINALITY

SENSUALITY

MODERNITY

CREATIVITY

CLEAN OF DRUG USE

GOOD FOR HEALTH 110 115 107 117 103 20 95 112 113 119 103 103 27 121 97 96 104 102 106 115 117

ELEGANCE

AUDACITY

ATHLETICS BASKETBALL CYCLING CLIMBING FOOTBALL (SOCCER) FORMULA 1 GOLF HANDBALL JUDO SWIMMING FIGURE SKATING PTANQUE CAR RALLYING HIKING ROLLERBLADING RUGBY SKIING TENNIS SAILING VOLLEYBALL MOUNTAIN BIKING

79 127 108 63 123 44 83 128 101 59 93 135 81 144 102 136 86 68 97 135 108

136 93 79 123 57 78 184 72 84 136 193 59 44 46 120 46 125 141 136 105 42

121 128 94 106 132 103 16 116 117 104 130 33 81 44 126 117 107 105 87 109 123

110 126 110 80 159 146 49 132 162 79 68 42 135 45 66 205 71 56 92 73 93

109 112 107 90 107 100 45 112 105 106 104 39 104 89 109 115 111 107 109 110 112

76 106 70 138 109 117 78 105 105 66 182 59 104 66 157 91 102 69 136 96 68

127 98 118 127 93 114 43 94 121 103 117 32 111 72 97 109 113 102 121 85 103

107 93 86 126 90 77 90 85 134 96 118 88 89 123 80 121 101 83 132 88 91

100 96 83 83 83 170 69 81 76 57 149 36 146 50 188 79 125 74 138 69 147

83 89 67 134 79 98 83 84 93 58 303 93 120 64 183 90 99 71 136 77 95

96 93 102 145 87 142 56 92 120 49 125 45 143 44 114 140 134 54 142 73 102

115 62 77 139 73 61 96 64 71 189 324 47 45 90 120 73 98 125 115 71 46

99 80 81 157 60 67 155 80 135 117 125 127 68 153 58 63 93 72 137 80 93

50 79 27 128 44 121 150 94 102 59 121 126 124 143 140 69 108 90 131 96 97

65 93 98 32 198 218 5 138 150 34 35

VIOLENCE

SERENITY

VIRILITY

YOUTH

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4 210 7 124 276 115 65 91 29 116

Source: Sports & Valeurs Observatory, Paris 2002

Only certain sports have an indisputably positive attribute: figure skating and swimming (sensuality), rollerblading (modernity), golf (elegance) and rock climbing (serenity). Some sports should be avoided if the communication strategy is aligned with health (motorsport) or clean of drug use (cycling). The horizontal interpretation of the table can also be used in order to choose between certain accessible activities. For instance, if a sponsor is torn between athletics and swimming (both with very similar

budgets and no serious competition), they will choose athletics if the attributes of surpassing oneself and youth correspond to the corporate image and culture, but not if much importance is given to the attributes of conviviality and creativity and if the issue of drug use is eliminated. They will choose swimming if the attributes of serenity and health seem more appropriate (and the attributes of elegance and sensuality are not contradictory) and if modernity and audacity are not too important.

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FIGURE 1 Choosing between athletics and swimming based on distinct image attributes

ELEGANCE SURPASSING ONESELF, YOUTH LITTLE CREATIVITY SENSUALITY LITTLE CONVIVIALITY ASSOCIATED WITH DRUG USE

HEALTH, SERENITY NON-VIOLENCE LITTLE MODERNITY LITTLE AUDACITY

ATHLETICS

SWIMMING

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The sponsorship decision is not limited to choosing a sport whose image attributes correspond to brand identity. The sponsor must also take into account the prospects attitude and the potential impact of assigning specific image attributes to a sponsor. Decision-making tool inspired by the Fishbein model The aim of the Fishbein model is to assess the audiences perception of the promotional messages and their degree of persuasion (Fishbein, 1967). The model is based on two assumptions. Firstly, an individual has the capacity to make a compensatory assessment of multiple information that he receives to arrive at a final holistic assessment. Secondly, an individuals attitude consists of beliefs in attributes present in the messages conveyed. Hence, attitude (A) is an elementary additive function of the value assigned to each attribute boasted by persuasion stimuli (V1, V2...Vn) and counterbalanced by the degree of acceptance of the association between the brand and each of the attributes (DA1, DA2...Dan): A = f(V, DA). When applied to sports sponsorship, the model makes it possible to assess the attitude towards the sponsor as an additive function of a certain number of image attributes in a particular sport (for example, attributes

of modernity, youth, fraternity etc.) and the degree of acceptance of the association between a sponsors brand and each of the attributes (the brand and attribute of modernity, the brand is that of youth, the brand is that of fraternity and so forth). Thus, A = V1.DA1 (to what extent the audience appreciates the attribute of modernity and accepts this association with the sponsor) + V2.DA2 (to what extent the audience appreciates the attribute of youth and accepts this associations) + Vn.Dan. We suggest a methodology in four steps. 1. List the image attributes of the sporting event, league, team or competitor based on an exploratory study (documentary or ad hoc): V1, V2, V3 etc. 2. Test these attributes based on a rating scale, for example, a scale of 1-7 ranging from very positive to very negative. 3. Test the association between each attribute and the sponsor (DA). A scale of 1-5 allows selection between strongly agree with an association of +2 and strongly disagree, -2.

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TABLE 2 Assessment
ASSESSMENT MODERNITY (V1) VERY POSITIVE +3 POSITIVE +2 SLIGHTLY POSITIVE +1 INDIFFERENT 0 SLIGHTLY NEGATIVE -1 NEGATIVE -2 NEGATIVE -2

TABLE 3 Sponsor brand and modernity

SPONSOR BRAND AND MODERNITY (DA1) STRONGLY AGREE SLIGHTLY AGREE DONT KNOW +2 +1 0 SLIGHTLY DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE -1 -2

4. Deduce the attitude (V.DA) and classify the image attributes according to the total score. For example, the attribute modernity has a score of V1.DA1; the attribute fraternity has a score of V2.DA2, and so forth. An image attribute that receives a low score from the targeted audience may very well show a high level of acceptance and surpass a strongly valued image attribute that the audience does not associate with the sponsor at all. This suggests that the sponsor should align its communication campaign with the attribute that has the best compromise between success rate with the audience and image compatibility. But wanting to align at all cost a message based simply on what pleases the audience can lead to rejection if the audience refuses the association, thereby resulting in negative publicity. Applying the tool to football league sponsors The study was carried out in April and May 2004 with the ASNL football league season ticket holders, moving up to League 2 of the French Championship (Dreyer, 2004). The choice of season ticket holders was based on two criteria. Firstly, a season ticket holder is a regular spectator with a good cultural background in football, its league and the sponsors environment. Studies carried out by the research team

in Social Sciences of Sport, University of Strasbourg, show that subscribers can recall correctly more league sponsors than non-member spectators. The second criteria for selection of season ticket holders was that the composition of a representative sample is simpler when using a list allowing for random selection. It was decided not to proceed with a face-to-face field survey with the spectators present at the stadium as this type of survey poses great problems for sampling and administration. At the stadium entrance, by the ticket counters, the spectators are in a rush to find their seats within the moving crowd. It is also difficult to manage the crowd after the game unless a large number of interviewers are made available. On the terraces at half time the spectators are not always accessible and, in any case, it is difficult to maintain representativeness. Moreover, establishing quotas does not provide exact information on league attendance to be used as reference, and the spectators who agree to be interviewed are generally not representative of the population. Consequently, it was decided to proceed with two consecutive surveys by post and telephone. The first allowed the pinpointing and classification of those image attributes that are associated with football played by the league. The second was used to assess the association between image attributes and league sponsors. The two questionnaires were mailed out

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TABLE 4 ASNL sample of league subscribers

AGE % GENDER % 15-25 18.6 WOMEN 6 26-35 17.4 36-45 14 46-55 22.1 MEN 94 56-65 15.1 66+ 12.8

TABLE 5 Image attributes associated with football (soccer) played by ASNL

ATTRIBUTES SCORE YOUTH 217 PLEASURE 209 CLEAN OF DRUG USE 190 CREATIVITY 162 AUDACITY 160 SURPASSING ONESELF 157

(and then followed up by telephone) to two samples of 150 season ticket holders selected randomly from a list of 2,395 provided by the league. The samples were representative of the population of season ticket holders aged 15 and over (people under fifteen years of age were not considered to be able to compare the results with those of the survey conducted by Occurence for the Sports et Valeurs Observatory). Since the surveys were somewhat difficult to administer, it seemed necessary for each interviewee to receive their questionnaire a few days prior to the survey interview so that he or she could prepare and, if required, ask for clarification. In fact it did emerge that if the questions related to image attributes around football played by the league were clearly understood, then those related to the acceptance of the association between these attributes and the sponsors also required further explanation during the interview. A traditional telephone survey, without any prior mailing of the questionnaire, would doubtless have resulted in a high rate of unanswered questionnaires and imprecise or erroneous answers. An initial exploratory survey of about 10 calls revealed this risk. The partners selected were those making the largest investments in the league: Axima (health engineering and industrial maintenance), Baliston (sporting goods), Cidou (fruit juice, Karlsberg Group), Cristalline

(spring water, Neptune group), LEst Rpubicain (regional daily newspaper), Lion (chocolate cereal bars, Nestl Group) and Orange (mobile telephone operator, France Telecom Group). The image attributes tested (V) presented in Table 1 are taken from the Sports et Valeurs Observatory. The question asked was: Can the image attributes shown below be associated with football played by the AS Nancy Lorraine? Write your answer on the grid attached: -3 (the attribute cannot be associated at all), -2 (it cannot be associated), -1 (it cannot really be associated), +1 (it can be associated more or less), +2 (it can be associated), +3 (it can be associated perfectly), 0 (you do not have an opinion). Among the 16 attributes submitted, six emerged from the survey see Table 5. As the interviewees were football league subscribers, their attitudes differed substantially from those of the average French person interviewed by the Occurence company (see Table 1). The subscribers gave 1.4 times more importance to the attribute of creativity and 1.26 times less importance to that of virility, with the negative attribute of violence obtaining a score 3 times lower in value. The results showing the audiences degree of acceptance of the image attributes associated with the sponsors (DA) were classified in descending order. For

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TABLE 6 ASNL survey degree of acceptance of sports image attributes associated with sponsors
IMAGE ATTRIBUTE YOUTH PLEASURE CLEAN OF DRUG USE CREATIVITY SURPASSING ONESELF AUDACITY BRAND CLASSIFIED 1 BALISTON (74) CIDOU (72) CRISTALLINE (70) ORANGE (78) BALISTON (50) BALISTON (58) BRAND CLASSIFIED 2 ORANGE (71) LION (71) BALISTON (56) BALISTON (56) LION (42) LION (43) BRAND CLASSIFIED 3 LION (64) BALISTON (68) CIDOU (55) EAST REPUBLICAN (51) CIDOU (40) ORANGE (39) BRAND CLASSIFIED 4 CIDOU (54) EAST REPUBLICAN (53) LION (41) LION (51) CRISTALLINE (35) CIDOU (35) BRAND CLASSIFIED 5 CRISTALLINE (43) CRISTALLINE (49) ORANGE (37) CRISTALLINE (42) ORANGE (34) EAST REPUBLICAN (33) BRAND CLASSIFIED 6 AXIMA (7) AXIMA (14) AXIMA (29) AXIMA (24) AXIMA (18) AXIMA (29)

each of the attributes, the sponsors were classified according to their association scores (see Table 2). The maximum score was 300 (2 points x 150 interviewees). The question asked was: At which point would you accept the association of the attribute [name of attribute] with the sponsor brand [name of brand] from your ASNL club? The scores obtained by the sponsors (V.DA) give a good indication of the perception the season ticket holders have of them. Axima is at the bottom of the list. Its best score was for the clean of drug use attribute (5,510). All the other brands obtained better results. Baliston obtained its highest score with the youth and pleasure attributes with values of (16,058) and (14,212) respectively. Cidou obtained its highest score with the pleasure (15,048) and youth (11,718) attributes. Cristallines highest scores were for clean of drug use (13,300) and pleasure (10,241). LEst Rpublicain obtained a score of (11,077) for pleasure and (8,262) for creativity.

Lion scored (14,839) with the attribute pleasure and (13,888) youth.
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Orange obtained a score of (15,407) for the youth attribute and (12,636) for creativity.

Conclusions, recommendations and research perspectives

The decision-making tool presented in this paper aims at improving the rationality behind choices in sports sponsorship. Recommendations are produced in a three-level structure: 1. When deciding whether to sponsor a sport, a company must take into consideration how the audience, and more importantly the target market, associate image attributes with that sport. At this stage a manager could make the mistake of imposing his own image of a sport on a communication campaign that will then be rejected by consumers. Despite the fact that business decisions are rarely made for sentimental reasons these days, it appears that sports managers are still making decisions on this basis. For instance, the idea that rugby is elegant is not shared by the

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average French person. This belief may be held by those who know about the history of rugby, but it is not the opinion of the audience watching a match on television. Making a decision based on an individuals perception of a sports culture can be counterproductive unless the target audience shares this perception. Each year the work completed by research companies (Occurrence was used for France) provides a representative sample of the target consumer against which to check perception assumptions. 2. When making a decision, managers must also take into consideration the sponsors image perception. Indeed, this study shows that if sponsors limit their analysis to the image attributes classification and choose those with the best scores (youth, pleasure etc.), they risk going against audience feelings. Indeed, the classification weighed by the degree of attribution can lead to a choice of attributes that are lower in value but highly attributed (e.g. clean of drug use for Cristalline, creativity for lEst Rpublicain). For example, the spring water brand Cristalline is weakly associated with youth, classified as 1, but obtains a high score for an image attribute lower in value, that of clean of drug use. 3. Nevertheless, when making a decision, the research results on image transfer should not necessarily be taken into account. A sponsor could choose a sport whose image does not correspond to that perceived by consumers and is, in fact, merely associated with the sports brand. In this case, it is wise to use persuasive actions to win the consumers over with the wanted image association. Our research study results show that, for instance, Axima could decide to focus its communication campaign on the youth attribute (to which its brand is merely associated) in order to align its brand image with this attribute. However, this would require additional investment in its communication campaigns.

Conversely, a sponsor will not necessarily adopt a position around a highly recognised and valued attribute if it is not in keeping with their image strategy. For Axima, the brand is not under duress or subject to audience judgement because it has adopted the attribute clean of drug use (its best score). Thus, this surveys results explain the attitudes of a specific audience (members of a football league) and must be taken into account only in terms of brand image policy. If the strategic objective is to persuade a target market that a particular image attribute corresponds to the brands identity and if that attribute is recognised and spontaneously attributed to the brand the communication will be simpler. On the other hand, if there is a hiatus then sponsors should consider developing other persuasive means (without changing the strategic objective in the near future). These recommendations are not in accordance with conventional methodology. The surveys reveal the outcomes of a number of factors without segregating those specific to sponsorship. To understand the difference, two methodological precautions should be taken. The first technique focuses on choosing a research study where brand visibility is equivalent to notoriety and communication strategies i.e. existing brands are on the same level in terms of notoriety and communication strategy (same exposure and visibility of publicity campaigns and promotions). This research shows that, if the image attributes in football are weakly associated with Axima and more strongly with Lion or Cidou, this is because the brand is less known to consumers in Lorraine. Moreover, known brands in French football such as Orange (League 1 sponsor) or Baliston (a sports goods supplier taking advantage of its legitimacy in the business sector) have a certain advantage with football amateurs. Furthermore, nothing suggests that the association is a result of sponsorship operation only. It could also have been influenced by elements such as the personality of company managers, the brands history and present state, sales promotion, other communication promotions, and so forth.

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The second methodology focuses on a sample of people with the same brand culture, where big brand names are not favoured i.e. it is not a random sample representative of scientific ideas only.
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Biography
Gary Tribou is a professor at Strasbourg University where he is head of the Professional Masters Programme in Marketing and Sport Management. He is also the author of a large volume of literature on sports management and marketing published by Dunod, Economica and Armand Colin.

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