Changing negative attitudes through sport sponsorship: a gender perspective in Brazil

Abstract

Objective: This study assesses if a sport sponsorship is able to change a negative attitude towards a brand, also investigating the influence on consumption intentions and differences in terms of gender.

Method: A questionnaire applied on Brazilians was structured based on a repeated measure design. The instrument was segmented in different scenarios, whose first one brought negative information about a sponsoring fictitious brand.  After selecting only participants who had developed negative attitudes in the first context, they were submitted to subsequent sports sponsorship scenarios, having their attitudes and consumption intentions measured. The second scenario associated the brand with sponsorships to football, having the third one also linking with football, but focusing on a community perspective. The last context approached volleyball, contextualizing the sponsorship in an Olympic/Paralympic frame.

Relevance: Authors have been defending that the impact of sports sponsorships on attitudes is an important gap to be more investigated, where a lack of similar studies is clear.

Results: In terms of gender, the football scenarios had a bigger influence on the male group, however, the Olympic/Paralympic frame was more efficient in women. In particular, the Scenario 3 showed the highest capacity of changing negative evaluations of attitude and consumption intentions.

Contribution: In resume, it was demonstrated that sports sponsorship can change (minimize) a negative attitude towards a sponsor, with subsequent positive impacts on purchase intentions.