ABSTRACT
With the goal of understanding the inner workings of sponsorship communication, we begin with a consumer-focused communications orientation, in which its elements and messages are processed. Although consumer-focused, this orientation also informs both hospitality and mediated sponsorship-linked marketing. Thus, we begin by breaking sponsorship down and considering it as a model of consumer-focused marketing communications. The model depicts a simplified five-element frame for understanding processing: individual and group factors, market factors, and management factors all influence the processing mechanics of sponsorship and subsequently the measured outcomes of the sponsorship. The role of management decisions on sponsorship outcomes may be critical to success. Additionally, it should be noted that market and management factors might need to change during the course of the sponsorship contract. The chapter details how the processing of sponsorship communications work. As social psychologists explain, Attribution theory deals with how the social perceiver uses information to arrive at causal explanations for events.
