ABSTRACT
Increasingly more corporations communicate with their target audience through initiating sport sponsorship; yet, factors influencing effectiveness of these new sponsorships have seldom been examined specifically. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the differential impact of perceived functional and image fit between sponsor and property on consumer’s recognition, attitude, and purchase intention toward a new sponsor (i.e., Kumho Tire) of the NBA league. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in an attempt to determine how perceived functional fit and image fit would predict the effectiveness of corporation sponsorship of the professional sport league after controlling for related covariates. Regression analyses revealed that the perceived image fit had a significant (p < .05) impact on consumer’s cognitive, affective, and conative responses to a new corporate sponsor after controlling for the effect of familiarity, product involvement, and team identification; whereas perceived functional fit was only influential of cognitive response.
