Empathy with viewer and show is key to sponsorship
Dr Alastair Goode
An annual increase in TV sponsorship in the UK in 2007 of 8.5%, with spend reaching £190 million, might suggest that the activity works. Studies show that television sponsorship affects bottom-line measures such as weekly sales, retail footfall and product trial.
Yet, there is little evidence to show exactly how it works. Academic commentators such as Poon and Prendergast (1), Walliser (2) and Christensen (3) have all commented on how sponsorship has received little research attention and how the fundamental mechanisms behind sponsorship are poorly understood.
To gain...