Title: Understanding how marathon attendees' heterogeneity affects public sponsorship reputation and brand equity

Authors: Maria-Jose Miquel-Romero; Walesska Schlesinger; Amparo Cervera-Taulet

Addresses: Marketing Department, Faculty of Economics, University of Valencia, Avda. Los Naranjos, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain ' Institute of International Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Valencia, Avda. Los Naranjos, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain ' Institute of International Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Valencia, Avda. Los Naranjos, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain

Abstract: This paper analyses how a public institutional sponsor can benefit from sponsoring an international sporting event - a marathon - among its territorial policy targets. The heterogeneity of the local participants is considered from two perspectives: their level of involvement with the event and their type of participation, i.e., spectator/runner. Based on a sample of 507 local respondents (spectators and runners) and using structural equation modelling, the paper concludes that the higher the involvement with the sporting event, the higher the sponsor perceived reputation, and the higher its brand equity in each of the following four dimensions: sponsor perceived image, trust, perceived quality, and brand personality. However, being a runner or a spectator does not moderate the positive relationship between the involvement with the event and the sponsor perceived reputation. These results highlight the relevance that sports sponsorship can have in terms of public branding.

Keywords: public sponsorship; reputation; public brand; involvement; type of participation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2024.137123

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2024 Vol.24 No.2, pp.156 - 178

Received: 23 Jan 2023
Accepted: 05 Jul 2023
Published online: 01 Mar 2024 *

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