Title: Online marketing during a global crisis: an exploration of sponsorship's effectiveness over the internet

Authors: Konstantinos Koronios; Lazaros Ntasis; Panagiotis Dimitropoulos; Alkis Thrassou

Addresses: Department of Physiotherapy, University of Peloponnese, E.S. Valioti & Plataion, Sparti, 23100, Sparti, Greece ' School of Human Movement and Quality of Life Science, Department of Sport Management, University of Peloponnese, Plateon 20, P.O. Box 23100, Sparta, Greece ' School of Management, Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Peloponnese, Antikalamos Campus, PC 22100, Kalamata, Greece ' Department of Management, GNOSIS Mediterranean Institute for Management Science, School of Business, University of Nicosia, 46 Makedonitissas Avenue, CY-2417, P.O. Box 24005, CY-1700, Nicosia, Cyprus

Abstract: The integration of online digital technology has revolutionised the processes of creating, promoting, delivering, and consuming sports. The goal of this paper was to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the key factors that influence favourable consumer behaviour in the context of sport sponsorship, specifically in an online setting. The current paper focuses on the examination of the effects of four antecedent factors on two intermediate factors, namely spectators' awareness of and attitude towards sponsoring firms. Furthermore, the study investigates how these intermediate factors subsequently influence spectators' purchase intentions towards the actual sponsoring companies during a period of crisis. A quantitative methodology was adopted with 1182 online replies being gathered and examined. The collected data was then evaluated utilising statistical software such as SPSS and AMOS. In accordance with the results, it was observed that many factors had a substantial impact on the awareness, attitudes, and purchasing intentions of spectators.

Keywords: sponsorship; Covid-19; sport involvement; beliefs about sponsorship; sincerity; awareness; attitude; purchase intentions; crisis; online setting.

DOI: 10.1504/JGBA.2023.138945

Journal for Global Business Advancement, 2023 Vol.16 No.3, pp.343 - 365

Received: 02 Jan 2024
Accepted: 15 Mar 2024
Published online: 04 Jun 2024 *

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