INVESTIGATING BRAND IMAGE TRANSFER IN SPORT SPONSORSHIP OF A PARTICIPATION SPORT EVENT IN SINGAPORE

The interest from corporate sponsors in participation sport events in Singapore has increased. This study explores the applicability of the model for brand image transfer in a local participation sport event as to whether sponsor-event congruence, event emotions, and attitude still work as driving variables for brand image transfer. The data were collected from 224 event participants (aged from 16 to 40) at Surf n Sweat, which was Singapore's biggest beach running event. The questionnaire consisted of the items measuring sponsor-event congruence, event emotions, attitude towards the event, attitude towards the sponsor, and purchase intention. A structural equation modeling supports an adequate overall and internal fit of the model to the data. The path analysis shows that sponsor-event congruence significantly influenced positive event emotions (beta = 0.31), positive event emotions significantly influenced attitude towards the event (beta = 0.73), event attitude significantly influenced attitude towards the sponsor (beta = 0.33), and sponsor attitude significantly influenced purchase intention (beta = 0.82). However, negative event emotion did not mediate the relationship between sponsor-event congruence and event attitude. The findings provide empirical evidence of consumer behavior in brand image transfer, thereby benefiting corporate sponsors looking to explore event sponsorship for their brand marketing in Singapore.