Sponsorship as an internal branding tool and its effects on employees’ identification with the brand

Recent research has acknowledged that a firm’s external advertising targeted at consumers can also be used for internal branding activities. The present study extends this research stream and investigates the role of a firm’s sponsorships directed towards consumers in achieving internal branding goals. Specifically, this study examines how employees’ perceptions of sponsorship characteristics impact their identification with the brand. Results from an empirical study with the employees of backaldrin, an Austrian producer of baking ingredients sponsoring the Austrian national biathlon team, indicate that employees with better general attitude towards sponsorship show higher brand identification. Employees’ attitudes towards the sponsored property and perceived fit between the sponsor and the sponsored property have no direct effect on brand identification, but are positively related with employees’ general attitude towards sponsorship. The study concludes with managerial implications how companies can implement sponsorship as an effective internal branding tool.