The Impact of Sports Sponsorship on Brand Visibility and Consumer Behavior
KHALIL, Muhammad Waqar (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025061222733
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025061222733
Tiivistelmä
The impact of sports sponsorship on consumer involvement, brand trust, and purchase behaviour is studied with particular emphasis on recent sponsorship partnerships of Manchester United Football Club with TeamViewer and Adidas. In the highly competitive sports marketing environment, the effect of sponsorship strategies on brand awareness and customer loyalty can be staggering. The present research aims to look into the partnership's impact on fans' perceptions, digital engagement, and purchase behaviour.
A mixed-method approach was adopted, integrating richer insights from thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with some quantitative data of engagement metrics, purchase patterns, and social media analysis from 2019 to 2023. The sample comprises ten Manchester United fans with 18 years and above, selected on the basis of their interaction with sponsored content across platforms, including YouTube, social media and fan forums. Statistical data on measures of brand recall and changes in sentiment and behaviour due to exposure to sponsorship were also included in this study.
It was found that Adidas is well-remembered and trusted by consumers because of its long, culturally relevant partnership with Manchester United. Growing engagement signals through social media metrics during the key sponsorship activations offer significant implications for digital content in sparking interaction. Sponsorship favourably impacted the consideration or purchase of branded products by the fan base, with 60% of the respondents conceding that.
It can be concluded from the study that sponsorships based on authenticity, and strategic alignment only can build fans' trust in the brand and intent to purchase. The study also indicates the increasing need for brands to engage fans in emotionally relevant and digitally immersive ways. Findings, although limited in sample size and hypothetical data, provide myriad insights for the sponsors and sports businesses to get the best out of football partnerships in terms of return on investment.
A mixed-method approach was adopted, integrating richer insights from thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with some quantitative data of engagement metrics, purchase patterns, and social media analysis from 2019 to 2023. The sample comprises ten Manchester United fans with 18 years and above, selected on the basis of their interaction with sponsored content across platforms, including YouTube, social media and fan forums. Statistical data on measures of brand recall and changes in sentiment and behaviour due to exposure to sponsorship were also included in this study.
It was found that Adidas is well-remembered and trusted by consumers because of its long, culturally relevant partnership with Manchester United. Growing engagement signals through social media metrics during the key sponsorship activations offer significant implications for digital content in sparking interaction. Sponsorship favourably impacted the consideration or purchase of branded products by the fan base, with 60% of the respondents conceding that.
It can be concluded from the study that sponsorships based on authenticity, and strategic alignment only can build fans' trust in the brand and intent to purchase. The study also indicates the increasing need for brands to engage fans in emotionally relevant and digitally immersive ways. Findings, although limited in sample size and hypothetical data, provide myriad insights for the sponsors and sports businesses to get the best out of football partnerships in terms of return on investment.