| Most sport sponsorship studies (e.g., Gwinner & Eaton, 1999; Madrigal, 2001; McDaniel, 1999; Meenaghan, 2001) have been limited in the theories of image transfer, match up, and social alliance. Mere exposure (Zajonc, 1968) is another possible theoretical framework that explains the sponsorship mechanism. The current study sought to examine mere exposure in sport sponsorship. The relationships among two independent variables (sponsorship brand exposure frequency and sport involvement) and two dependent variables (attitude toward the brand and brand awareness) were tested.;An experiment was conducted with undergraduate university students ( N = 137). The subjects were randomly assigned into a control group (no video stimulus) and an experimental group (watching video stimulus). In the 20-minute NASCAR video, brand exposure frequency was manipulated by two brands: Office Depot (high frequency) and DeWalt (low frequency).;Analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-tests, correlation analyses, and repeated measures were used to test the hypotheses and analyze the data. The analyses indicated that brand exposure frequency had a positive relationship with attitude toward the brand (t = -2.83, df = 58, p = .01) and brand awareness (t = -2.27, df = 28, p = .03). Meanwhile, no significant relationship was observed between sport involvement and the dependent variables. In addition, different brand familiarity was found between Office Depot and DeWalt and additional analyses concluded that brand familiarity had a negative influence on creating mere exposure effects.;The current study found mere exposure effects in sport sponsorship as frequent brand exposure resulted in more favorable attitudes toward the brand and higher brand awareness. This finding was significant because it theoretically justified measuring the media exposure value in the sport sponsorship industry. Additionally, this study found the impact of brand familiarity on mere exposure effects. While an unfamiliar brand (DeWalt) created significant mere exposure effects, a familiar brand (Office Depot) gained little mere exposure effects and attitudes toward the familiar brand were more dependent on its familiarity (i.e., pre-existing attitudes) than on mere exposure. The results implied that the strategy of maximizing brand exposure frequency for new/unfamiliar brands would be much beneficial in sport sponsorship. |
