Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management

Sports sponsorship has been used in India for marketing purposes for a number of years. It is further growing, and sports other than cricket are also getting attention of the sponsors. However, high-profile events like IPL are always preferred by the sponsoring companies. Very few attempts have been made in India to carry out research on different aspects of sports sponsorship in the context of marketing activities. Previous sports sponsorship research in India has examined the utilization ofcorporate-sport association for corporate brand management, effect of the sponsorship on brand awareness and brand preference, relative effectiveness of sponsorship as compared to ambush marketing, association of the sponsor brand with the sports event, and ‘sponsor-event fit’ in the context of brand personality framework. No study could be found on the effect of sports sponsorship on purchase intention of spectators. Sponsors may have different objectives like promoting corporate image, increasing awareness within the target market, to provide support to product/service advertising, to strengthen brand preference, strengthening of relationship with existing customers, stimulate sales, get coverage in different media, and many more. Ultimately, it boils down to get more and more people to think of buying your products.Therefore, this study is intended to examine the effects of sport sponsorship on consumer purchase intentions. The event chosen was the Indian Premium League cricket tournament held in April-May 2012. The purpose of this study was to determine whether consumers form some intention to buy products and/or services produced by the IPL sponsors. The post-event survey conducted at PCA Cricket Stadium, Mohali, was used in this study to assess the effects of sport sponsorship on consumer purchase intentions.