Investigating and prioritizing the influencing factors on the effectiveness of sports sponsorships (sponsors) on the fans of Iran's national football team

Abstract:

Today in the world, sponsorships, especially sports sponsorships, constitute marketing activities. In Iran, financial sports activities are growing, especially in football. Therefore, it is necessary for company managers to get complete information about the effectiveness of this type of marketing activities so that they can make decisions including the allocation of resources for sports financial support. Fans of football teams as a customer go through a process from the time they get to know a company and its products to the behavior after purchase. In this research, the effect of sports sponsorships on 5 important variables of this process, including: awareness of the company's name and brand, public image of the company, interest in the company and brand name, purchase intention and loyalty to the company and its products is examined in this research. Questionnaire questions that measure the effect of sports financial support on the 5 main variables of the research (awareness of the brand name and image of the company, interest in the brand, purchase intention and loyalty) included 16 questions. After collecting 380 questionnaires from fans of the national football team, a binomial test (proportion) was conducted on 5 hypotheses, which finally led to the acceptance of 3 hypotheses and the rejection of the other 2 hypotheses.

In the current era, sports with its diverse functions play an important role in the development of different societies. Currently, sports are considered to be one of the most effective factors in the growth of the national economy and the most profitable industries in the 21st century (8). At the same time, an important part of the functions of the sports industry, especially in the economy, is the responsibility of football as the most popular and popular sport in most countries. Many countries in the world have included it in their national sports. The fact that the stadiums are full of spectators in domestic, national, continental and international matches and the matches have millions of television viewers has made football the most popular sport in the world. In our country, football is the most common and popular sport and compared to all other sports, it has the largest number of athletes and fans (5). Since part of the money that is spent in sports is spent on watching matches, today the big clubs of the world are looking to make their club's name and emblem known to people more through new marketing methods and attract more spectators to watch their team's games 13). During the past decades, the value of a company was measured in terms of real estate, then tangible assets, factories and equipment. However, today, economics and management researchers have come to the conclusion that the real value of a company lies somewhere outside of it, that is, in the minds of potential buyers. In other words, at present, it is this intangible asset, i.e., the organization's brand or sports products and services, that has gained importance (19). Managers of sports organizations or organizers of branded sports events, such as the Olympics or top leagues of countries, know very well that awareness and familiarity with the names and brands of events, products, services and sports organizations and having a positive image of them affects the reference of those interested in these brands and their reuse. Also, brands can communicate with their customers. When the consumer is looking for a specific brand to fulfill his desires in his daily life, he is looking for a name that will satisfy him (5). According to Crompton) & (Howard), companies seek 4 benefits from sponsoring: improving awareness, improving the image of the company, creating a relationship through hospitality and increasing sales (19).

1-2) Statement of the problem

Advancement in communication devices and live television broadcasts have caused sports to gain a global image. As sports become a global phenomenon and fans of sports events increase day by day, sports sponsorships also become a suitable tool for companies to create a competitive advantage (25). A sponsor is a person or an organization that undertakes the costs of holding an event or broadcasting it in exchange for advertising. According to Mina Gahan's definition, ship sponsorship is any monetary or non-monetary investment in an activity in order to obtain potentially exploitable resources related to that activity (55). According to Howard, companies seek 4 benefits from financial support: improving awareness, improving the company's image, creating a relationship through hospitality and increasing sales (44). Kuzma, Shanklin and McCauley (2001) found out by conducting research that increasing awareness and improving the image of the company are the two main goals of companies to become financial sponsors (quoted by Jaleh) (45). In today's markets, companies are looking for new methods for their marketing activities and try to differentiate themselves from their competitors and increase their market share and sales, and for this purpose they spend huge amounts of money. One of these methods is sports sponsorships, through which companies seek different goals by sponsoring events or sports clubs. Today, most organizations are looking to measure the effectiveness of their marketing activities and make better decisions based on it. In Iran, between national teams, especially football, because they attract a lot of audience, a competition has been formed between companies to sponsor their events and competitions. For example, Eel Khodro Ares Company was selected as a sponsor of the Iranian national football team in the 92-93 World Cup by signing a contract worth 15 billion tomans (27). Also, Majid, a sportswear manufacturer, has signed several contracts as a sponsor of Iran's national football and volleyball teams. (Ibid). Other national and club sports teams were not excluded from these agreements, for example, Iran Khodro factory has long been a supporter of Pikan Qazvin team. Also, Sepahan Oil Company, with a contract of 4 billion, sponsored the introduction and awarding of the best players of the game and ethics of the country's premier football league (27). Companies seek to attract capital by spending these costs, but how to evaluate the effectiveness of their activities has become a problem. Also, which of the effective factors (brand name, company image, purchase intention, interest and loyalty to the brand) have had the greatest impact on the effectiveness of financial support remains unanswered. If companies have access to these factors and the priorities of the impact of these factors on fans, they can emphasize more on these factors in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of advertising and gain more benefits. The effectiveness of this type of support at the level of clubs has been researched to some extent, although these studies have been very few, but the effectiveness of this type of support has not been evaluated in the case of national teams, especially the national football team, which has special characteristics and conditions compared to clubs. In this research, it seeks to measure the effectiveness of sports sponsorships among Iranian national football fans. Examining brand awareness, company image, purchase intention, interest and loyalty to the brand of football fans are important factors by which the effectiveness of financial support is carried out, and following the examination of these factors, some questions are raised that whether the financial support of national sports (national football team) is effective for companies? And in this effect, which of the factors have the most effect? (brand name, company image, purchase intention, interest and loyalty to the brand name) and effective priorities will be determined. 3-1) Importance and necessity of research

A sponsor is a person or organization that undertakes the costs of holding an event or broadcasting it in exchange for advertising. According to Mina Gahan's definition, ship sponsor is any monetary or non-monetary investment in an activity in order to obtain resources with exploitable potential related to that activity. This definition shows two things that the sponsor invests in: the coverage and extent of this activity and the image that this activity shows, that is, how the audience sees it (55). According to Howard and Crompton, companies seek 4 benefits from sponsoring: improving awareness, corporate image, creating a relationship through hospitality, and increasing sales (44). Kuzma, Shanklin and McCauley (2001) conducted research and found that increasing awareness and improving the image of the company are the two main goals of companies to become financial sponsors (36).