Developing and Validating a Multidimensional Attitudes Toward Sport Sponsorship Scale

Abstract

The importance of sport sponsorship as a marketing tool has led researchers to examine many of its underlying elements. Despite having examined attitudes toward sport sponsorship, researchers have been inconsistent with the theoretical frameworks underpinning the work, and/or used theoretically distinct concepts interchangeably (i.e., attitudes and beliefs). Specifically, the existing measures for examining attitudes toward sponsorship were generally based on advertising frameworks, potentially limiting the scope of examination. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to develop and validate a new, multidimensional instrument to measure consumers’ attitudes toward sport sponsorship. The tripartite framework for attitude formation, consisting of cognitive, affective, and conative processes, was utilized as the underlying basis for examining attitudes toward sport sponsorship. Through three samples, expert panel review, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, a six-factor, 20-item scale was developed.