Abstract
This paper examines the performance of assessing sponsors and non-sponsors awareness and image at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in Korea. Using a sample of 2,118 respondents, a survey was administered in Seoul before and after Games to compare the awareness and image that changed between two periods. The findings reveal that the effectiveness of the 2008 Beijing Olympic sponsorship has was lower than we expected. Overall, Samsung, Coca-Cola, and McDonald's were very successful in enhancing the salience of their respective brands during the games. In our study, it was found that local non-sponsors did not influence the effect of sponsorships. On the other hand, multinational non-sponsors had relatively higher the misleading the respondents into believing that they are supporting Olympics. We observed Nike ambushing Adidas, Dell ambushing Lenovo, Hyundai ambushing Volkswagen, Nestle ambushing Yili, Citi bank ambushing the bank of China. Therefore, Nike, Dell, Hyundai, Nestle, and Citi bank led to obtain the benefit and resulted in increasing consumer confusion as to who is a sponsor. To the ambushers, international well known brand well affords a competitive advantage that enables the firm to have created an environment of consumer confusion with regard to sponsorship in Korea. The paper concludes by considering some issues for sponsorship marketers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.