Despite the growing role of sponsorship in the marketing activities of firms worldwide, academic research in this area has been limited. Adopting a classical conditioning framework, this research examines the effects of consumers’ attitudes about a sports event, their perceptions of sponsor-event fit, and their attitudes about the sponsor on a multidimensional measure of sponsorship response. The results suggest that sponsor-event fit, perceived sincerity of the sponsor, perceived ubiquity of the sponsor, and attitude toward the sponsor are key factors in generating a favorable response from sponsorship. Liking of the event and perceived status of the event have differing significance depending on how response is measured. Sponsor-event fit also has interaction effects with perceived status of the event and personal interest in the event. The implications of these findings for sponsors and event managers are examined, and future research directions are outlined.

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The subject of market orientation has been of interest to both researchers and practitioners for several years. The work of Jaworski and Kohli (1993) inspired a substantial body of literature that empirically examined the antecedents and consequences of a market orientation. This article contributes to that body of literature by investigating the antecedents and consequences of market orientation in Australia. The results successfully replicate the Jaworski and Kohli findings, within an Australian environment. Results illustrate that understanding the culture, activities and processes associated with market‐oriented activity have significant implications for organisations in Australia.

Sponsorship activities have become a mainstream component of the marketing mix. As such, there are attempts to make these activities more effective by leveraging them using advertising, sales promotions, or in an increasing number of cases, through cause related marketing (CRM). This paper explores the relationship between sponsorship and CRM and identifies the potential opportunities that arise from leveraging sponsorships using CRM. The paper also examines the limitations of CRM as a leveraging strategy, puts forward a typology for categorising CRM and identifies some future research issues related to CRM-leveraging of sponsorship.

This study examines the relationships between marketing planning, market orientation and business performance. We explore conceptually how linking the behaviours of marketing planning with the values of market orientation might be expected impact on business performance. Our findings suggest that high quality marketing planning can lead to performance benefits, but as antecedent to a market orientation, rather than as an independent activity.