What Drives Ambush Marketer Misidentification?

Abstract

This article investigates the effectiveness of ambush marketing in terms of ambush marketer misidentification in the context of sports events. Grounded in associative network models and memory reconstruction heuristics, an empirical study examines how different ambush marketing strategies as well as event, ambush marketer, official sponsor, and individual consumer characteristics can result in ambush marketer misidentification. A descriptive survey collects data on consumers' knowledge and perceived misleading potential of four ambush marketing strategies. Finally, three experiments aim to determine the effectiveness of these strategies and the aforementioned drivers in terms of actual ambush marketer misidentification. The results from the experiments are contrasted with the findings from the survey study. Findings are discussed with emphasis on implications for researchers, ambush marketers, official sponsors, and event organizers.

Ends justify the means! Attitude toward ambush marketing

“…Looking at findings related to Machiavellianism, it should be noted that sponsorship should not be seen as winning a race or competition, in the eyes of consumers. As offered before, a clear link with the sponsored event (Wolfsteiner et al , 2015a) may moderate this effect and may depict sponsorship as something more emotional rather than economic engagement or competition among firms. Sponsor firms also may communicate messages in which they embrace main competitors and other local firms which could not get sponsorship.…”

“…Considering that the participants in this study have relatively more serious sportsmanship careers, these findings can provide clues about sports involvement and its relationship with ambush marketing. Findings of event involvement (Wolfsteiner et al , 2015b) can be evaluated through sports involvement. Based on this study's findings, and along with findings of McKelvey et al (2012), it can be predicted that sports involvement is more effective than event involvement on negative attitudes toward ambush firms or marketing.…”

“…Some scholars discuss the effect of event involvement on ambush marketing. Piątkowska and Gocłowska (2016) showed the relative effect of involvement in an event on recognizing sponsors, while Wolfsteiner et al (2015b) found that event involvement did not affect ambush marketer misidentification. A recent study illustrated that fans who watched the games during the 2016 FIFA football championship were more forgiving of ambushers in beer and gambling industries compared with industries in general; and in the same research, women were not as indulgent of ambush marketing as were men (Burton and Chadwick, 2019).…”

“…Since that time, much has been argued about ambush marketing, and some scholars have tried to analyze consumers' attitudes toward this approach. Most of such studies, using quantitative methods, have focused on ethical judgments (Sandler and Shani, 1993; Shani and Sandler, 1998; Lyberger and McCarthy, 2001; Séguin et al , 2005; Dickson et al , 2015) or consumers' ability to recall sponsors correctly – in other words, the effectiveness of ambush marketing (Wolfsteiner et al , 2015a; Pitt et al , 2010; Long-Yuan, 2019). However, prior studies have not examined consumers' thoughts and views in depth.…”

Does Sport Event Involvement Influence Brand Recognition of Official Sponsors and Ambush Marketers?

“…It is believed that associating a sponsor's brand with a sporting event is a key factor when it comes to recognizing and recalling that brand or a sponsor's product (Grohs et al, 2004). It is crucial to create successful event campaigns, they need to have a strong association with the event (Wolfsteiner et al, 2015). Equally important factors are: the exposition of an event that features in the mass media and market prominence, the intensity of advertising campaigns for a sponsor's brand, the brand's current popularity (Crompton, 2004), and the prior knowledge of a brand (Boshoff, & Gerber, 2008).…”