Impact of Sports Sponsorship Motivation on Consumer Purchase Intention: Mediating Effect Based on Consumer Attitude

Abstract

Sponsorship is very important for the sustainable development of sports, and the motivation of sponsors will have an impact on consumers’ willingness to buy the products of sports sponsors. This paper takes China’s CBA sports sponsors, TCL Corporation and Li Ning Corporation, as examples to conduct an empirical stud. Structural equation model, regression analysis, and correlation analysis are used in our study. The results show that altruistic sponsorship motivation has a positive impact on consumer attitude and purchase intention. Sponsorship egoistic motivations have a reverse impact on consumer attitudes. However, the reverse impact on purchase intention is relatively low. Consumer attitude plays a mediating role in the process of sponsorship motivation influencing purchase intention. Based on SOR (Stimulus- Organism-Response) theory, this paper proposes a model to study the impact of sponsorship motivation on customers’ purchase intention and comes to the conclusion of the intermediary effect of consumer attitude in the impact of sponsorship motivation on customers’ purchase intention. Our study provides a reference for the study of the impact of sports sponsorship motivation on consumer purchase intention.

1. Introduction

Sponsorship has a great impact on promoting the sustainable development of sports. As a marketing tool, sports sponsorship aims to guide consumers to form preferences for sponsor products [1]. Since sponsorship appeared in the field of sports, there have been many successful examples of promoting the sustainable development of sports. The most typical example is the Olympic Games. Before 1984, it was common for the host countries of the Olympic Games to run deficits because of huge expenditures, which made the holding of the Olympic Games face a crisis of sustainability. The above crisis was not resolved until the Los Angeles Olympic Games in the United States introduced sponsors. Because of the sponsorship, the Los Angeles Olympics not only did not have a deficit but also made a substantial profit. Since then, ambush marketing in sports sponsorship has attracted attention, and the business model of sponsors’ integration into sports has been promoted, which plays an important role in promoting the sustainable development of sports activities [2]. Some scholars believe that sports sponsorship builds an effective platform for enterprise development and contributes to the formation of sustainable competitive advantages [3]. The sustainable development of business and modern sports sponsorship is also inseparable. Many sponsorship enterprises and their brands are famous in the world by virtue of the favorable platform of sports sponsorship. Therefore, the study of the impact of sports sponsorship motivation on consumer purchase intention can provide a theoretical basis for sponsorship behavior. It not only effectively enhances the sustainable competitiveness of sponsorship enterprises but also promotes the healthy and sustainable development of sponsorship business. In our study, TCL Corporation and Li Ning Corporation were selected as the research objects. The reasons for choosing the above two companies are as follows on the one hand, they are very well-known enterprises in China and have many consumers; On the other hand, they have always been sponsors of Chinese sports. In particular, Li Ning corporation has been sponsoring the development of China’s sports for 30 years since the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. Although there has been some negative news during the development of the company, Li Ning corporation has always actively undertaken social responsibility for the sustainable development of sports sponsorship, public welfare, and environmental protection. For example, Li Ning corporation has sponsored many sports events and teams and has always insisted on carrying out charity activities for students, as well as using green and environment-friendly materials on sportswear. The above behaviors helped Li Ning corporation regain the trust and love of consumers and promoting the sustainable development of the company.

Consumer purchase intention is an important index to evaluate sponsorship effectiveness. Especially for sports sponsors, hope to expand the brand of their products through sponsorship and arouse consumers’ purchase intention [4]. The influence of sponsorship marketing on consumers’ purchase intention has always been a concern for scholars. For example, some scholars explored the relationship between both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty with sponsorship awareness, attitude toward sponsors, and purchase intentions by collecting data from fans of a professional soccer team. They found that attitudinal loyalty impacts the attitude toward both sponsors and purchase intentions positively, and sponsorship awareness impacts the attitude toward sponsors significantly, while the attitude toward the sponsor was the strongest predictor of purchase intentions [5]. Online sponsorship presents the same effect. Some scholars found that sponsorship fit, and level of engagement can influence customer attitudes toward sponsorship and brand, thus affecting their purchase intention. In addition, the attitude of consumers toward sponsors play an intermediary role in the above process [6]. Sponsors’ altruistic motivation and egoistic motivation have an important impact on consumer purchase intention [7,8].

People’s purchase intention is affected by many factors. According to SOR (Stimulus- Organism-Response) theory, behavioral response (R) is the result of the impact of various stimulus (S) factors on organism (O) cognition or psychological response [9]. As an important factor of sponsorship marketing, sponsorship motivation has an important impact on the purchase intention of the customer. Existing works of literature have studied the influencing factors of purchase decisions and brand awareness from the perspective of consumers’ perception and behavior [10,11,12,13]. Olympic sports sponsorship can not only bring great business opportunities for sponsors, promote consumers’ attitudes towards sponsor brands, but also improve consumers’ purchase intention [14]. Therefore, in order to make a meaningful supplement to the existing research, this paper studies the relationship between sponsorship marketing and consumer purchase intention. It not only reveals the mechanism of the impact of altruistic sponsorship motivation and egoistic motivation on purchase intention but also discusses the differences of different sponsor categories affected by sponsorship motivation on purchase intention. On the whole, it can provide a brief introduction and enlightenment for the practice of sponsorship marketing.

2. Literature Review and Hypotheses

2.1. Related Literature of Influencing Factors in Sponsorship Marketing

Sports sponsorship is when the sponsor provides money or materials to the sponsored object, builds links with the sponsored object, cooperates with the sponsorship-related marketing activities, impacts and guides the attitude and response of the consumers, and finally forms an impact on the purchase intention and behavior of consumers. The change in marketing orientation makes sponsorship enterprises regard consumers as the main target group for evaluating the effect of sports sponsorship [15]. From the perspective of sponsors, consumer purchase intention is an important indicator to measure sponsorship effectiveness and is directly related to the actual sales of sponsors in the future [16,17]. Although consumer purchase intention is not the same as actual purchase behaviors, purchase intention is very important in guiding their actual purchase behaviors [18]. Purchase intention is an individual’s conscious plan to make an effort to purchase a product or service [19]. Moreover, state purchase intention provides a sense of the strength of an individual’s motivation to perform a specified purchasing behavior.

Consumers’ reactions to sponsors go through several stages, from sponsor awareness to the likelihood of purchase and, ultimately, actual purchase. Sponsor awareness of consumers positively impacts their attitude toward sponsors, which in turn affects their purchase intention [20]. Fans see sponsors supporting their team and, therefore, may buy the sponsor’s product as an ‘extension of goodwill,’. They sponsor their team as a repayment way [21,22]. Many factors in sponsorship marketing affect consumer purchase intentions. For example, the sponsorship perception of sports events can promote the functional, experiential and symbolic image of the sponsor brands and then affect consumers’ purchase intention of sponsor brand products [23]. Attitudinal and behavioral loyalty of fans impacts sponsorship awareness and the attitude toward the sponsor, which in turn impacts consumer purchase intention [5]. Fans’ purchase intention is impacted by team achievement, sponsorship awareness, and consumer-perceived altruistic motives of sponsors [24]. Sports sponsorship can improve consumers’ perception of sponsor brands, and brand perception can promote consumers’ purchase intention [25]. Compared with exclusive sponsorship, co-sponsorship by multiple sponsors could significantly improve consumers’ brand attitude and purchase intention to sponsor brands with low familiarity [26].

To sum up, although there are abundant research on purchase intention and stimulus factors in sponsorship marketing, there are few types of research that integrate the three important variables of sponsorship egoistic motivation, sponsorship altruism motivation, consumer attitude, and purchase intention into one research framework and explore the internal impact mechanism and action path between them.

2.2. Hypothesis

Sports sponsorship is the most popular and widely used form of sports marketing for enterprises. Enterprises can obtain opportunity benefits through sports sponsorship and turn such opportunity benefits into actual benefits through continuous interaction with consumers [27]. Some enterprises sponsor sports for altruistic motives and provide support for activities to fulfill the company’s social responsibilities [28,29], while others do so for egoistic motives in order to increase consumer brand preference and improve financial returns [30]. Therefore, we divide sponsorship motivation into altruism and egoism. The scale measuring sponsorship altruistic motivation and sponsorship egoistic motivation came from the research results of scholars [31]. The content of the scale was appropriately modified after expert screening and question testing.

(1)

Sponsorship motivation and consumer attitude toward the sponsor

Regardless of the sponsorship motivation of a company, the sponsorship behavior will affect the overall attitude of consumers towards sponsorship companies. The consumer attitude of this article refers to the consumer’s response tendency to the cognition and emotion of the sponsor. As our study focuses on understanding the attitude change of different goal-oriented consumers exposed to sponsorship marketing, it is believed that the attitude of consumers is formed by belief and feeling, that is, cognition and emotion, and consumers’ perception of corporate social responsibility can affect consumers’ attitudes towards corporate products [32]. Consumers generally respond positively to corporate social responsibility behavior [33]. If consumers cognitively infer a few altruistic or self-serving motives of the sponsorship behavior, they will naturally think the sponsors have low credibility [34]. The sponsorship of altruistic motivation had a significant positive impact on consumers’ attitudes; The sponsorship of egoistic motivation has an insignificant negative effect on consumers’ attitudes [35]. It is controversial about the motivation of enterprises’ public welfare-related sponsorship. Some people think that it is a significant contribution of sponsors to society, while others think that it is for sponsors’ own economic interests. Obviously, sponsorship includes not only altruistic factors but also self-serving factors, and consumers will form their own overall attitude towards sponsors through their perception of the sponsorship motivation as egoistic or altruistic. If consumers believe that altruistic motivation is predominant, they will enhance the evaluation of the company; if consumers believe that egoistic motivation is predominant, they will lower the evaluation of the company [36]. If consumers perceive the stronger altruistic motivation of the sponsorship, they are more likely they have a positive attitude toward the sponsor. Conversely, the stronger the consumer perceives the egoistic motivation of the sponsorship, the more significant the consumer’s negative attitude toward the sponsor. As such, it is hypothesized here that:

H1a. 

Sponsorship altruistic motivation has a direct positive impact on consumers’ attitudes.

H1b. 

Sponsorship egoistic motivation has a direct reverse impact on consumers’ attitudes.

(2)

Sponsorship motivation and consumer purchase intention

Purchase intention is an individual’s conscious plan to make an effort to purchase a brand. The scale measuring purchase intention came from the research results of scholars [37]. After an expert appraisal, the questionnaire items have been appropriately modified. According to previous scholars’ research findings, purchase intentions provide a sense of the strength of an individual’s motivation to perform a specified purchasing behavior. Purchase intention is not the same as actual purchase behaviors. However, an individual’s intentions have a strong impact on their future behavior. From the perspective of sponsors, consumers’ purchase intention is an important indicator to measure the effectiveness of sponsorship, which will have an impact on future sales [12,16]. Moreover, the intent to purchase sponsors’ products is a focal indicator for sports entities to legitimatize their relationships with actual sponsors and to negotiate future sponsorship contracts [4].

When the motivation of the sponsor is perceived to be goodwill rather than just profit-driven, consumers might have positive attitudes and higher purchase intentions [38]. Sponsor altruism has a significant effect on fans’ purchase intention and word-of-mouth communication. When consumers perceive the motive of a sponsor is sincere and not just for commercial gain, they may show more dedication and sympathy to the sponsor and will spontaneously increase their intentions to purchase sponsors’ products [39]. In the practice of sponsorship, highlighting the altruistic motivations of the sponsorship and making sure they are perceived by the consumers will not only make consumers have a positive attitude towards the sponsors but also believe that the sponsors are sincere enterprises with social responsibility, then have a deeper understanding about their products and brands. In this way, consumer purchase intention to sponsor products is enhanced. On the contrary, consumers perceive the sponsorship as more self-interested, which will weaken the purchase intention of sponsors’ products. Therefore, the following hypotheses are proposed.

H2a. 

Sponsorship altruistic motivation has a direct positive impact on consumer purchase intention.

H2b. 

Sponsorship egoistic motivation has a direct reverse impact on consumer purchase intention.

(3)

Mediating effect of consumer attitude

Consumer attitude refers to the general psychological reaction tendency of consumers to sponsors after being stimulated by sponsorship marketing. The design of the consumer attitude scale in this study is based on the related theory of consumer attitude and the scales of previous scholars [40]. Stimulated by sponsorship marketing, consumers generate certain feelings, opinions, and emotions toward sponsors. The reaction tendency may be favorable, such as satisfaction, trust, approval, support, appreciation, etc.; it may also be unfavorable, such as dissatisfaction, opposition, disgust, rejection, etc. Consumer purchase intention is mainly affected by two factors. One is their positive attitude toward the brand. The other is brand reputation [41]. Once consumers have a positive attitude towards the sponsor, they not only have a positive understanding of the nature, attributes, and other basic conditions of the sponsor but also have a favorable feeling towards the sponsor and its products. Fans’ perception of sponsors has a positive impact on the attitude of sponsors, and the purchase intention is a follow-up to this positive attitude [20]. Based on previous research, it is hypothesized here that:

H3. 

There is a positive correlation between consumers’ attitudes and purchase intention.

Many factors in sports sponsorship marketing are closely related to consumer purchase intentions. Attitudinal loyalty of fans to the team impacts the attitude toward sponsors and, finally, purchase intentions [5]. At the same time, the attitudinal loyalty of fans to the sponsored team also directly impacts purchase intentions. Although behavioral loyalty of fans to the team doesn’t affect the attitude of fans to sponsors, it also has some impact on consumer purchase intention. The sponsorship awareness of the fans will also impact the attitude of the fans toward the sponsors and ultimately affect consumers’ purchasing intention.

Consumer attitude plays an intermediary role in the process of sponsorship fit affecting consumer purchase intention [6]. The high degree of consistency and matching between sponsors and sponsored activities, as a strong external stimulus, makes it easier for consumers to notice, identify and remember sponsorship enterprises, thus having a positive impact on consumers’ attitudes [42]. The impact of sponsor brand awareness, brand image, and quality awareness on consumer–brand relationship satisfaction is enhanced through sports sponsorship, and the impact of sponsor brand awareness and brand image on sponsor brand commitment is also enhanced, ultimately improving the brand loyalty of consumers [43,44,45]. In sports sponsorship, sponsorship motivation is an important stimulating factor in sponsorship marketing, which plays an important role in consumer purchase intentions. Based on the above analysis, the following hypotheses are proposed.

H4a. 

Consumers’ attitude has mediating effect in the process of altruistic sponsorship motivation impacting consumer’s purchase intention.

H4b. 

Consumers’ attitude has mediating effect in the process of sponsorship, with egoistic motivation impacting consumers’ purchase intention.

(4)

Theoretical model construction

Based on the above analysis, according to the relevant knowledge of the SOR model and sponsorship marketing theory, we analyze the mechanism of sponsorship motivation affecting the audience’s purchase intention and construct the theoretical model of this paper, which is shown in Figure 1.

It can be seen from Figure 1 that sponsorship motivation affects consumer purchase intention by influencing consumers’ attitudes. Meanwhile, it has a direct impact on consumer purchase intention.

3. Data Collection and Measurement

3.1. Data Collection

This study takes the sponsorship behavior in the CBA events in the 2018–2019 season as an example to conduct relevant research. Among the sponsors of this competition, Li Ning and TCL are not only well-known enterprises in China but also have a lot of sports sponsorship activities, which is more in line with the research theme of this study. Therefore, these two companies are selected as research objects to test the hypothesis and the proposed research model. Data was collected through questionnaires to audiences who have watched more than 50% of the events in the 2018–2019 season on the spot or through media such as TV. It was clearly stated in the questionnaire that the information collected was used for academic research and was approved by the investigators. The investigator who fills out the questionnaire will be given 5 yuan as a reward for the survey. Before the formal survey, we conducted a pre-survey. Through instructors of our College Basketball Association, questionnaires were distributed to 98 members of the Basketball Association, and 92 valid questionnaires were obtained. According to data collected from the pre-survey, we revised some questions and expressions of variables, including “Sponsorship altruistic motivation” and “Sponsorship egoistic motivation,” to determine the formal questionnaire. All the items were measured by six scales. “1” means “strongly disagree,” “6” means “strongly agree.”

According to previous research experiences, the effect of directly distributing questionnaires on the noisy and chaotic event scene is very poor, with an extremely low questionnaire recovery rate and efficiency. Therefore, students who liked watching CBA events (including undergraduates, postgraduates, and MBA) were selected as the subjects which was more effective. The research team organized more than 50% of the Basketball Association members who had seen the CBA 2018–2019 season to participate in the survey with the assistance of basketball instructors. In order to improve students’ enthusiasm for participation, the respondents were informed in advance that they could obtain a meaningful small gift. Since the beginning of April 2019, a total of 989 questionnaires have been distributed to 16 universities in eight cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi’an, Wuhan, Nanchang, Chengdu, and Chongqing, including 495 of Li Ning, 494 of TCL 875 questionnaires were collected and the recovery rate was 88.5%. After removing the invalid questionnaires that were filled out randomly and answered regularly, 817 valid questionnaires (411 for Li Ning and 406 for TCL) were obtained, and the effective recovery rate was 82.6%. The sample of this survey covered all kinds of universities in the East, West, South, North, and central regions of China, having appropriate representativeness. Researchers input and tested the data of valid questionnaires.

3.2. Measures

Data quality is measured by data reliability. If a set of items only measures the same concept, it has internal consistency, indicating that the data is reliable. As shown in

Table 1. Reliability and validity test results of levels of measurement.

Latent Variable	Cronbach’α		Item (Manifest Variable)	Unstandardized Factor Loading		Standardized Factor Loading
	Li Ning	TCL		Li Ning	TCL	Li Ning	TCL
Sponsorship Altruistic Motivation	0.889	0.875	-Sponsoring sports events is to show and transmit sports spirit.	1.00	1.00	0.81	0.79
			-Sponsoring sports events is to support national sports development.	1.07	1.02	0.89	0.86
			-Sponsoring sports events is to provide athletes and sports teams with the help they can.	1.03	1.01	0.82	0.80
			-Ensure the success of sports events by providing funds and in-kind.	1.06	1.03	0.88	0.85
Sponsorship egoistic Motivation	0.876	0.803	-Sponsoring sports events to enhance the brand’s popularity and reputation.	1.00	1.00	0.87	0.84
			-Sponsoring sports events is to build the brand image of the company.	1.03	1.01	0.91	0.88
			-Sponsoring sports events is to increase market share of its products.	1.01	1.00	0.89	0.85
			--Sponsoring sports events is to improve the company’s competitiveness in the industry.	0.93	0.91	0.81	0.79
Consumer attitude towards sponsors	0.891	0.813	-Sponsoring sports events makes you think the sponsor is very strong.	1.00	1.00	0.75	0.74
			-Sponsoring sports events makes you think the sponsor is socially responsible.	1.02	1.01	0.78	0.77
			-Sponsoring sports events makes you think the sponsor is active and ambitious.	1.08	1.07	0.84	0.82
			-Sponsoring sports events makes you feel more favorable about the sponsor.	1.05	1.04	0.79	0.78
			-Sponsoring sports events makes you more satisfied with the sponsor.	1.07	1.06	0.82	0.79
			-Sponsoring sports events makes you like the sponsor more.	1.08	1.06	0.82	0.80
Purchase intention Li Ning	0.921	0.868	-I would buy product from sponsor.	1.00	1.00	0.87	0.87
			-Next time I need to buy sponsor’s product.	1.00	1.00	0.87	0.87
			-It is possible I would consider buying sponsor’s products.	1.03	1.02	0.92	0.90
			-The sponsor’s sponsorship makes me more likely to buy its product.	1.02	1.01	0.91	0.89
			-I would be more likely to buy sponsor name product over its competitors.	1.07	1.06	0.94	0.93

Source: own study.

, analyzed with statistical software SPSS 24.0, the Cronbach’α value (consistency coefficient) of each item is above 0.8, indicating that the internal consistency of the data is high, and the data is relatively reliable.

The validity of data refers to the degree to which the measurement scale can accurately measure the latent variables, that is, to what extent the measurement scale reflects the true meaning of the observed variables required in this study. Data validity is evaluated by content validity and construct validity. All the scales in the study are based on the previous mature scale and optimized according to the research needs. Finally, experts in the industry were invited to identify. The content validity is good. LISREL 8.70 was used to conduct Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on the measurement model and to test the two dimensions of construction validity: convergence validity and discriminant validity. It can be seen from Table 1 that the t-test results of all questions are significant, indicating that the convergence effectiveness of each question is good. The AVE (Average Variance Extracted) and CR (Composite Reliability) values are shown in

Table 2. CR and AVE values.

	CR		AVE
	Li Ning	TCL	Li Ning	TCL
1 Sponsorship altruistic motivation	0.784	0.796	0.548	0.572
2 Sponsorship egoistic motivation	0.811	0.823	0.628	0.671
3 Consumer attitude	0.786	0.804	0.616	0.632
4 Purchase intention	0.842	0.861	0.629	0.653

Source: own study.

. The CR values are greater than 0.7, and AVE values are greater than 0.5, which shows that the aggregation validity of data is good, and items can be used for measurement.

4. Results of Hypothesis Test

4.1. Homologous Variance Control and Test

When the survey data comes from the same subject, it will affect the data quality. By disrupting the order of the questions of scale in the questionnaire, the impact of the homologous variance on the data quality is effectively reduced. Harman’s one-factor test was used to test the homology variance of the data. The results showed that the KMO value was 0.887, the eigenvalues of the five factors were greater than 1, and the total explained variance was 73.01%, among which the total explained variance of the first factor was 24.37%, less than 50% of the total explained. Therefore, the research conclusion is reliable and will not be substantially affected by homologous variance.

4.2. Structural Equation Model Analysis and Hypothesis Test Results

In our study, seven evaluation indicators were selected to measure the degree of fit of the model so as to ensure scientific and rigorous measurement. The confirmatory factor analysis fit indexes of the measurement model are shown in

Table 3. Confirmatory factor analysis fit indexes of the measurement model.

Fit Indexes	Suggested Value		Fitted Value
	Li Ning	TCL	Li Ning	TCL
χ2/df	<5	<5	1.88	1.98
RMSEA	<0.10	<0.10	0.08	0.08
GFI	>0.8	>0.8	0.82	0.86
NFI	>0.8	>0.8	0.96	0.95
CFI	>0.8	>0.8	0.96	0.95
IFI	>0.8	>0.8	0.96	0.94
RMR	<0.10	<0.10	0.06	0.06

Source: own study.

.

From the fitted value of Li Ning and TCL, the fit indexes RMSEA are less than 0.10, GFI, NFI, CFI, and IFI are greater than 0.8, and the RMR is less than 0.10. It shows that the model has a good fit for the data and can be used to analyze the structural equation model. In our study, LISREL software is used for structural equation modeling, and the relationship between these variables is verified. According to the hypothesis of this study, LISREL is used to establish a complete structural equation model to be verified on the basis of the conceptual model. By substituting the data, the verification results of samples from Li Ning and TCL which is shown in Figure 2. L is a Sample of Li Ning company, and T is a Sample of TCL company.

After analysis, the test results of the hypotheses in this paper are shown in

Table 4. Test results of hypotheses and the model.

Path (Hypotheses)	Li Ning		TCL		Test Result
	Standardized Estimate	T Value	Standardized Estimate	T Value	Li Ning	TCL
H1a sponsorship altruistic motivation → Consumer attitude	0.57	16.31 *	0.61	18.89 *	Support	Strong support
H1b sponsorship egoistic motivation→ Consumer attitude	0.42	13.23 *	0.41	12.91 *	Support	Strong support
H2a sponsorship altruistic motivation → Purchase intention	0.58	16.78 *	0.59	17.12 *	Support	Strong support
H2b sponsorship egoistic motivation → Purchase intention	0.17	4.97 *	0.29	8.99 *	Weak support	Support
H3 Consumer attitude → Purchase intention	0.41	12.98 *	0.42	13.23 *	Support	Strong support

Source: own study. * Indicates a significance level of 0.001. If the standardization coefficient is greater than 0.4, it is strongly supported, and if it is 0.2–0.3, it is supported.

. It can be seen that H1a, H1b, H2a, and H3 are strongly supported. In the sample of Li Ning, the standardized estimate is only 0.17, the T value is 4.97, and H2b is weakly supported. In the sample of TCL, the standardized estimate is only 0.29, T value is 8.99. The standardized estimate is obviously low, and H2b is generally supported. It can be seen that both sponsorship altruistic motivation and sponsorship egoistic motivation have an impact on consumer attitude; altruistic sponsorship motivation has a positive impact on consumer purchase intention; consumer attitude is also positively correlated with purchase intention; the strength of sponsorship egoistic motivation on consumer purchase intention is related to factors such as sponsor attribute and product type.

4.3. Regression Analysis

According to the test steps and criteria of mediators proposed by Baron and Kenny (1996), hierarchical regression analysis was carried out to test whether sponsorship altruistic motivations and sponsorship egoistic motivations in sponsorship marketing impact consumer purchase intention through the mediator consumer attitude.

According to the analysis results in

Table 5. Analysis of the mediating role of consumer attitude in the impact of sponsorship motivation on purchase intention.

Sponsor	Variable	Consumer Attitude		Consumer Purchase Intention		Consumer Purchase Intention *
		β	T	β	T	β	T
Li Ning	Sponsorship altruistic motivation	0.426	13.799 **	0.343	8.552 **	0.032	1.157
	Sponsorship egoistic motivation	0.342	11.495 **	0.227	5.256 **	0.025	1.043
	Consumer attitude					0.515	18.306 **
	Adjusted R2	0.412		0.325		0.517
	F	223.926		185.578		362.662
	Significance of F value	0.000		0.000		0.000
TCL	Sponsorship altruistic motivation	0.421	13.567 **	0.332	8.153 **	0.031	1.109
	Sponsorship egoistic motivation	0.323	11.221 **	0.227	5.987 **	0.023	1.012
	Consumer attitude					0.511	17.915 **
	Adjusted R2	0.405		0.308		0.509
	F	221.921		184.243		361.553
	Significance of F value	0.000		0.000		0.000

Source: own study. * Indicates a significance level of 0.01, ** indicates a significance level of 0.001, and no * indicates nonsignificant.

, the regression coefficients between the mediator (consumer attitude) and sponsorship altruistic motivation, sponsorship egoistic motivation in the sample of Li Ning are 0.426 (T value: 13.799), 0.342 (T value: 11.495), and the significance level is 0.001; the regression coefficients of the dependent variable (purchase intention) between sponsorship altruistic motivation, sponsorship egoistic motivation were 0.343 (T value: 8.552), 0.227 (T value: 5.256), and the significance level was 0.001. In the regression analysis of the dependent variable purchase intention to the independent variable (altruistic sponsorship motivation, sponsorship egoistic motivation) and mediator (consumer attitude), the regression coefficient of the mediator (consumer attitude) reached a significant level, while the regression coefficient of the independent variable (altruistic sponsorship motivation, sponsorship egoistic motivation) did not reach the significant level (Sponsorship altruistic motivation decreased from 0.343 to 0.032, and sponsorship egoistic motivation decreased from 0.227 to 0.025). The decisive coefficient of the regression equation increased by 19.2%. This shows that consumer attitude plays a mediating role in the impact of sponsorship altruistic motivations and sponsorship egoistic motivations on consumer purchase intention. Similar results are obtained by the same analysis of the TCL sample. Therefore, hypotheses H4a and H4b are supported.

5. Conclusions

This paper used samples of Li Ning and TCL to explore the impact of sponsorship altruistic motivation and sponsorship egoistic motivation on consumer purchase intention in sport sponsorship. Through the tests of the fitting degree of the model and the relationship between potential variables. The overall fitting degree of the structural model constructed in our study is acceptable, and the proposed research hypotheses have also been verified. The main conclusions are as follows.

(1)

Sponsorship altruistic motivations have a positive impact on consumer attitude and purchase intention. It can be seen from the research that strongly perceived altruistic sponsorship motivation not only has a positive impact on consumer purchase intention directly but also has a positive impact on consumers’ attitude. Once consumers perceive that the sponsorship is motivated by altruism, they usually think that the sponsor is an enterprise with social responsibility, enthusiasm for public welfare, honesty, and trustworthiness. In this way, the sponsor will take a favorable, satisfactory, and liking attitude, and consumers will also increase their purchase intention of products from the sponsor.

(2)

Sponsorship egoistic motivations have a reverse impact on consumer attitude and purchase intention. The stronger consumers perceive sponsorship as egoistic motivation, the more consumers had a reverse attitude towards sponsors. The above research results are similar to those of previous scholars, but there are also new findings. The supported intensity of the reverse impact of sponsorship egoistic motivation on consumer purchase intention is very low. That is, the stronger the sponsor’s egoistic motivation is, the consumer purchase intention will not be significantly reduced, which is supported by the samples of Li Ning and TCL. Although consumers perceive that sponsors’ sponsorship is mainly for their own interests rather than the interests of others and society, the reduction in consumer purchase intention is not very significant. In the actual purchase of consumers, the sponsorship self-interest motivation perceived by consumers is not the main factor determining their purchase. Compared with the sponsor’s self-interest motivation, they pay more attention to commodity attributes such as price, style, and brand.

(3)

Consumer attitude has a mediating effect in the process of sponsorship motivation impacting consumer purchase intention. The stronger the altruistic motivation of the sponsor perceived by consumers, the more positive the consumer attitude is. At the same time, the more positive the overall attitude of the consumers towards sponsors, the stronger the consumer purchase intention. Consumer attitude has a mediating effect in the process of altruistic sponsorship motivation impacting consumer purchase intention. However, the strong egoistic motivation perceived by consumers will also affect consumer purchase intention reversely through consumers’ attitudes as the mediator. The increase in consumer involvement can improve the attention to sponsored activities, which includes information related to sponsor brands. The higher the involvement degree, the stronger the effect of sponsorship motivation on consumers’ attitude. Therefore, in order to increase consumer purchase intention to sponsored products, sponsors should combine public welfare sponsorship with marketing activities, highlight the altruistic tendency of sponsorship, increase consumers’ awareness of altruistic motivations, and achieve good sponsorship effects.

Sponsorship motivation is an important variable in sponsorship marketing. Consumer purchase intention is an important marketing indicator considered by enterprises, and it is an important indicator for sponsors to measure sponsorship effects. From the research results, sponsorship motivation has an important impact on consumer purchase intention. Therefore, sponsors and the Organizing Committee of sponsored activities should take a series of effective measures to improve the effectiveness of sponsorship.

The contribution of this paper is shown in the following two aspects. On the one hand, this paper introduces the motivation theory of psychology into the research of sponsorship marketing and constructs a theoretical model of the influence of sponsorship motivation on the purchase intention of the audience according to the SOR theory, which is not only a useful theoretical exploration of motivation theory and SOR model but also enriches the sponsorship marketing theory. On the other hand, through the research on the impact of sponsorship motivation on consumer purchase intention, this paper draws some valuable research conclusions, which have a good guiding significance for sponsors’ Sponsorship practice.

In our study, the author adopted a questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews, mathematical statistics, and other research methods to study the influence of sponsorship motivation on purchase intention and obtained some research results, but this study also has the following two limitations. On the one hand, the author adopts the cross-sectional survey design instead of the longitudinal survey design. Therefore, the author cannot make a completely positive conclusion about the causal relationship between each hidden variable in the conceptual model but only can determine the correlation between each hidden variable. On the other hand, the model proposed by the author only deeply explores the influence of altruistic and egoistic sponsorship motives on consumers’ purchase intention. In fact, there are many sponsorships marketing factors that affect consumers’ purchase intention, such as sponsorship consistency, event image, and so on. The research on other sponsorship marketing stimuli can be strengthened in the future.

With the development of society, sponsorship marketing will continue to appear in new forms. In future research, we can study the impact of different types of sponsorship on customers’ purchase intentions, such as festival sponsorship, charitable sponsorship, media naming sponsorship, and so on. Moreover, Sponsorship marketing not only has a great impact on purchase intention but also has an important impact on the sponsor’s market share, target customer satisfaction, and loyalty. Therefore, we should strengthen the above aspects of theoretical research in the future.