The Impact of Sport Sponsorship Perceptions and Attitudes on Purchasing Decision of Fans as Consumers—Relevance for Promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Practices

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of sponsorship perceptions and attitudes of sport team fans on their purchasing decision, as well as to investigate the significance of sport sponsorship in promoting socially responsible companies and other sustainable practices in society. This paper gives insight in possibilities and effects of promoting sustainable activities and socially responsible companies, through sport sponsorship, by targeting and educating sport team fans as a very important consumer segment. Data were collected from anonymous respondents who are fans of different sport teams. Attitudes were measured by asking the respondents to rank the statements based on a 5-point Likert scale. In order to analyze the data, structural equation modelling was conducted using R package. Results show that the attitudes towards sponsorship, as well as sponsorship perceptions, have a strong positive impact on the purchasing decisions of consumers, regarding products of sponsors, which enables the creation of a loyal base of fans as consumers. Results also reveal that sport sponsorship can be an effective way of promoting socially responsible companies and sustainable practices, giving an opportunity to create an educated and highly dedicated consumer base. In this way the positive effects of sports and sponsorship are spreading beyond the stadiums and arenas. These findings can help companies that are considering investing in this form of marketing, in adequately selecting and managing the campaign, but also can be very useful for official institutions in their efforts to foster sustainable practices in society. Although the fact that the research was conducted only in Montenegro can be stated as a limitation, it should be noted that this type of research has been done for the first time in this area, which gives special value to the research and increases the importance of its contribution to the existing base of scientific papers in this field.