Beyond the game: perceptions and practices of sports sponsorship in German SMEs

Sponsorship has evolved from short-term philanthropic activities to long-term strategic alliances involving billions of dollars of global annual spending. Sponsor, sponsee and dyadic antecedents have increased in both sophistication and complexity, resulting in expected positive consumer outcomes as the justification for such marketing communication investments. The conceptual framework model developed from this study is the first theoretical construct to provide a holistic view of the dynamics between sponsor, sponsee and consumer within a regional context forming the operating environment. This empirical study contributes to the literature through findings from German respondents and a critical evaluation of literature relating to the impact of sports sponsorship, principally on SMEs and a few large companies within local German communities.