We conducted an experiment that manipulated the construal level of a sponsorship announcement (abstract/concrete) between subjects. Results indicate that an announcement of a lower construal level (i.e., more concrete) leads to more positive evaluations of both the sponsoring brand and the sponsored event. For abstract thinkers, concrete announcements did indeed lead to a more positive attitude toward the sponsor, a higher trust in the sponsor, a higher willingness to recommend the sponsor, and a higher purchase intention of the sponsor, as well as a more positive attitude toward the sponsored event and a higher trust in the sponsored event.

1. Construal Level Effects in Sponsorship
Announcements
Tobias Schaefers, EBS Business School, Germany
Joe Cobbs, Northern Kentucky University, USA
Mark D. Groza, Northern Illinois University, USA
AMS World Marketing Congress
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
July 17-20, 2013

2. Sponsorship-Linked Marketing
Sponsorship = marketing communication instrument (Cornwell and Maignan 1998)
Communication through sponsorship & communication about a sponsorship
(Cornwell 1995)
Announcing the initiation of a sponsorship
Communicate advance details about a sponsorship relationship
1 Schaefers / Cobbs / Groza | Construal Level Effects in Sponsorship | AMS World Marketing Congress, Melbourne | July 17-20, 2013

3. Sponsorship Announcements - Research
Research on sponsorship announcements has mixed results:
Announcements of a sponsorship enhance stock prices of sponsoring firms
(Cornwell et al. 2005)
High-dollar, international sponsorships can depress firm value (Cobbs et al. 2012)
Differing results among sports and deviations between new and renewed
sponsorship announcements (Clark et al. 2009)
Research restrictions:
Only considered at a generic level, ignoring how a sponsorship is announced
Emphasis on investors‘ reactions to announcements, overlooking consumers
Variety of theoretical perspectives (e.g., mere exposure, balance theory, articulation
theory) on sponsorships and consumers, but neglecting temporal effects
2 Schaefers / Cobbs / Groza | Construal Level Effects in Sponsorship | AMS World Marketing Congress, Melbourne | July 17-20, 2013

4. Construal Level Theory (CLT)
Construals describe an individual‘s perceptions and interpretations of
information
(Kim and John 2008; Trope and Liberman 2010)
High-level construals (abstract, simple, essential features)
Low-level construals (concrete, contextualized, unique features)
Individuals evaluate information in their environment with different degrees of
abstraction (i.e., close events generally have concrete nature)
The same information can be interpreted at different construal levels by different
individuals, depending on the default Personal Level of Construal (PLC)
CLT offers a theoretical framework for interpreting psychological reactions to
different forms of sponsorship announcements
3 Schaefers / Cobbs / Groza | Construal Level Effects in Sponsorship | AMS World Marketing Congress, Melbourne | July 17-20, 2013

5. Hypotheses
H1: Concrete (vs. abstract) sponsorship announcements…
(a) more positive attitude toward sponsoring brand,
(b) higher trust in the sponsoring brand,
(c) higher willingness to recommend sponsoring brand,
(d) higher purchase intention for the sponsoring brand.
• More information about the sponsorship
relationship results in improved sponsorship
evaluation
(Coppetti et al. 2009; Cornwell et al. 2006)
H2: Concrete (vs. abstract) sponsorship announcements…
(a) more positive attitude toward sponsored event,
(b) higher trust in sponsored event,
(c) higher willingness to recommend
(d) higher purchase intention
• Improved evaluation for more information
spills over to sponsored event
(Groza et al., 2012; Simion & Ruth, 1998)
H3: Consumers with high (vs. low) personal level of construal
(PLC) will evaluate sponsoring brand and sponsored event
more (less) positive when faced with concrete (vs.
abstract) announcement.
• Mismatch leads to increased processing:
Concrete information about sponsorship
but high level PLC  communication draws
consumers to central route
4 Schaefers / Cobbs / Groza | Construal Level Effects in Sponsorship | AMS World Marketing Congress, Melbourne | July 17-20, 2013

6. Empirical Study
Study 2
2 x 2 between-subjects experimental design
IVs:
Construal level of the sponsorship announcement (abstract/concrete)
Personal level of contrual (PLC) – median split (5-item scale, Vallacher & Wegner, 1989)
MANOVA with DVs:
Attitude toward the brand/event (α=.96, .96)
Trust in the brand/event (α=.91, .96)
Willingness to recommend brand/event (α=.96, .96)
Purchase intent (use) for brand/event (α=.95, .97)
Sample of 179 business school students (Mage=24.6 yrs, SD 7.0; 49.7% female)
Successful manipulation check
5 Schaefers / Cobbs / Groza | Construal Level Effects in Sponsorship | AMS World Marketing Congress, Melbourne | July 17-20, 2013

7. Results
H1: Concrete (vs. abstract) sponsorship announcements will lead to
(a) more positive attitude,
(b) higher trust,
(c) higher willingness to recommend, and
(d) higher purchase intention
…for the sponsoring brand.
H2: Concrete (vs. abstract) sponsorship announcements will lead to
(a) a more positive attitude,
(b) a higher trust,
(c) a higher willingness to recommend, and
(d) a higher use intention
…for the sponsored event.
MANOVA: Construal level main effect (F8,168= 2.39; p = .018);
interaction with PLC (F8,168=1.932; p = .058)
H3: High-level PLC will lead to
more favorable evaluations of
sponsor and sponsored event
with concrete information
provided in announcement.






 

6 Schaefers / Cobbs / Groza | Construal Level Effects in Sponsorship | AMS World Marketing Congress, Melbourne | July 17-20, 2013

8. Results, p < .05
5.60
A. Trust in the
sponsoring brand
B. Willingness to
recommend the
sponsoring brand
C. Purchase intention
of the sponsoring
brand
D. Attitude toward the
sponsored event
6.00
5.60
5.20
4.80
4.40
4.00
5.40
5.20
5.00
4.80
4.60
4.40
CLA
abstract
CLA
concrete
5.40
5.00
4.60
4.20
3.80
3.40
CLA
abstract
CLA
concrete
5.00
4.60
4.20
3.80
3.40
3.00
CLA
abstract
CLA
concrete
7.00
6.60
6.20
5.80
5.40
5.00
CLA
abstract
CLA
concrete
Abstract
announcement
concrete
announcement
PLC high
(abstract thinkers)
PLC low
(concrete thinkers)
7 Schaefers / Cobbs / Groza | Construal Level Effects in Sponsorship | AMS World Marketing Congress, Melbourne | July 17-20, 2013

9. Discussion & Implications
CLT explains aspects of consumers‘ reactions to sponsorship
announcements
Overall, presentation of content at low construal level preferable to
abstract content
Interaction effect occurs for high PLC
Relevance of CLT in sponsorship-linked communication
Preferred high-level thinking if presenting concrete content
Low-level thinking preferred for abstract content
8 Schaefers / Cobbs / Groza | Construal Level Effects in Sponsorship | AMS World Marketing Congress, Melbourne | July 17-20, 2013

10. Limitations & Outlook
Limitations:
Student samples
Online laboratory environment
Single context (marathon)
Self-report scales for DVs
Outlook:
Priming to influence PLC
Additional dimensions of CLT (temporal, social & geographical distance)
9 Schaefers / Cobbs / Groza | Construal Level Effects in Sponsorship | AMS World Marketing Congress, Melbourne | July 17-20, 2013

11. Effects
Table 1. Univariate between-subjects effects
Sponsoring brand Sponsored brand
F p Partial ² F p Partial ²
Main Effects
Construal level
of announce-ment
(CLA)
Attitude toward… 12.443 .001 .066 8.722 .004 .047
Trust in… 4.723 .031 .026 5.185 .024 .029
Willingness to
3.639 .058 .020 6.130 .014 .034
recommend
Purchase intention 4.576 .034 .025 5.612 .019 .031
Personal level of
construal (PLC)
Attitude toward… .926 .337 .005 2.672 .104 .015
Trust in… .997 .319 .006 .370 .544 .002
Willingness to
.549 .460 .003 .341 .560 .002
recommend
Purchase intention .164 .686 .001 .364 .547 .002
Interaction
CLA
 PLC
Attitude toward… 1.938 .166 .011 3.944 .049 .022
Trust in… 4.344 .039 .024 2.519 .114 .014
Willingness to
5.225 .023 .029 .045 .833 .000
recommend
Purchase intention 5.140 .025 .029 .567 .452 .003
Schaefers / Cobbs / Groza | Construal Level Effects in Sponsorship | AMS World Marketing Congress, 10 Melbourne | July 17-20, 2013