Conceptual Foundations of Sponsorship Research

This study maps the semantic evolution of sponsorship research to develop a richer understanding of how the field has evolved. Using Leximancer text-analytics software, we conduct a content analysis of 841 sponsorship article abstracts from over 150 scholarly journals (1980–2012). We map the semantic evolution of the sponsorship concept and formulate a new definition of sponsorship research. Four foundational pillars of sponsorship research are identified: (1) intellectual, (2) strategic, (3) behavioral, and (4) relational. Sponsorship research is theorized to involve the investigation of the delivery of value to companies arising from the strategic implementation of their sponsorship marketing objectives.     

Understanding Consumer Response to Sponsorship Information: A Resource‐Matching Approach

Sponsorship of sporting teams and events has become an increasingly popular form of corporate and brand communication. Despite the continued growth of sponsorship spending, the corresponding literature base is highly fragmented and little agreement exists related to the psychological mechanisms underlying response. This paper integrates several prominent sponsorship research streams in promoting a “resource‐matching” perspective of cognitive elaboration and attitude change. This research holds that in the absence of clear functional fit between sponsor and event, identifying a basis for sponsor–event fit is likely to require some degree of cognitive effort. The results indicate stronger social identification with the sponsored event influences the favorability they attribute to sponsor motives and promotes stronger perceptions of fit between the sponsor and the sponsored activity. Further, the results indicate fit perceptions mediate the relationship between attribution and sponsorship response. Consistent with ELM theory, when cognitive resources are insufficient for the complexity of the fit‐matching task, social identification may still act as a peripheral cue in driving a positive affective response to sponsorship information.     

Are There “Honorable Merchants” in International Marketing Channels?

The starting points of this initial exploratory study are two research questions: (1) could marketing relationships in international marketing channels be predicted by international marketing managers’ behavior reflected by “honorable merchants’” key concepts (ethics and trust) and experiential learning key concepts such as capability and competence?; and (2) can we measure the progress of this research theme in the international marketing literature and understand the nature of this phenomenon? We examine how scholarly research on international marketing managers’ behavior and their marketing relationships evolved from 2003 to 2013 and envisage the shape of this research theme the next years, to uncover current trends and possible research gaps on the ethics agenda in the international marketing education area. We identified the most salient concepts from 2,083 words for 22 key concepts counted in the abstracts of the 327 journal articles of the international marketing literature, in order to innovatively uncover the trends and concepts, explaining the marketing relationships in the international marketing context. We assessed sets of concepts that best reflect the marketing relationships in international marketing channels and indicated prospects for increasing the focus on specific topics, by conducting a series of multiple linear regression analyses and trend analyses. The research results show that the progress of the research theme can be measured. Innovatively, key competences and capabilities of international marketing managers relating to the key concepts of the “honorable merchant” construct are realized as a strong logical basis for the explanation of effective marketing relationships in international marketing channels. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Are rival team fans a curse for home team sponsors? The moderating effects of fit,oppositional loyalty,and league sponsoring

Sports sponsorship is big business, and a great deal of research provides evidence as to sponsorship’s efficacy in achieving a large range of communication goals, particularly for brands that are perceived as fitting well with the sport by the most involved fans. A developing body of literature, however, suggests that fan passion for a favorite team or athlete might work against the sponsors of hated rivals. The current research contributes to the rivalry effects topic by examining the impact of sponsor-sport fit, business rivalry, and league sponsoring on “home” team fan attitudes towards the sponsors of their team’s main rival. The study finds that negative rivalry effects are particularly severe when the rival team sponsor has high-perceived fit with the sport and is a direct business rival to a “home” team sponsor, but that league sponsorships largely mitigate these rivalry effects.     

The Raising of Corporate Sponsorship: A Behavioral Study

Research was conducted in order to define a “buyer behavior” process for the purchase of sponsorship at a corporate level. A series of interviews was carried out with a number of organizations that are currently involved in sponsorship of varying kinds. A consideration was made to include a balance of sponsorship types—small and large—as well as arts, sports, and events, although no attempt was made to identify how the process differs across sponsorship type. Our results show that while sponsorship and fundraising are flipsides of the same coin from the nonprofit sponsorship-seeker's perspective, the sponsorship provider sees the act of sponsorship as a commercial profit-making venture. This is a conundrum that has wide-reaching consequences for the sector.     

“It's not Easy Being Green”: Exploring Green Creeds,Green Deeds,and Internal Environmental Locus of Control

The authors report on the development of a novel construct, internal environmental locus of control (INELOC), which captures consumers’ multifaceted attitudes pertaining to personal responsibility towards and ability to affect environmental outcomes. Using data gathered from a sample of consumers, the linkages between INELOC and a wide array of environmental behaviors were investigated. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed four first‐order dimensions (“green consumer,” “activism,” “advocate,” and “recycling attitudes”) embedded within a second‐order INELOC factor. Structural equations modeling techniques showed that INELOC was a strong positive predictor of many behaviors. However, the nature of the attitude–behavior relationship varied considerably across behavioral contexts, implying that people do not consistently behave in a proenvironmental manner. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

“More than words”: Expanding the taxonomy of greenwashing after the Volkswagen scandal

This study explores a new type of greenwashing behaviour, through the lenses of the “communicative constitution of organizations” (CCO), which challenges the dominant view in corporate social responsibility (CSR) studies. A theory-building case study was carried out by analysing the Volkswagen scandal. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained via a content analysis of both 2012–2014 CSR reports of the Volkswagen Group and a sample of 1151 U.S. newspaper headlines concerning Dieselgate, together with semi-structured interviews with former managers from Volkswagen. From a theoretical perspective, the study extends the greenwashing taxonomy by identifying a new type of irresponsible behaviour, namely “deceptive manipulation”. This reinforces the CCO perspective according to which sustainability communication acts as a constitutive force. In terms of managerial implications, the study suggests some approaches to prevent this specific type of greenwashing.     

Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment: A Review of Empirical Research

In the past decade, Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) has become a major element of global capital flows. As a consequence, recent years have witnessed an increasing growth in the number of papers focusing on Chinese companies “going global.” This paper reviews 112 empirical papers focusing on Chinese OFDI that were published in major scholarly journals between 2002 and 2014. We report on individual and institutional contributions, citations, the theories and methods used and the research topics. We also identify the research gaps and discuss the implications of our literature review for future theory building.     

Creative Analogy As a Means of Articulating Incongruent Sponsorships

Sponsorship congruence refers to the extent to which associations held for a property are perceived as sharing content and meaning with those held for a brand. Congruence has been shown to enhance the benefits derived from sponsorship. Consequently, it is important for an incongruent sponsor to articulate how it is related to a property. Analogical articulation represents a creative way of resolving perceptions of incongruity. A contribution of the current research is that it is the first to distinguish sponsorship effects on the basis of articulation type. Across four studies in which analogical articulations of incongruent sponsorships are compared to unarticulated and nonanalogical articulations (for both congruent and incongruent sponsorships), we find that analogical articulations improve perceptions of an incongruent sponsor's fit with a property and also perceptions of the sponsorship alignment's creativity. Analogical articulations also elicited a more pronounced “aha” moment of insight, which was found to mediate the effect of analogical articulation on perceptions of fit and creativity. Finally, analogical articulations yielded greater recall of the sponsorship.     

Business Sponsorship in British Schools

Is it ethical for a school to accept sponsorship from business, and if so under what conditions? Indeed, given the poor provision of many UK local schools for their pupils is it ethical to refuse business sponsorship? Where does responsibility lie? “To attract and persuade is not an appropriate behaviour in dealing with inexperienced parties.” The author completed her MBA at London Business School in July 1997 and is currently setting up a new family business, The Organic Food Company Ltd.     

The Development of a Process for Evaluating Marketing Sponsorships

Despite the increasing resources being allocated from marketing budgets to sponsorship, effective evaluation is relatively rare, and sponsorship evaluation methods are often proprietary in nature. This paper reports on a research project designed to develop a process model for evaluating sponsorships. An initial version was conceived from agency theory, the evaluation literature, and sponsorship writings. This draft was then assessed by sponsorship experts during a series of 14 in‐depth interviews. Based on these analyses, a final version of the process model was proposed. The revised version was then adopted to evaluate—as a demonstrative example—a specific sponsorship. Results of this case and recommendations for future research and practice in sponsorship evaluation are presented. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Socialism in Africa

The failure of Marxist-Leninist socialism, which has become clearly apparent during the past year, has done undeniable harm to the worldwide appeal of “socialism”. Even concepts of socialism which had always expressly set themselves apart from “real-world socialism” in the Stalinist mould are also affected. The following article analyses the situation in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Business Ethics as Field of Teaching,Training and Research in Sub-Saharan Africa

The notion of “responsibility” can be understood in a number of different ways, namely as being accountable for one’s actions, as a personal trait, or as a task or duty that results from one’s role. In this article we will challenge the assumptions that underpin each of these employments of the word “responsibility” and seek to redefine the concept as such. The main thrust of the argument is that we need to critically interrogate the idea of “identity” and deliberate decision-making that inform the use of all three of these notions of “responsibility”. By drawing on selected concepts emanating from the oeuvre of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, our understanding of agency moves away from “identity” towards “multiplicity”. In fact, it will be argued that our sense of “agency” is a side-product of our own desiring-production as it operates in and through our interactions with other human beings and organizational structures. The article therefore contends that “responsible management” requires ongoing re-articulations of moral responsiveness.     

Action Research As an Ethics Praxis Method

Action research is combined research and practical action where the researcher joins with and acts with practitioners to help improve practice and theory building. Action research can be a form of Aristotelian critical, ethical praxis that developmentally changes the action researcher and the external world. Bernstein’s (Praxis and action, 1971) and Eikeland’s (The ways of Aristotle, 2008) interpretations of Aristotelian ethics praxis are considered. The Argyris et al. (Action science: concepts, methods, and skills for research and intervention, 1985) “action-science” and the van de Ven (Engaged scholarship: A guide for organizational and research knowledge, 2007) “engaged scholarship” forms of action research with their differently nuanced interpretations of Aristotelian philosophy as foundations for action research are considered and compared as examples of action research as an ethics praxis method with respect to (1) a key similarity with respect to joining of critical ethics and actionable knowledge; (2) another key similarity with respect to action research practice that can developmentally change the action researcher and the external world; and (3) a key difference with respect to academic literature versus practitioner-based theory building is also considered (Nielsen J Bus Ethics 93:401–406, 2010a). Examples in the cases of the political economist and action researcher, Hirschmann’s “Exit,Voice, Loyalty” approach and Greenleaf’s “Servant Leadership” approach to action research as forms of Aristotelian critical, ethical praxis are analyzed.     

品牌价值研究综述

基于中国知网和期刊论文网,锁定"品牌价值"为关键词,选取2004—2014的国内学术文献进行整理、归纳、分析,研究得出近年已有有关品牌价值的学术成果主要集中于两大研究方向,综述结果为品牌价值研究视角较狭窄,影响因素缺乏系统性;研究内容与具体实践相脱离,政府性行为有待完善,品牌价值测量模糊,研究方法缺乏专业性和创新性等。     

Moral standards in managerial decisions: In search of a comprehensive theoretical framework

Although ethical decision‐making theory has evolved over the years, within the field of management, research still revolves around James Rest’s (1986) four‐step framework, dominated by a positivist epistemology and a quantitative methodology. Given that currently there is a call for a theoretical, epistemological, and methodological renovation for the enlargement and enrichment of knowledge about how decisions are morally made in organizations, this paper has a double aim. First, by showing the models’ main flaws and limitations, it critically assesses the prominent theoretical models of Rest, Trevino, and Jones. Then, for decision making in organizations, the paper aims to posit a fresh moral theory that addresses the phenomenon from a comprehensive epistemological perspective. To do so, it steps back from those prominent models in order to review John Dewey’s “theory of moral life.” At the core of the proposed comprehensive theoretical framework are Dewey’s concepts of a “moral standard” and “valuation.” Finally, the paper shows how the Dewey‐based framework can both overcome the flaws and limitations that are identified in those prominent models and can enrich empirical research, therefore contributing to developing as a whole the ethical decision‐making field.     

H‐1B and L‐1 visa‐sponsored guest workers in the USA: An analysis of the strategic impact of Indian and other firms

Organizational sponsors of guest workers to the United States claim foreign‐born workers enhance productivity and innovation. Drawing upon a unique dataset of all organizational sponsors of guest workers in the United States from 1993 to 2008, we find a 10% increase in guest worker sponsorship is associated with a 2.2–3.1% increase in patenting within firms. Furthermore, we examine how organizational industry and country of origin are associated with the effects of guest worker sponsorship on organization‐level measures of innovation and productivity. Despite an overall within‐firm positive association between sponsorship and patenting, higher percentages of a firm's workers on visas are associated with lower patenting, but higher labor productivity. Firm‐level industry and country of origin heterogeneity is significantly related to the relationship between guest work sponsorship and both patent‐related and nonpatent investment in innovation such as research and development (R&D) expenditures. Semiconductor firms and universities spend more on R&D in conjunction with guest worker sponsorship, while semiconductor companies and hardware companies patent less. We discuss theoretical and human resource implications, and offer suggestions for future research.     

Use of a Parallel-Emic Research Model and Key-Word-In-Context Indexing Tool to Develop an Instructional Exercise to Promote Student Global Mindedness

ABSTRACT

Educators have long sought how to prepare students to develop a global mind set and to work under conditions of complexity and uncertainty common in many world markets. The purpose of this study was to support educators in this cause by providing them with a “hands-on” exercise readily adaptable across the business curriculum to identify how culture shapes business concepts/practices of interest. Details are presented in a step-by-step procedure based upon a recognized “parallel-emic” research model developed to study cross-cultural differences to ensure analytical rigor. A Key-Word-In-Context (KWIC) indexing tool was employed to add precision and efficiency to the search process to help students readily identify common (etic-derived) and unique factors (emic-specific) shaping business concepts/practices cross-culturally.     

风险投资、管理层过度自信与企业并购溢价

现有研究多关注管理层过度自信所带来的一系列“后果”，对影响管理层过度自信的“前因”研究较为鲜见，这种“头重脚轻”式的不对称式研究对深入理解管理层过度自信造成了障碍。文章以2012-2017年我国创业板上市企业完成的并购事件为研究样本，从并购视角出发，研究了风险投资对管理层过度自信的影响及其带来的并购后果。结果发现，风险投资能够显著抑制并购活动中管理层的过度自信行为，而抑制管理层过度自信在风险投资降低并购溢价过程中发挥了重要的中介效应，上述作用在民营企业或风险投资派驻了董事的企业中更为显著。进一步分析显示，在考虑了风险投资与管理层过度自信之间的反向因果关系、风险投资这一“外部”监督角色和企业董事会治理这一“内部”监督角色的交互影响对结论可能产生的影响后，上述结论仍显著成立。     

Whiteness and Western Values in Global Advertisements: An Exploratory Study

This paper explores the emergence of sponsorship-linked events as a strategy to leverage relational outcomes through sponsorship investment. The growing use of sponsorship-linked events reinforces the need to understand the potential of such leverage strategies, thus the findings contribute to the body of literature on effective sponsorship practices. Findings from semi-structured interviews with Sponsorship and Marketing Managers suggest a shifting orientation among sponsors towards the pursuit of relational objectives. The privileged access to consumers afforded through sponsorship allows sponsors to manufacture opportunities to create intimacy with customers through sponsorship-linked events in relaxed, comfortable environments; thus sponsorship-linked events are positioned as a rich environment to add value to consumer–brand interactions and achieve relational objectives. Hosting specifically designed events affords sponsors an increased modicum of control over consumer–brand experiences in sponsorship environments characterised by a lack of control over sponsored property actions. However, this control may be eroded by social media technologies, which facilitate consumer–consumer communication around sponsorship-linked events. Social media, however, is proposed as a useful tool to elicit consumer feedback, addressing the misalignment between current sponsorship evaluation practices and emergent relational objectives revealed in the empirical findings. Therefore, successfully activating the sponsorship-linked marketing space demands an integrated and strategic approach.