Personality Fit in NASCAR - Essay Example

Five research questions were formulated to explore personality fit and its impact on consumers’ response to NASCAR sponsorship. There was a significant correlation between personality fit dimensions and the dependent variable, attitude towards the sponsor. An increase in the degree of personality fit between driver and sponsor corresponded to more positive attitudes towards the sponsor. Similarly, there was a positive relationship between personality fit and attitude toward the brand. All personality fit dimensions were significantly correlated with the dependent variable, attitude toward the brand.

Correspondently, there was a positive relationship between personality fit and purchase intentions. Moreover, the number of respondents ought to be increased to provide for more representativeness and generalization of the results. The respondents were asked their favorite NASCAR driver and their sponsor this only limited the study to NASCAR fans and not to the fans of other individual sports. In addition, the sample in this study was mainly Caucasian (82%). That resulted in the demographics of a sample that is skewed in one or more categories and hence relating the results to another different demographic composition sample may be difficult.

CRITIQUE This outcome is consistent with previous literature on fit (Roy & Cornwell, 2003), which suggests that high levels of fit produce positive affective and behavioral responses, while low fit "makes people less certain of a firm's positioning" (Becker-Olsen & Simmons, 2002, p. 287). According to correlation analysis, there was a positive relationship between the personality fit of NASCAR drivers and their major sponsors and consumers' attitude toward the brand. When there was, a higher degree of personality fit between the driver and sponsor, respondents also demonstrated more positive attitudes toward the brand.

This finding corroborates previous research that indicates that a better fit between events and sponsors or celebrity endorsers and products leads to more positive consumer brand attitudes (Koo et al, 2006; Speed & Thompson, 2000). The results of this study demonstrated that fan identification and product involvement were significant indicators of NASCAR consumers' attitude toward the sponsor and attitude toward the brand. Product involvement was also a significant indicator of NASCAR consumers' purchase intentions but did not have any moderating effects on the relationship between personality fit and any of the dependent variables.

Fan identification did moderate the Relationship between personality fit on Dimension (Sincerity) and attitude toward the sponsor. While these results do not provide sufficient evidence to support moderation, the results are important nonetheless. These findings validate that highly recognized fans have strong positive emotions toward the sponsors of their preferred sporting events and athletes as well as the endorsers' advertised brands. Moreover, the results extend existing research on fit by supporting the fact that better personality fit between athlete endorser and sponsor may improve sponsorship outcomes, such as purchase intentions.

Specifically, these results confirm the ideas of Poon and 

Prendergast (2006), who suggests that fit not only influences consumers' cognitive and affective responses to sponsorship but their vital processes as well. This result is compelling because it indicates that personality fit, as a sponsorship effectiveness antecedent, would be an important factor for event and marketing managers to consider when selecting sponsorship arrangements that are most congruent and have the strongest financial potential.

The report also investigates the fact that the analysis conducted has some limitations. Carrying out future research that addresses these limitations may in addition strengthen sports marketing and sponsorship literature. The study was conducted using a convenience sample. Although randomness of the population was considered in selecting the respondents their participation was not voluntary and therefore selected sample may not absolutely represent the NASCAR population. 

Though it is not unusual for the sport of NASCAR to have a large Caucasian audience, it does make generalizing the results of sponsorship effectiveness research to another sport unrealistic. For example, consumers' perceptions of personality fit between NASCAR drivers and sponsors may be a significant facet of sponsorship effectiveness in stock car racing, but it may not be as vital in other professional genres such as action sports for athlete-sponsor personalities to be congruent. Future studies on personality fit and its impacts on sponsorship in other professional sports are accepted.