A Critique of Personality Fit in NASCAR - Assignment Example

A Critique of Personality Fit in NASCAR Executive Summary Windy D., Bennett, G. and Ferreira, M. .Personality Fit in NASCAR: An Evaluation of Driver-Sponsor Congruence and its Impact on Sponsorship Effectiveness Outcomes, Sport Marketing Quarterly, vol.19, no. (1), Pp. 25-35. The study was carried out in an attempt to determine whether the personality fit between the drivers of NASCAR and their major sponsors affects the outcome of consumer attitudes in terms of sponsorships to the sponsor. The study also intended to determine whether the consumer attitudes towards the brand and the purchase intentions are affected by the personality fit between drivers and their sponsors.

A literature review on NASCAR was carried out and it was noted that all fans of NASCAR normally choose their favourite driver based on the driver’s personality. It was also noted that the drivers are normally used as brand endorsers and they normally represent the brands of their sponsors. The review also notes that the drivers are normally branded with the brand name of their sponsors in that their uniforms, helmets and their cars bear the names of the brands. A theoretical framework was also presented in relation to event sponsorship and celebrity endorsements.

The hypothesis adopted by the researchers is related to the congruence theory and they noted that people are more likely to process, store and remember information if it is related to information they have seen before. The hypothesis used in this study suggests that the response of customers to advertisements or sponsorships is significantly affected by the similarity of the endorser and the brand personality. In the case of this study, the endorser is the NASCAR driver and the brand personality is the sponsor of the driver.

The researchers noted that the more similar the personalities of the two are, the more receptive is the response of consumers to advertisements about the brand. The respondents in the study were the fans attending the NASCAR Samsung 500 and data analysis was carried out using various methods such as factor analysis, descriptive analysis, regression analysis and bivariate correlations. The results of the study show fan identification and product involvement significantly affected all the dependent variables.

The results also showed that fan identification has only a moderate effect on personality fit and consumer attitude towards the sponsor. CRITIQUE Windy D., Bennett, G. and Ferreira, M. (2010). Personality Fit in NASCAR: An Evaluation of Driver-Sponsor Congruence and its Impact on Sponsorship Effectiveness Outcomes, Sport Marketing Quarterly, vol.19, no. (1), Pp. 25-35. The authors of the study sought to determine the influence of personality fit between the drivers of NASCAR and their sponsors in terms affecting the consumer sponsorships to the major sponsor.

This study therefore attempts to examine whether a similarity between the personality of the driver and that of their main sponsor has an influence on the willingness of other sponsors to contribute to the sponsorship of the driver or not. The study also attempts to determine whether the same relationship affects the attitude of consumers towards the brand and whether it affects the purchase behaviour in relation to the specific brand. It has been argued that consumes and other sponsors will relate to a product based on how they view the endorser of the product.

This relationship is based on the fact that consumers will tend to identify with the personality of the celebrity endorsing a particular product. If they think the personality of the endorser is admirable then they develop a positive attitude towards the brand and this therefore influences their purchase behaviour. The study also carried out a literature review on the studies done on NASCAR and the relationship of sponsorships and their personality of the drivers. The review noted that consumers tend to identify their favourite drivers based on their personalities.

This therefore means that a consumer will be influenced to make a purchase decision if the endorser of a product they are interested in has a positive personality that they like. It is therefore important that the driver and the brand sponsor have a personality fit so as to ensure that the consumers are influenced positively. A firm that intends to market its products and get a positive response from the market should therefore seek to identify endorsers who have a personality fit with their brands.

In the case of NASCAR, sponsoring brands should therefore identify the drivers who have a personality that is as similar as those of their brands to ensure effective marketing. A theoretical framework was also presented that discussed personality fit, brand personality, consumer attitude towards the sponsor, consumer attitude towards the brand, fan identification, purchase intentions and product involvement. Personality fit was used as the dependent variable while the rest were the independent variables.

It was noted that consumer responses towards the advertisements on a brand are dependent on the similarity of the personality of the endorser and the sponsor. This reinforces the importance of identifying an endorser with a personality that is similar to the brand. Marketers therefore need to identify endorsers who have a personality closely related to the brand that they are marketing. The study was an exploratory study and the respondents were fans who attended the NASCAR Samsung 500. It is important for researchers to carry out a more comprehensive study in terms of coverage and in terms the data analysis methods used so as to ensure that the results are more reliable.

It is necessary to identify what personality traits are more attractive than others and the significance of the influence on consumer behaviour. References Windy D., Bennett, G. and Ferreira, M. (2010). Personality Fit in NASCAR: An Evaluation of Driver-Sponsor Congruence and its Impact on Sponsorship Effectiveness Outcomes, Sport Marketing Quarterly, vol.19, no. (1), Pp. 25-35.