Differences in effects of sport and non-sport sponsorship on sponsor's employees

![CDATA[Corporate sponsorship has long been regarded as a growing communication tool (Olson 2010), with worldwide spending reportedly exceeding $48 billion in 2011 alone (lEG 2012). Corporate sponsorship is differentiated from other forms of organisational altruism, as it is defined as "an investment in cash or kind in an event, team or person, in order to secure sponsor's access to the commercial potential associated with that selection" (Meenaghan 1983; p.9). Thus, the definition implies the expectation of a benefit or a return to the sponsor. The value to a sponsor flows from targeted publics (Harvey 200 I) recognising and developing positive attitudes towards the sponsor's association with the property. Sponsors may seek to inform different audiences about their sponsorship activity. These may include consumers, channel members, financial institutions, government, community and employees (Gardner and Shuman, 1988). This sponsorship-linked marketing to targeted audiences has been broadly divided into consumer and non-consumer-focused (Cornwell, Weeks and Roy 2005) but there is negligible research on the latter, specifically on how employees react to their employers' sponsorship activity. While it is alleged that two-thirds of all sponsorship spending is directed towards sports (Crompton 2004; Verity 2002), a range of sponsoring alternatives are now available for organisations to choose from- e.g. arts and cultural events (Quester and Thompson 2001; Oakes 2003), community and charitable sponsorships (Dean 2002). While Meenaghan and Shipley ( 1999) foresee sponsorship management consequences for different sponsorship categories, no study has investigated the effects of different types of sponsorship on employees as internal audiences. This paper examines the effects of different sponsorship categories on the sponsors' employees. Specifically, it investigates whether employees of organisations sponsoring sport-relatcd properties have more positive attitudes and behaviours towards their employers, as compared to employees of organisations involved in non-sport sponsorships.]]