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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sport, Leisure, Tourism, and Events
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1487014
This article is part of the Research Topic Holistic Approach to Non-mega Sport Events View all articles

The Impact of Sports Event-Brand Fit on Consumer Brand Responses: A Meta-Analytic Review

Provisionally accepted
Qingfeng Liu Qingfeng Liu 1bing Liu bing Liu 2*
  • 1 Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
  • 2 Shanghai University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study employs a meta-analysis approach to synthesize previous research, examining the impact of sports event brand congruence on consumer cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses, as well as the moderating effects of factors such as gender, sample source, and context type. The analysis includes 57 effect sizes from 31 studies, involving a total of 15,744 participants. Results indicate that sports event brand congruence positively influences consumer cognition, emotions, and behavioral intentions. Furthermore, sample sources and context type partially moderated these relationships, while gender showed no significant effect. This meta-analysis suggests that sponsoring brands should align their sports sponsorships with specific development goals. Additionally, when sponsoring sports events in other countries, brands should respect cultural differences and tailor marketing strategies to suit different contexts.

    Keywords: sports event-brand fit, consumer cognitive responses, consumer emotional responses, consumer behavioral responses, Meta-analysis, sports event sponsorship

    Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 20 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Liu and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: bing Liu, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, Shanghai Municipality, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.