(The) impact of brand-event fit in virtual advertising on viewers' attitude toward the sponsor brand

Abstract

When virtual advertising is inserted into sport broadcast, viewers are exposed to two factors simultaneously: (1) a sports match, and (2) a sponsor brand included in virtual advertising. The purpose of the present thesis is to study the impact of perceived fit between these two factors on viewers attitude toward the sponsor brand. Audience confusion is proposed as a mediator and event suspense as a moderator. The results showed that perceived fit relates positively to viewers attitude toward the sponsor brand, and that audience confusion partially mediates the relationship. However, contrary to my hypothesis, not only had event suspense no direct effect on viewers attitude toward the sponsor brand, but it also did not interact with perceived fit.