Ho Keat Leng

Greenwashing refers to any communication that misleads people into adopting overly positive beliefs about an organization's environmental performance. The aim of this study is to examine whether the use of green color in product packaging affects consumers' perception of a brand's environmental sustainability. A convenience sample of 34 respondents was recruited from a university in Singapore. The mean age of the respondents was 22.9 years with 25 (74%) of the respondents of female gender. The respondents were provided with three brands each from four different household products. The brands were identical except that the color of the packaging was manipulated with one of the three brands packaged in green color. The results show that respondents were more likely to select the product with green packaging as environmentally sustainable. Fisher's Exact Test indicated that the proportion of respondents who selected the images with green packaging as more environmentally sustainable did not differ among those who were more eco‐literate, familiar with the product category and involved in purchasing sustainable products. This suggests that by changing the color of the packaging, even informed consumers can be influenced into perceiving that the brands are environmentally sustainable.

Men’s fitness magazines often employ muscular models as a marketing strategy. The aim of this study is to examine how these models in men’s fitness magazines affect visual attention and behaviour. Male undergraduate students viewed a mock-up of a men’s fitness magazine with either a muscular or non-muscular model. Participants’ visual attention was measured using an eye tracker. It was found that the muscular model was more visually attractive as participants viewed the muscular model for a longer period of time compared to the non-muscular model. In addition, participants who were dissatisfied with their body were more likely to be affected by the muscular model to engage in higher levels of physical activity. However, the muscular model did not affect perceptions of quality and usefulness of the magazine. This suggests that the use of muscular models in men’s fitness magazines is limited to only capturing visual attention among readers.

Public health organizations have embarked on various campaigns to increase the level of physical activity in the population. The aim of this study is to examine whether printed advertisements promoting physical activity can be made more effective by manipulating the model used in advertisements. Two experiments were conducted. The aim of the first experiment was to examine whether the gender of the model affects the effectiveness of the advertisement. Seventy-five respondents were randomly split into a control group featuring no model, experimental group 1 featuring a female model, and experimental group 2 featuring a male model. The study found that while respondents spend more time looking at advertisements with models, male respondents in the male model group reported an intent to participate in higher levels of physical activity compared with the other 2 groups. The aim of the second experiment was to examine whether the celebrity status of the model affects the effectiveness of the advertisement. Fifty-nine respondents were randomly split either into a group featuring a sports celebrity or an unknown athlete. The results show that while the sports celebrity was more attractive, it was respondents in the noncelebrity group that reported an intent to participate in higher levels of physical activity. The findings from this study suggest that noncelebrity male models in printed advertisements promoting physical activity are more effective.

This book takes a close look at branding and sponsorship in sport in the age of digital media. It examines how branding and sponsorship have evolved in response to the challenges and opportunities of new technologies. Featuring the work of leading international sport business researchers from four continents and twelve countries, the book explores key contemporary topics including esports, name and image likeness (NIL) rights, viewer experience, machine learning, social media use by athletes, sport migration, and the impact of COVID-19. It presents cutting-edge cases and new data across sports and events, including the Olympics, the NBA, international football, the rafting world championships, and collegiate sports. The book is an essential resource for advanced students, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working in sport business and management, sport marketing, digital marketing, marketing communications, or brand management.

There are many contemporary issues facing sport sponsorship and branding today. The aim of this book is to provide readers with a broad overview of some of these issues. As a prelude to these issues, this introductory chapter reviews recent studies and emerging issues. Firstly, the chapter examines recent studies in sport event sponsorship. With many leading sport brands becoming increasingly global and expanding into new geographic regions, the issue of brand familiarity and its effect on sponsorship effectiveness are discussed. This is followed by a review on the concept of endorsement, a form of sponsorship of athletes; with social diversity issues becoming more important as a factor in consumers’ choice, the use of para-athletes as endorsers is further examined. Finally, with social media marketing becoming entrenched, the complexities of promoting a brand via social media are explored. Unlike sport promotions via traditional media, the meaning of the sport brand is co-created by members of the social media site.

Purpose: As sports sponsorship is a common marketing tool among commercial organisations, there had been a large number of studies examining the effectiveness of sponsorship. The aim of this study is to examine whether colour affects sponsorship effectiveness on printed advertisements of sports events. This is an area that has received less research interest.Design/methodology/approach: In total, 85 participants were randomly assigned to a control group and three experimental groups. In each of the groups, the participants viewed an advertisement of a sports event on a computer linked to an eye tracker. In the control group, the logos of sponsors were in their original colours. In each of the three experimental groups, the logos were manipulated and featured greyscale, blue or red backgrounds.Findings: The study found that sponsor recall and recognition rates were highest for the control group. Visual attention was also the highest in the control group.Research limitations/implications: The findings suggest that manipulating colours of the sponsors' logos can negatively affect attention and sponsorship effectiveness.Originality/value: While there exist studies that focus on the effects of colour in sponsorship, they are typically conducted with regard to physically attending the event itself. However, sponsorship involves other marketing collaterals such as printed advertisements on the event. In such mediums, colour contrast is also important in print advertisements as it affects readability and legibility. As such, the examination of effect of colour on such marketing collaterals provides additional empirical support to the phenomenon.